Oreo Balls

My (Mama's) friend, Megan, turned me on to Oreo Balls. They are one of the tastiest treats I have made. They took me awhile to prepare. However, I am a perfectionist and I like to change things up from original recipes sometimes. For instance, when it says in #1 to use a blender or hand held mixer-I would rather beat the Oreos to death and mash them up in a zip lock back with a rolling pin. Very therapeutic! Also, I enjoyed wearing baker's gloves and smushing up the cream cheese in the Oreos with my hands. I think it made a better filling. Just FYI. Be careful not to make the hole in the zippy for the drizzle too big. The smaller you can get the hole, the prettier the drizzle turns outs. Have fun making these little, rich bites. They are good for any season. You could decorate them any way you please for any occasion!

Ingredients:

1 pkg regular size Oreo cookies, crushed

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 pkg white almond bark

1 pkg chocolate almond bark

Directions:

1.  Using a blender or hand held mixer, mix Oreos and cream cheese together.

2.  Roll into walnut size balls.

3.  Chill for an hour.

4.  Melt approximately 3/4 package of white almond bark.

5.  Stick a toothpick in an Oreo ball and dip it in the melted white bark.  (I used Wilton's candy dipping tools for this step instead of a toothpick.)

6.  Allow to harden on wax paper, for about 15 minutes.

7.  While waiting, melt about 1/4 pkg of chocolate almond bark.

8.  When Oreo balls are no longer sticky to the touch, decorate with drizzles of chocolate and white almond bark.  Use a sandwich bag with a tiny hole cut in one corner to drizzle the almond bark.  

*I dipped some balls in the chocolate bark and drizzled with white bark to change it up a bit.  Enjoy!

Red Velvet Cookies

Every year we are invited to a cookie exchange.  The dilemma:  go with a signature recipe or come up with something new.  This year, we put a new twist on one of our favorites.  Earlier I (daughter) posted a recipe for Lemon Cookies.  As much as I love all things lemon, I love all things red velvet, also.  I modified the Lemon Cookie recipe, and here's the result.

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 bottle (1 oz) red food coloring
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in eggs, oil, and food coloring until well blended. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into a bowl of confectioners' sugar. Roll them around until they're lightly covered. Once sugared, put them on an ungreased cookie sheet, or a cookie sheet covered with a Silpat.
3. Bake for 6 to 9 minutes in the preheated oven. The bottoms will be light brown, and the insides chewy.

Tip: To form the dough without making a mess, use latex gloves (or nitrile, if you're allergic to latex). Put gloves on both hands, spray one hand with non-stick baking spray (like “Baker’s Joy”) and then rub hands together. I learned this lesson the hard way!

Makes about 4 dozen.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

Mama & Papa Kidd went to The Affair of the Heart arts & crafts show in Oklahoma City this weekend, leaving Daughter Kidd to experiment in the kitchen!  Tried to make fondant for the first time.  Let's just say that's still a work in progress!  However, I did make these fantastic whoopie pies today. I got this idea from a vegan recipe that I had, however, I didn't like most of the things they suggested, so here's my take!

For the cakes:

½ cup non hydrogenated vegetable shortening

2 cups sugar

2 tsp molasses

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 can pumpkin puree

2 eggs

4 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp allspice

¼ tsp cinnamon

1-12 ounce bag mini chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Filling:

1 - 8 oz brick cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar

2 tbsp butter

Utensils: 

Williams-Sonoma Whoopie Pie Pan

Stand Mixer

2 mixing bowls

Directions:

1.        Preheat oven to 375°.  Spray with non-stick baking spray, such as “Baker’s Joy.”

2.       Cream shortening and sugar together using a stand mixer.  You can also do it by hand.  Add molasses and vanilla and beat well.  Add pumpkin puree and whip until incorporated (don’t worry if the fat doesn’t mix in completely – the non hydrogenated stuff doesn’t look like it’s mixed in, but it still bakes well).  Stir in eggs. 

3.       In a separate bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients and mix well.  Add the dry mix to the wet mix until all is incorporated.  It will make a stiff batter.  Fold in chocolate chips.

4.       Drop by spoonfuls into cavities on whoopie pie pan.  (Or, you can use a cookie sheet if you do not have a whoopie pie pan.  The only difference is that the whoopie pie pan makes the cakes more uniform).

5.       Flatten the dough balls.  My preferred method is to wear a latex glove, spray the fingers with “Baker’s Joy,” and  gently press the dough balls into the pie pan cavities.  Or, you can wet your fingers and gently flatten. 

6.       Bake for 9-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the tops spring back when pressed in the center.

7.       Remove cakes from the whoopie pie pan as soon as they come out of the oven to prevent over-baking.  Cover them with a towel or plastic wrap to keep moisture/steam in, as this will prevent a hard crust from forming.  Prepare the filling while the cakes are cooling.

8.       Cream Cheese Filling:  Whip ingredients together until smooth.  Set aside or refrigerate until use. 

9.       I put my filling in a pastry bag and used a # 12 Wilton tip to pipe the filling into the center.  Make sure the sides of the cakes that were touching the whoopie pie pan  are the sides that touch the filling.

 10.   Store them wrapped in plastic wrap or in an air-tight container to keep them soft.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Lemon Cookies

I (Daughter) love all things lemon...lemon bars, lemon meringue pie, lemonade, limoncello, lemon drop martinis, etc. Here's a cookie recipe I discovered last year from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in eggs, oil, and lemon extract until well blended. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into a bowl of confectioners' sugar. Roll them around until they're lightly covered. Once sugared, put them on an ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 6 to 9 minutes in the preheated oven. The bottoms will be light brown, and the insides chewy.

Tip: To form the dough without making a mess, use latex gloves (or nitrile, if you're allergic to latex). Put gloves on both hands, spray one hand with non-stick baking spray (like “Baker’s Joy”) and then rub hands together. I learned this lesson the hard way!

Makes about 4 dozen.