Oreos Pretzel Frogs

Are these not the cutest little frogs you’ve ever seen?  And they are edible, made with one of America’s favorite cookies, Oreos.  And pretzels.  Almost too cute to eat.  Almost.

These are a fun, super easy treat that kids (big and small) will love.  I thought they’d be fun since today is St. Patrick’s Day, but you could find all kinds of perfect reasons to make them.  Spring is coming up.  Easter.  Heck, you could make these for no special reason at all. 

My mom sent me a picture of them a couple months ago, then I looked them up on the world wide web again and they are found in many places with each one made slightly different.  You can easily do them however you wish.  I used some candy eyeballs and Fruit by the Foot candy that I cut for the tongues.  These are fun because you can use any flavor of Oreos you’d like.  You could even live a little on the edge and do all different colors of frogs. 

Oreos Pretzel Frogs, by Katrina, Baking and Boys! adapted from all over the web

12 Oreos cookies, any flavor

24 pretzel twists

7 ounces (half a bag) of green Wilton candy melts

24 candy eyeballs

1 strawberry/red Fruit by the Foot candy roll up, or any other candy that can easily cut/shape

green sugar sprinkles, optional

Unroll the Fruit by the Foot and cut into small tongue shapes.  Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.  Melt the candy melts according to package directions.  Dip each pretzel in the candy, using a fork to lift them out of the bowl.  Tap the excess melted candy off the pretzel by gently tapping the fork that is holding the pretzel on the bowl.  Lay them on the baking sheet, laying two next to each other so they are just touching.  After dipping all of the pretzels, dip each Oreos cookie one at a time, also tapping the extra candy off the cookie and lay each cookie on top of the pretzels. 

Sprinkle the back of each cookie with green sprinkles if desired.  Stick a cut out tongue in the center of each cookie.  Let the candy melt harden slightly.  Once it is starting to set, put the candy eyes on the tops and hold in place for a few seconds.  If they aren’t staying upright very well, wait until the candy melt is hardened a little bit more.  If it has hardened too much, carefully dip the bottom of each candy eye into the candy melt to use as “glue”.  Let all the candy frogs set completely.  Easily double the recipe.

Served these cookies with a simple “Shamrock” Shake.  Filled the blender with vanilla ice cream (about 4-5 cups), added milk (about 3 cups), about 10 drops of green food coloring and 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract.  Blend until smooth.  This made about 6 eight ounce cups.

Andes Peppermint Crunch Shortbread Cookies and Peppermint Snowball Cookies

Andes Peppermint Crunch Shortbread Cookies

Things have sure been crazy and busy around here!  Christmas is less than a week away.  Seems like we’ve had all kinds of activities going on and I can barely sit down, let alone share blog posts with you all.  I decided to sit down and try to get a post written up today before our next activity tonight. 

I didn’t take this picture, but how cute is this little elf who must be hiding something in his shirt?!

 

Not long after Thanksgiving, which was really early this year, the boys were begging me to get all the Christmas decorations up.   Finally got that done just in time for Kevin’s department Christmas party at our house, hosting about 20 people.

We’ve had the pleasure of attending a high school band concert, since Scott plays the drums in the concert band.  Look how sharp he looks in a tux!  This kid never lets me take his picture, but I think even he was liking how he looked! ;)  The concert was great, but we were a little disappointed that all the drummers were in the back row and a tuba player and his tuba were right in front of Scott.  sigh

 From one thing to another over the last month, I was able to get all the neighbor Christmas treats made and delivered, too.  After sharing with you such good ideas with the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats, I decided I can’t leave out a few more that must be shared.

These Peppermint Crunch Shortbread Cookies are one of those not to miss, especially if you love peppermint.  Have you found these in your grocery store baking aisle?

I actually made them for my book group weeks ago and have been wanting to share them since then.  I just took a shortbread cookie recipe, like the Mexican wedding cookies, and instead of adding the chopped pecans, I added the peppermint candy.  I then drizzled some of the melted candy over the tops.

Andes Peppermint Crunch Shortbread Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

¼ cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

½ c to 1 cup Andes Peppermint Bits (to taste), use some to melt and drizzle on the cookies

Cream together the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the vanilla and mix. Beat in the flour and salt just until the dry ingredients are mixed in. Stir in the Andes mints.

Roll dough in to walnut-sized balls and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper spacing the balls of dough about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Let cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt some of the peppermint candies in the microwave in a small glass bowl in 20-30 second intervals on half power. When melted, put the melted candy in a sandwich-sized zip top plastic bag and snip a small hole in one corner. Drizzle the melted candy over the cookies.

We finally had a nice, big snow last week, about six inches.  After shoveling the deck and part of the driveway, I wanted to make a snowman.  The boys had already played outside sledding and didn’t really want to help, so this is what I came up with almost with no other help from the others. 

Yep, she was a baker snow gal!  Made her eyes and mouth from chocolate disks and she wore the cute knitted chef’s hat my niece made me that has chocolate chip cookies on it.  Instead of going in search of some sticks for her arms, I used some kitchen utensils.  I don’t have any aprons, which would have really been cute, but I wrapped a blanket around her and tried to make it look like an apron.  I thought she turned out pretty cute! ;)

After making the Andes peppermint shortbread cookies, I thought I’d try another recipe, but with the same idea.  Instead of drizzling melted chocolate, I rolled the baked cookies in powdered sugar. 

I like this recipe a little better, but preferred the stronger peppermint taste the first cookies had with the drizzled melted candy.  That could easily be fixed by added more of the candy to the cookies or evey a little peppermint extract to the dough.  They are both good!

Perfect Christmas cookies!

Peppermint Snowball Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups Andes Peppermint Bits (These are the same cookies where you could substitute pecans for the candy)

Powdered sugar for rolling the cookies in

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Cream together the butter and powdered sugar. Add vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Beat in the flour and salt just until combined. Stir in the Andes. Roll dough in to walnut-sized balls and place on baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for a couple minutes then remove to wire rack to cool completely. Roll each cookie in powdered sugar.

BAKE ON!

The boys’ last day of school was today.  Time to really get the holidays going!

Peppermint Angel Food Cake Roll—12 Weeks of Christmas Treats

Peppermint Angel Food Cake Roll

This is it, Friends—Week 12 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats.  I chose to share with you this great cake I’ve made twice this week for different Christmas activities.  It was a hit both times.  Wish I could take credit for this, but I can’t at all and didn’t even really change the recipe for the one in the December issues of Taste of Home magazine.  You need to go get the recipe that was submitted by Suellen Calhoun. 

It was certainly easy to make.  The cake is made with a boxed angel food cake mix and spread into a large baking pan that is lined with parchment paper.  After the cake is baked and just barely cooled, you remove it from the pan, remove the parchment paper and roll up the cake to cool completely.  Once the cake has cooled, it is unrolled and spread with whipped topping, then drizzled with hot fudge sauce and sprinkled with crushed peppermint candy.

Ready to roll!

At this point, I put the cake in the refrigerator and didn’t cover it with more whipped topping until just before serving it (you could use real whipped cream, too—I followed the recipe and went for easy).  The whipped topping also has peppermint extract added to it. 

This is a perfectly minty, holiday treat!

The pictures of the sliced cake doesn’t  look that great (to me), because I snapped a few pictures of some that were leftover the next day after the first party.  There were so many desserts to choose from that the whole thing wasn’t eaten that night.  The peppermint would look better photographed when it is first served. ;)  When I made the cake just yesterday for another occasion, it was all gone from the dessert table before I even got my dinner.  It was a much bigger group.

Please go find this cake at Taste of Home.  I love the magazine and the website is great.  The Lime Shortbread with Dried Cherries I posted last week are from the same issue of the magazine.  If you aren’t subscribed to Taste of Home, you should be—or at least join their free membership online.

This is it—I said that already, huh?  I have a number of other recipes (ones I actually came up with myself) that I want to get posted before the holidays.  That’s my goal.  Time really is crazy this time of year.  We’ll see what I can do.  In the meantime, Happy Baking and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Thanks for allowing me to be a part of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats go to our host, Brenda at Meal Planning Magic.  So many wonderful treats from everyone!

Candy Cane Oreo White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’s Rice Krispies Treats—12 Weeks of Christmas Treats

Candy Cane Oreo White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’s Rice Krispies Treats

Wow—Now THAT’S a recipe title.  I didn’t want to shorten it or leave anything out.  They could easily just be called Peppermint Rice Krispies Treats or Candy Cane Rice Krispies Treats, but they deserve all the recognition from each addition.  Finish reading this and drooling a little, then run (or drive, I’ll allow that) to your nearest Target and find the new, limited edition Candy Cane Oreos and White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’s, grab a box of Rice Krispies Cereal and some Kraft marshmallows (although if you’re like me, those are things I always have in the pantry).  Better yet, look to see if Target has the new Kraft Peppermint Mallows, which is what I used.  These treats are super kicked up for the holidays and are so good!

The Candy Cane Oreos are one of their best limited editions yet.  They have that Girl Scouts’ Thin Mints taste, but in Oreo form.  They are good.  My kids really like them.  And they are somewhat picky and often don’t like the “new” flavors of things.   One wouldn’t even try them at first, but after doing so, is hooked.

I really like the White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’s, too.  They are strong, but not as much as a candy cane and have that great hint of white chocolate.  The peppermint flavor is the dominate flavor.  I kind of wish it wasn’t quite so strong, but I still love these!  They are easy to snitch a few here and there when they are hiding in your baking closet in an open bag.  (So I’ve heard.)  I don’t have as much of a problem doing that with cookies, but I’m glad I bought two bags of the cookies, because my kids keep snitching those.  And I’ll be back to Target soon for more of the M&M’s before they’re gone!  Run!  How many agree that M&M’s should come permanently in “plain” White Chocolate M&M’s flavor?  Maybe we should all start a petition on their Facebook page or something.  My only wish would be that they just come in regular “plain” M&M’s size.  I kind of think all the new, limited edition, different flavors should just be the regular “plain” size, but they make them a little bigger, I guess so you aren’t confused. ;)

Anyway, these Rice Krispies Treats were delicious!  I made some and took them to a baby shower I attended.  Felt a little bad that it was a shower for a baby boy, but I think they made up for that in flavor and were accepted just fine.  These treats definitely put me in more of a holiday mood. 

Perfect for the 8th week of The 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats, hosted by Brenda from Meal Planning Magic.  So nice of her to head up the group and keep it running smoothly each week!

Candy Cane Oreo White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’s Rice Krispies Treats, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

10 ounce bag of Kraft Jet Puffed Peppermint Mallows (regular mini marshmallows would work, too)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

15 Candy Cane Oreo Cookies, chopped

about 1 cup White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’s

Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with foil (nonstick is my favorite!), spray lightly with cooking spray.  Chop the Oreo Cookies, set aside.  Put the marshmallows and butter in a large microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for about 40 seconds.  Stir.  Microwave again for 30 seconds.  Stir until butter is mixed in with the melted marshmallows.  (You CAN also do this in a large saucepan, but it takes longer.)

Stir the cereal in to the marshmallow mixture.  When it is all combined, fold in the cookies, then the M&M’s.   Spread the mixture evenly into the baking pan.  I like to tamp it down with a potato masher sprayed lightly with cooking spray to get it even, then I don’t have to have sticky hands. ;)  Let sit on the counter for about an hour to firm up.  Remove from the pan using the foil edges and peel off the foil.  Set on a cutting board and cut into desired sized bars. 

While I think, “Hey, at least wait for Thanksgiving to come and let’s enjoy that before Christmas is here.”  I also know it will be here (and gone) before we know it.  Start making treats—it will get you right in the spirit of it all, at least it has for me.