Spiderweb Cookies- DIY or Almost Homemade

These spiderweb cookies are so yummy. I found the recipe in Family Circle. The cookie recipe is a really moist and cake like type pumpkin cookie, and the icing is just the right amount of sweetness. Mmmm. Anybody can do these, no special equipment needed. And, and the great part is that if you just want spiderweb cookies you can use a store bought cookie and make the icing.
Spiderweb Cookies
Cookies-

2-2/3  cups  all-purpose flour

1  teaspoon  baking soda

3/4  teaspoon  salt

1/2  teaspoon  ground allspice

3/4  cup  canned solid-pack pumpkin

1/4  cup  milk

1  cup  granulated sugar

1/4  cup (1/2 stick)  unsalted butter, softened

2    eggs

 Icing:

3  cups  confectioners' sugar

3  tablespoons  light corn syrup

1/2  teaspoon  vanilla

3  tablespoons plus 4 teaspoons  milk

2  tablespoons  unsweetened cocoa powder

1.If you're going to make the cookies yourself, here is the directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°. Coat 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray. In bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and allspice. In small bowl, stir together the pumpkin and milk. In large bowl, beat sugar and butter until blended, 1 minute. Beat in eggs. On low speed, alternately beat in flour mixture and pumpkin mixture, ending with flour mixture.
2. Drop 1/4-cupfuls of dough onto prepared sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Spread slightly with spatula. They will not spread much during baking so try to make them pretty flat.
3. Bake 1 sheet at a time , until toothpick inserted in centers tests clean. It took 11 minutes for me. Remove cookies to rack to cool.


To make the icing:
Blend confectioners sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons milk until smooth. Remove 1/3 cup icing to small bowl and stir in cocoa and remaining 2 teaspoons milk. Make sure you get all the clumps of cocoa broken up. Transfer chocolate icing to plastic bag; snip off corner.
5. Turn cookies flat-side up (bottom of the cooking facing up). Spread white icing over one cookie. Beginning in center, pipe a spiral of chocolate icing onto cookie. Starting in center of spiral, drag a knife through spiral for spiderweb pattern. Repeat with all cookies. Let stand until set. If you get to a spot where your chocolate won't squeeze out easily then you probably have a little cocoa clump. Just squeeze it out onto a plate or whatever by pinching with your fingers.

Tempting Tuesday- Delicious Cinnamon Almonds

These are so good and they have all those great fats that are good for your body. And, your house will smell so good while cooking them.

So here's the recipe for Cinnamon Almonds:

• 4 cups of almonds
• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1/4 cup each of brown sugar and sugar (or less to suit your tastes)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 250 and line 2 baking sheets with foil. Spray with canola cooking spray.

Beat the egg until frothy, as shown below.

Stir in the nuts and vanilla. Sprinkle with the salt,sugar and cinnamon and toss to coat and you're ready to spread them on the 2 pans and cook 'em. Here are mine, all ready to get yummy.

Bake one hour stirring occassionally (2-3 times) until golden-they'll look like this when they're ready. Hope you enjoy this tasty, simple fall snack.

Most Scrumptious Cake Balls Ever - Tempting Tuesday

I am so excited to share these. I don't usually refer to food as being cute or adorable, but these cake balls I made speak for themselves. Here are a few of them.

And, here they all are in all their glory.

And, I even picked a favorite one and I just have to show him off. He just makes me smile.

I originally got the idea for these from Family Circle Magazine. Cake balls are supposed to be a big trend right now, but trendy or not I can tell you that these are super duper yummy. They are like a cross between cake , candy, and the most delicious donut hole ever. 

If you want to make them, all you need is:

• a cake mix (and the stuff you add to that)
• a container of frosting (1 cup to be exact)
• Wilton candy melts (or any generic brand- they are candy that you can melt and then it gets hard when it cools)
• icing or sprinkles to decorate your cake balls
• i also used wax paper to lay them out on after dipping

Start by baking your cake and letting it cool. Once its all cool, you crumble it in little pieces, add a cup of the frosting and mix it all together really well. I used my hands to do that part. Then, roll the cake mix into little balls. I made mine about the size of a golf ball, but I think a little smaller might be better. After you have them all rolled, stick them in the freezer till they get hardened.

Once they are hard, melt the candies according to the package instructions. I microwaved at 30 second intervals at 50% power. You can add a little oil to make it smoother and you can add food coloring to make them look the color you want. Then dip the balls and let them harden to pipe on decorations or you could go ahead and put sprinkles on them and call it a day. Either way, they will be cute and deeeelicious. I made these when family came to visit, and they were definitely a hit for everyone, ages 6 to 60 :)

Please, link up your recipes that you would like to share below and feel free to link back to me if you would like.

Linking to:

Prairie Story Recipe Swap

Healthy and Delicious Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad, but most of the recipes are so bad for you. Over the years I've combined several of my favorite recipes to come up with a healthy chicken salad recipe.  It is so so good! I could sit there and eat it right out of the bowl. Not that I ever have... :)

What you need:

• 
  
  1 or 2 cooked chicken breasts
• 
  
  start with 2 Tablespoons olive oil mayo (full of the healthy fats that are good for you) ,but adjust to your tastes
• 
  
  spoonful of sweet pickle relish
• 
  
  an apple
• 
  
  2/3 cup of your favorite nuts ( I like walnuts, pecans or almonds)
• 
  
  1/2 stalk of celery
• 
  
  2/3 cup grapes or raisins

This time of year there are so many delicious apples to use, just pick your favorite variety for your salad.

Dice and chop up the apples, chicken, celery, nuts and grapes. Mix everything together and chill for a few hours before serving. You can serve it right after making it but it just tastes a little better chilled. Enjoy!! Do you have any yummy and nutritious recipes to share? I am always looking for new recipes.

Linking to:

http://beautyandbedlam.com/

Blue Cricket Design

Prairie Story Recipe Swap

Food Trip Friday

Mom Trends

The Way to a Man's Heart aka Waffles

They say the way to a man's heart is through is stomach. I am not sure if this is true but I do know that the boys in my house ask for these waffles every single time we are going to have a family breakfast.
These are so easy to make and they are so delicious to eat- definitely a LOT different than a toaster waffle.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups warm milk
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

First, mix your dry ingredients and turn your waffle iron on high to preheat it.

Next melt your butter and heat up the milk. Mix all the wet ingredients.



Next, mix the wet and dry ingredients together until smooth.

Now scoop the batter by the ladlefull into your preheated waffle iron and get ready to enjoy that heavenly aroma :)

Cook until the waffles are golden brown.

Top with maple syrup and enjoy.



Chocolate Cake to Die for

This is the very best chocolate cake EVER! I love chocolate and everywhere I've ever taken this cake it has been eaten up and people have even asked me to leave the cake for them! Its a recipe from Allrecipes and it is so easy to make. The photo also comes from Allrecipes.com

Chocoholics Dream Cake

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
• 1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a Bundt pan.
2. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, oil, eggs, water, sour cream, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 1 hour. Allow to cool.

You can top this with powdered sugar, chocolate dipped strawberries or just leave it plain. I'm a simple kinda gal so I usually leave it plain or sprinkle some sugar and call it a day.