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Grinch Cookies

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How many times have you seen these cookies on Pinterest?! I have so many times and I finally got around to making them myself. I’m so glad I did because I’m adding them to my annual cookie list! They are so delicious and easy to make, not to mention super adorable. I mean…. who doesn’t like the story behind “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas?” In the book and movie they say his heart was 2 sizes too small. But after he realizes Christmas doesn’t come from a store, it grew 3 sizes! All the feels 🙂

There are many ways to make these, including the little heart detail. So here I will just give you what I did and hope that you get inspired to make these for all the “grinches” in your life. Or, just to add some festivity to your holiday cookie exchange. Here we go…

What you will need:

Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

1 box vanilla cake mix
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temp
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Green food coloring
1 cup powdered sugar (for rolling)
2 tablespoons corn starch (for rolling)
Heart sprinkles (I used red heart sprinkles that I found at Target)
Light corn syrup (about 1 teaspoon)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. In a large bowl, beat together cake mix, butter, eggs, vegetable oil and food coloring (I used 6 drops of McCormick food coloring and could have used more). The batter will be thick. In another bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and corn starch.

Roll dough into 1 to 1.5 inch thick balls and roll in powdered sugar mixture. REALLY roll in there! You have plenty of the mixture so roll away 🙂 Place on prepared cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cookies are out of the oven, take a toothpick and corn syrup and use that to adhere the heart sprinkles to the cookies. Once cooled, cover and store at room temperature. Enjoy!

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Merry Christmas!

St. Patrick’s Day Fun

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! As a stay at home mom I feel I need to do something fun and creative for all holidays. Yes, it’s so stressful and I hate doing crafts. So, then why do I do it?! Because seeing my little guys eyes light up in wonder is the best. As a parent, we are the magic makers. And as a baker I always like to try new things. Being creative is great and it helps pass the long days. So here are some things I did this St. Patrick’s day. Let me know your ideas and if these are helpful to you!

First, I made green chocolate chip cookies. Super easy, just add a few drops of green food coloring to your cookie dough.

Next, we made these leprechaun binoculars! They are made from toilet paper rolls and construction paper. Really easy but also really tedious. I was going to make 5 for all of Liam’s friends. But… I made 2 and was done!

Here are the supplies I used. It was easier to use Elmer’s glue than a glue stick in my opinion. Or you can use tape.

The binoculars are to see and find leprechauns! I printed out these cute little guys,


colored them without Liam knowing, and then used painters tape to stick them around the house so he had to find them in the morning! So fun. I also colored the toilet water green and told Liam that the leprechaun had to use the bathroom and didn’t flush 🙂


We had some friends over to share in our festivities and we had a blast!

Don’t worry, the bubbly was for the moms 😉

 

Popeye Muffins

Yes, these are GREEN muffins! Made with spinach and bananas, sure to please even the pickiest eater. Feel free to call them whatever you want. I chose Popeye because, well… he eats spinach 🙂 But if you make these during Christmas, they can be Grinch muffins, or during St. Pat’s they can be Shamrock, etc. Both my 3 year old son and my husband enjoyed these. I had a bag of spinach that I needed to use up. And I’m just not a salad person. So naturally I found a way to bake with them! Go start your ovens and make these perfect snack!

What you will need:

8 cupcake liners

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
1 banana, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
About 3 large handfuls of baby spinach

Note: This is half the recipe and made 8 muffins. Feel free to double it if you need more! Oh, and there are no eggs 😉

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside. In a blender (I used a Magic Bullet), blend oil, milk and spinach until there are no chunks. Pour into the dry ingredients and add the mashed banana and vanilla. Stir until combined.

Pour into liners about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 16-18 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy!