Caterpillar & Ladybug Cookies

Let your little chefs make these simple,
yet ooh...sooo... satisfying treats!

 

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Paste food colorings (red, blue, yellow)
Purchased vanilla frosting
Semisweet chocolate, melted
Miniature M&M's 

Directions:

Beat butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt; beat until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Hand-stir any remaining flour into the dough.

Caterpillars: Divide dough in half. Using food coloring, tint half of the dough green and the other half blue. Divide each half of dough into four portions. You should have 4 portions of green dough and 4 portions of blue dough. Roll each portion into an 8-inch-long rope.  Twist together one green rope and one blue rope. Shape the twist into a 1-inch-diameter roll.  Repeat with remaining dough to make four twisted rolls. Wrap rolls in plastic wrap. Chill 1 to 24 hours or until firm enough to slice. Cut rolls into 1/2-inch slices. For each caterpillar, overlap five to seven slices in a zigzag pattern on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven 5 to 6 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack; cool. Pipe colored frosting for eyes and mouths; let dry.

Ladybugs: Shape dough into a 12-inch-long roll. Wrap roll in plastic wrap. Chill for 1 to 24 hours or until firm enough to slice. Cut roll into 1/4-inch slices. Place slices 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool. To decorate, use red paste food coloring to tint purchased vanilla frosting. Spread red frosting on top of cooled cookies. Pipe melted chocolate onto frosting. Spread red frosting on top of cooled cookies. Pipe melted chocolate onto frosting to outline head and wings. Press miniature candy-coated milk chocolate pieces into frosting for spots; let dry.

Hint: You may want to get the dough ready ahead of time so that you can bake and eat the cookies during the party!

Banana-Chocolate Chip Tea Bread

If you are planning on baking a banana cake, buy your fruit several days in advance so it will have plenty of time to over-ripen slightly.

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 1-ounce milk chocolate bars, coarsely chopped

Directions:

In one bowl cream the butter with the sugar. Beat in the eggs, then the vanilla and mashed bananas.

In another large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Beat into the banana mixture until just moistened and then stir in the chopped chocolate bars.

Turn the batter into a greased and floured 9x5x3" loaf pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour, or until it tests done with a toothpick. Let stand in pan for 10 minutes; turn onto wire rack to cool. Slice when cool.

Sweet Buttermilk Scones

These scones are at their best served hot, so have them ready ahead of time and put them in the oven just before tea time!

 

Ingredients:

1 3/4 teaspoon packed fresh yeast or
         2 1/8 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 cups unbleached pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks butter, cut into 1-inch cubes kept cold
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

For the bottom
3/4 stick (3 ounces) butter, melted
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a small mixing bowl, place the yeast, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons of the flour. Allow to sit for 3 minutes without stirring. After sitting, whisk together and cover the bowl tightly in plastic wrap. Set aside 30 minutes.

In a large bowl mix remaining flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the butter and mix until consistency is rice grain-sized. Do not over work this mixture. Work quickly so that butter does not soften.

Transfer mixture to a bowl and make a large well in the center.  Pour in the yeast mixture. Using one hand, gently draw in the butter mixture, mixing until just combined. The mixture will be very sticky at this point.

Wash and dry your hands. Dust them with flour. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently knead to gather into a ball. Pat the dough out roughly 3/4 inch thick. Cut dough into pie-shaped triangular wedges. Set them aside on a lightly floured surface, and sprinkle tops lightly with nutmeg. Let them rest for 45 minutes.

Adjust rack to the center of the oven, and preheat to 400 degrees. Pour melted butter onto baking pan. Place baking pans in freezer to allow the butter to harden again (this keeps the butter from burning during the cooking process). Sprinkle 1/4 cup of brown sugar, and the cinnamon over the buttered baking sheets. Place the scones 1/2 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for  20 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through to ensure even baking.

Mini Doughnut Tea Cakes

Miniature tea cakes prepared in this fashion
taste just like cake doughnuts... Our kids really love them and yours will too!

 

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar or packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 recipe Doughnut Preparation (see below)

Directions:

Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard 12-muffin tin with paper cups.

In a bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.

In another bowl whisk together eggs, sour cream, sugar, vanilla, and melted butter. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Incorporate the dry ingredients with a few light strokes until they are just moistened. Do not over mix; the batter should not be smooth.

Divide the batter among the tin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in 1 or 2 of the cakes comes out clean; about 12 to 15 minutes. As soon as the cakes are done, dip them 1 at a time in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar mixture. Set on a rack to cool.

Doughnut Preparation: Melt more butter and place it in a bowl just big enough for dipping mini cakes. In a separate shallow bowl combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

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