This is a fun cooking project that's pretty quick and easy to do. It's a good project in which to engage kids, and this makes a PURRfect centerpiece for any Halloween pawty.
Black Cat Halloween Cookies
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Degree of Difficulty: Easy, as long as you aren't cooking-impaired
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Cost: Less than $20; you probably have most ingredients on-hand
You Will Need
- 1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup baking cocoa
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 24 wooden craft or Popsicle sticks
- 48 candy corn candies
- 24 red-hot candies
Cookie Instructions:
1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Place 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets.
2. Insert a wooden stick into each cookie. Flatten with a glass dipped in sugar. Pinch top of cookie to form ears. For whiskers, press a fork twice into each cookie. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are set. Remove from the oven; immediately press on candy corn for eyes and red-hots for noses. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Serves 12
Candy Corn Clay Pot
Time required: About 20 mins. to paint plus additional "dry time" periods
Degree of Difficult: Easy
Materials
- Ruler and pencil
- New 6-inch clay pot
- Sponge brush
- Acrylic craft paints -- white, yellow and orange
- Craft knife
- Candy corn
Instructions
1. Use ruler and pencil to measure and lightly mark a line around clay pot 2 inches from the top rim of the pot and 1 1/2 inches from the bottom of the pot. Center a rubber band over each marked line.
2. With sponger brush and white paint, basecoat bottom and top sections of clay pot, taking care not to allow paint to puddle along edges of rubber bands. Also basecoat inside of rim. Let dry. Paint outside top section and inside of rim yellow. Let dry.
3. When pain is thoroughly dry, use craft knife to score paint along painted edges of the rubber bands to break any paint seal that might have formed.
4. Position edge of bottom rubber band along the white painted edge and top rubber band along the yellow painted edge for painting guides. Paint center section orange. Let dry. Carefully remove rubber bands as before. Line the pot with plastic wrap; fill with candy corn and cookies.
