Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup REESE'S PIECES Candies

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, egg and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in candies. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned; remove from oven. Cool slightly; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. About 2-1/2 dozen cookie.

Source

Koi Pond

Ingredients

24 vanilla cupcakes baked in blue paper liners
1 can (2 cups), plus 1/2 cup vanilla frosting
Blue food coloring
48 orange circus peanuts
48 orange peanut butter–filled candy-coated chocolates (Peanut Butter M&M’s)
24 orange cereal O's (Froot Loops, Apple Jacks)
48 brown mini candy-coated chocolates (M&M’s Minis)
White and light blue candy-coated chocolates for serving (My M&M's; optional)
White and blue paper circles (optional)

Directions
1) Spoon 1/2 cup of the vanilla frosting into a small ziplock bag, press out the excess air, seal, and set aside. Tint the remaining can of vanilla frosting pale blue with a few drops of the blue food coloring. Cover and set aside.

2) For the fins, place 24 of the circus peanuts on their sides and cut lengthwise into 2 slices, to make 48 slices. Lay each slice cut side down and cut each in half on the diagonal to make 96 pieces. For the bodies, place the remaining 24 circus peanuts flat side down and make a diagonal cut from one end, removing no more than 1/4 inch.

3) Spread the tops of the cupcakes with the light blue frosting and smooth. Place 1 of the circus peanut bodies on top of each frosted cupcake. Arrange fins, cut side up and pointed ends out, 2 at the uncut end of each circus peanut body and 2 on either side in the middle.

4) Snip a small (1/8-inch) corner from the bag with the vanilla frosting. Pipe a large dot of frosting at the cut end of the circus peanut body. Press 2 orange candies into the dot of frosting for the eyes and 1 cereal O for the mouth. Pipe small dots of vanilla frosting on the orange candies and add the brown candies for the pupils. Repeat on all of the koi bodies with the remaining frosting and candies.

5) If you like, arrange the cupcakes on a surface with circles cut from white and blue papers and sprinkle the platter with white and light blue candies.

Source: What's New Cupcake?, Karen Tack & Alan Richardson, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.

Sauteed Soft-Shell Crab

Ingredients

4 (3 1/2-ounce) soft-shell crabs, cleaned
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Sprinkle each crab with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow bowl. Dredge each crab in flour, turning to coat; shake off excess flour.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add crabs to pan, top sides down; cook 3 minutes. Turn crabs over; cook an additional 2 minutes.

Source

Ants on a Picnic

Ingredients

12 vanilla cupcakes in green paper liners
watermelon candies (available in a candy store that sells candy by the pound)
1 cup flaked sweetened coconut
green and yellow food coloring
1/2 cup canned dark chocolate frosting
1 can (16 oz.) vanilla frosting
36 brown candy-coated chocolate covered almonds (used Planters Dark Chocolate Almonds)

Directions

1. Place the coconut into a ziplock bag. Add 3 drops of green food coloring and 1 drop of yellow food coloring. Seal the bag and shake vigorously until the coconut is tinted grass green. Place the coconut in a shallow bowl.

2. Spoon the dark chocolate frosting into a ziplock bag, press out the excess air, and seal.

3. Tint the vanilla frosting spring green with green food coloring and a few drops of yellow. Spread the top of a cupcake with the green frosting and smooth. Roll the edge of the cupcake in the coconut. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes and frosting.

4. Snip a small (1/8 - inch) corner from the with with the chocolate frosting. Arrange 3 brown candies in a row on top of each cupcake, securing with a dot of chocolate frosting between the candies. Pipe 3 jointed legs on each side of each center candy. Pipe 2 chocolate antennae on each head. Pipe chocolate dots to look like seeds on the watermelon candies. Place the watermelon candies on top of the ant's legs. Arrange the cupcakes so the ants are marching in a row.

Source: What's New Cupcake?, Karen Tack & Alan Richardson, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.

Perfect Cake Mix Cupcakes - Vanilla

Ingredients

1 box (18.25 oz.) cake mix (such as classic vanilla or devil's food)
1 cup buttermilk (in place of the water called for on the box)
vegetable oil (the amount on the box)
4 large eggs (in place of the number called for on the box)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Line muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Following the box's instructions, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, using the buttermilk in place of the water specified (the box will call for more water than the buttermilk here), using the amount of vegetable oil that is called for (typically, white or yellow cake calls for 1/3 cup; chocolate cakes usually call for 1/2 cup), adding the 4 eggs. Beat with an electric mixer until moistened, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to high and beat until thick, 2 minutes longer.

3. Spoon half of the batter into a large ziplock bag, press out the excess air, and seal. Snip a 1/4-inch corner from the bag and fill the paper liners two-thirds full. Repeat with the remaining batter. Bake until golden (if using a light-colored mix) and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes for jumbo, 15 to 20 minutes for standard, and 8 to 10 minutes for mini cupcakes. Remove the cupcakes from the baking pans, place on a wire rack, and allow to cool completely.

Source: What's New Cupcake?, Karen Tack & Alan Richardson, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.

I did not do the part with the ziplock bag. Thought I did not have a big enough size but I did. Next time I will try that because I never get 24 cupcakes like the recipe says. Again, I had the left over buttermilk from my father's cake.