Sallee's Six: July Pie Crust Designs

Use this technique with star cookie cutters for a 4th of July pie.

Pretty pies feed your eyes.
Just looking at pictures of gorgeous pie crust designs makes me want to get my rolling pin and bake a pie or two.

Listed below are five sources for pie recipes and pretty pie crust designs that I like.
Not a pie lover? Look at number 6.

1. MarthaStewart.com has 12 piecrust designs to share with you.                           Click Here
2. Sally over at Sally's Baking Addiction not only has an American Flag piecrust, but the pie has a blue fruit filling and a red fruit filling.                                                           Click Here
3. How about a Blueberry Peach Pie with a gorgeous crust?                                   Click Here
4. Food Network has some great new designs for apple and pumpkin pies.          Click Here
5. Ashton over at Something Swanky has a great recipe for a 4th of July Berry Pie that uses two purchased pie crusts. The top crust has cut out stars and the pastry star cutouts are layered on the crust.                                                                                                        Click Here
6. Not a pie lover, but you love crust? Bridget of Bake at 350 will show you 4 new ways to use pie crust.                                                                                                                   Click Here

Here is my never fail pie crust recipe     Click Here for the recipe

Tale of a Crazy Cupcake Maker

I work full-time by necessity. At night, I bake and write to my heart's content. 
Occasionally, I seem to forget I work 40+ hours a week and volunteer for a baking project. (smile) Yes, I took on a baking project for work.
Did I mention that I work at a rural, elementary school? No? Well, I do and I took on a now annual project. 
It's annual because this is the second time I have volunteered for this particular project. Yep, I know   c---r---a--z--y! 
Most school districts try to "pump up" the students about taking the annual spring assessment test for their state. 
Our school district also participates in this process to excite and enthuse the students about taking an hours long, computerized test. 
Last year"s theme for grades three to six was: "Superheros Fly Away With a Good Book."

My volunteer baking project was a trio of half sheet cakes decorated with superheroes and books. 
After baking, decorating, and transporting three half sheet cakes, I swore to NEVER take on three half sheet cakes again. 
Instead, a single half sheet cake with coordinated cupcakes would be MUCH better! Shaking your head and laughing at me aren't you? It's okay. I am doing the same thing, too. I'm enthusiastically c--r--a--z--y! 
Actually, my volunteer baking project turned into one hundred and fifty, ROCK the MAP! cupcakes.
Yes, I thought this all up on my own and the idea was enthusiastically received by my coworkers when I said I could this for......wait a minute.....drum roll please..... $50. 
The actual cost? $52.00 and 16+ hours of my evenings at home. 
Yep, c----r-----a----z---y! 
Anyway, my grand plan calls for:

1. a cupcake to be placed into a 10 oz. party cup
2. pipe orange frosting onto the cupcake
3. place a fondant record decoration on top of the frosting
4. slip the cup-ensconced treat into a clear treat bag. 
5. THEN, decorate and close the bag with strands of yellow and black curling ribbon. 
6. place the beribboned treat bag into a cardboard box
7. deliver the cupcakes to work on the Friday before testing starts.

Piece of cake, right? Yep, this was going to be much easier that three, half sheet cakes.

Sunday evening from 6:00 P.M. to 6:30 P.M.

The grand plan begins with making three pounds of chocolate fondant and coloring it black. That should be enough for 150 - two inch disks wouldn't you think? 

Monday Morning from 4:00 A.M. to 6:00 A.M.

I wake up at 4:00 wide awake and decide to roll out and cut the fondant records. After making a pot of coffee, I make 138 - two inch fondant disks. This uses all of the fondant that I made on Sunday. Time to dress for work and leave a note to myself, "Make more fondant! Need 12 more records.

Monday Evening from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.

Time to make another pound and a half of chocolate fondant, color it black, roll it out, and cut 19 more two inch disks. Extra is a good thing!

Tuesday Evening

It was such a long day at work. I decide to hangout on the love seat with the hubby instead of decorating the 156 blank fondant records that are waiting for me. After all, I had until Friday morning.

Wednesday night from 6:00 P.M.- 10:00 P.M.

After supper, it is time to bake, package and box 150 cupcakes. After this task is done, I decide it's late and the frosting can be done on Thursday night. I also decide to wait until Thursday to make royal icing and decorate the blank fondant records.

Thursday Evening at 5:00 P.M.

I arrive home with 14 hours to finish this project! It's crunch time!

Immediately, I start mixing a large amount of yellow royal icing. It is time to pipe a circle and  "ROCK IT!"  on the 150 fondant records. 

At 6:00 P.M. my thoughtful, supportive husband announces he will buy and pick up a pizza for supper. He is a keeper!

Remember, I was supposed to have this done on Tuesday night, but didn't do it. 

Four hours later - at 9:00 P.M.

I finished adding a circle and 2-3 music notes on the last fondant record. 

I immediately make two double batches of orange frosting. My estimate said this amount will be enough for 150 cupcakes, and then the following process began:

•  load up a 16 inch pastry bag with frosting
• frost cupcakes until I have no more frosting in the piping bag
•  add record toppers
• place the completed cupcakes into a treat bag
• put the bagged cupcakes back into a box - I have limited space in my kitchen.

Three hours later - at Midnight

I am beginning to wonder if I have enough butter cream frosting to complete my project. A quick check of the pantry reveals - No More Powdered Sugar! 

"I could be in big trouble!" runs through my tired brain. We live in rural Missouri and the nearest 24 hour Superstore is 20 miles away.

At 1:00 A.M. Friday Morning

I bow my head and pray to Jesus to extend my frosting. After praying, I realize I still have about two cups of yellow royal icing. I dump it into the orange butter cream frosting and stir the two together. 

There was just enough frosting to finish the last 26 cupcakes. I thank Jesus, make a pot of coffee and take a thirty minute break.

                                                 At 1:30 A.M. Friday Morning

It is time to start tying the lengths of black and yellow curling ribbon onto 150 bags. By now, I know it will take me at least 3 hours. I keep drinking coffee. 

                                                 At 5:00 A.M. Friday Morning

The last bagged cupcake receives it's ribbon and is placed back into the container. 

              Yep, I just pulled an all-nighter to make cupcakes. C--R--A--Z--Y! 

In spite of feeling like a crazy woman, I am also feeling a sense of accomplishment. After a quick sigh of relief, I start another pot of coffee, take a shower, dress for work, and fill my car with boxes of beautifully packaged cupcakes.

Moral  of the Story

 Thou shall not procrastinate to decorate!

It's a Boy! Baby Shower - Lime Green and Blue

About the last week of January, I received a phone call from my pregnant daughter. The conversation went like this:

A: Hi, mom. Are you feeling?

S: I am feeling better. My ribs and head feel a LOT better now. (I was in a black ice accident and totalled my car about a week before the phone call.)

A: Mom, are you going to have a baby shower for Cooper?

S: I was thinking about it.We only have five weekends until you are due. (This is where I pulled up the calendar on the computer.)

After checking the church calendar, our calendars, and her sister's calendar 

We set a date three weeks away. Yep, I know I am crazy for attempting a baby shower in three weeks, but that is the challenge I took on. 

My first step was to create a private event page on Facebook 

Ashley invited family and friends. I invited the church family members.Immediately after having the shower put on the church calendar, the event was in the church bulletin for the next three weeks. 

How did I plan the decor? By Searching Pinterest, Baby! 

Most of my ideas came from pictures featured on Pinterest boards. 

The trick to not getting overwhelmed? Search by color. I searched for lime green and blue baby showers. 

A variety of themes appeared during my color search - nautical, jungle, monkeys, rubber duck, and little man. However, I kept my colors firmly in mind. 

When I couldn't find the printed plates I designed the colors from, I didn't melt down. Instead, I chose solid colors in lime green and blue.

The night before the shower.

Alternating lime green and blue napkins and cutlery were rolled and then tied with white curling ribbon for the place settings. 

Table cloths, plates, napkins, cutlery, prizes, name tags, banners, and lime green balloons were purchased at dollar stores. A 72-balloon package with predominantly white, light blue, and a darker blue balloons was purchased from the local supercenter.

The finished decor for the It's a Boy! baby shower.

Onesies with baby animals coordinate with the centerpiece toys. A blue and white clothesline completed the onesie banner. 

• Cupcake and sugar cookie party favors were placed on the tables for the guests.
• The cupcakes are baked in aluminum liners and topped with blue and green swirled buttercream frosting. 
• The letter "c" initial sugar cookies are topped with royal icing.
• Party cups, treat bags, and light blue, iridescent curling ribbon were used to package the favors. 

 

Cupcake and sugar cookie favors flank a  mini-diaper cake and frog centerpiece. See the red lip print on the frog's cheek? 

• Guess How Many? baby bottle game - You will need two, 11 oz. packages of candy to fill a 9 ounce baby bottle with only blue and green pieces. The bottle is the prize.
• Shower prizes - Blue body wash with adorable bath puffs. 
• The labels are squares cut from a jumbo gift bag. I printed "From Ashley's shower to yours!" on each label. Then I tied everything together with light blue, iridescent curling ribbon. 

I hope this post helps you plan a baby shower. For a baby girl, use the same ideas just use pink and lime green. 

Southwest Seasoning Blend

Make your own Southwest Seasoning Blend! 

Sprinkle it on steaks, sprinkle it in your scrambled eggs,use it for tacos, add a teaspoon or two to mac and cheese, or add it to Greek yogurt. 

The possibilities are endless! I love to mix it with leftover, shredded roast beef to make shredded beef tacos! Yum!

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon of your favorite chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, or rainbow peppercorn mix (my fave)

A spicy option - add 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

• Measure spices into a small bowl
• mix with a small whisk, or spoon, until blended. 
• At this point, I put the blend into a labeled, zip top snack bag for storage.

Using the Southwest Spice Blend

I add two to three teaspoons of seasoning per pound of meat. 

However, the first time I used the seasoning blend I started with one teaspoon, stirred the seasoning in, and tasted the meat. I repeated these steps until I was happy with the flavor.

You might like less seasoning, or more seasoning. Just customize the amount for your family.

After using my homemade Southwest Seasoning Blend, I became bolder and started adding it to cheese quesadillas, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, cream cheese, and Greek yogurt. I love the cumin chili flavor! 

Yield: about 3 Tablespoons
You could easily double or triple this recipe if you want to make a larger batch.

Pickup Truck Cupcake Pull Apart Cake for a Second Birthday

Wow! This is my 200th published blog post! 

A Family Project

I am a happy Grammy! Getting to make a cupcake pull apart cake for my grandson Ashton was a lot of fun! 

Ashley, my daughter, talked to me in December about making Ashton's birthday cake. Ashley was trying to decide between a John Deere tractor cake, a pickup truck cake, or a pickup truck cupcake pull apart cake. 

I sent Ashley several cake pictures for her to choose from. Ultimately, she choose a pickup truck, cupcake pull apart cake. I had never made a pull apart cake with cupcakes. However, I knew it should be easier than the camouflaged teddy bear cake that I made for Ashton's first birthday. 

Details in Above Picture

• To make black fondant, start with chocolate fondant, dye the fondant black with gel food coloring. I used Wilton gel food coloring.
• Two inch black fondant circles were cut using a cookie cutter.
• Letters and number were piped onto the two inch circles with a #5 decorating tip. 
• The "bolt" details on the wheels, bumper, and door handle were made by taking the narrow end of the #5 frosting tip and poking it into rolled out gray fondant. 
• Then gently remove the fondant from the tip with a toothpick.
• The next step was to roll the small pieces of fondant into a ball, place the tiny balls of fondant where desired, and then gently flatten them into place with a fingertip.

Making a Cereal Treat Tire

• Make one batch of cereal treats.
•  Butter the inside of two - five inch bowls.
• Pack each bowl with about two inches of cereal treat mix. Pack the remaining treat mix into a buttered eight or nine inch cake pan and reward yourself with cereal treats later.
• Remove slightly cooled, molded rounds from the bowls and place wide end down.
•  Form a dent into the narrow end to be the "wheel" later. The shape the round into a wheel shape. 
• Each marshmallow cereal treat tire received fondant "treads" before covering the entire wheel with chocolate fondant that was tinted black with gel coloring.
• I used a small, square cookie cutter to form the fondant "tread". Each black fondant square will yield three tire treads. First, cut a square of fondant out. Second, move the cutter diagonally and cut a chevron shape out of the fondant square. Repeat a third time. 

• My cake board is 28 inches by 28 inches. I made it from heavy cardboard and covered it with aluminum foil.
• I used prepackaged cake mixes to make the 29 chocolate and vanilla cupcakes that form the truck body.
• Aluminum cupcake liners would have looked nice, but I was out of them. I decided to remove the white paper liners so the children did not have to contend with them.
• Each cupcake was frosted and put into place on the cake board. I used a picture to help me with placement.
• After all the frosted cupcakes were in place, I filled in the small gaps between the cupcakes with more frosting to create the cake top.
• A final coat of frosting was smoothed onto the cake top using a long, narrow spatula.

The frosted pickup truck cake with rolled butter cream fondant details in place. 

Rolled buttercream fondant recipe            Click here

Buttercream frosting recipe                          Click here

Sallee's Six - The Cupcake Pull Apart Cake Edition

In America, we celebrate with cake! Baby showers, birthdays, sporting events, weddings, and holidays are celebrated with cake. Okay, some Americans celebrate with pie. However, in my opinion, cake is the popular choice. 

Custom Cake and Cupcake Prices

Custom cake prices usually cost about $2.35 to $3.00 per serving. Just think about that for a minute, a cake large enough to serve 100 people can cost $300. Custom cupcakes can cost as much as $1.75 each, or $21.00 a dozen, for standard size cupcakes. However, a well known bakery, such as Charm City Cakes, charges $6 - $9 per serving AND this cost does not include labor. Prices like these cause home bakers to attempt making their own specialty cakes, or cupcakes, at home.

Home Baker Costs for Cupcakes

One cake mix makes twenty-four standard cupcakes. One container of frosting will generously frost about eighteen standard cupcakes. The total cost for a cake mix is about $1.00 to $1.99 each and a container of frosting is $1.19 to $2.35 each. A container of cupcake liners is another dollar or two.Using these prices, you can bake and frost 24 cupcakes for about thirty-six cents each.

                                             

Do It Yourself, Pull Apart Cakes

Novice and intermediate home bakers can bake a cupcake pull apart cake. First, you need a pattern to follow. The links below will take you to six of my favorite, pull apart cakes made from cupcakes.

•  Elmo, 20 cupcakes by thatgirlang                               

Click here to see the pattern

• John Deere Tractor, 39 cupcakes by Jessie Karnes Asbury  

Click here to see the pattern

• Butterfly, 24 cupcakes by thatgirlang                        

Click here to see the pattern

• Spiderman, 27-30 cupcakes  by Sweet E's Cake Creation

Click here to see the pattern

• Princess Dress, 27 cupcakes by Valawynn                  

Click here to see pictures
                                                                                                                 

Click here for tutorial

• Super Bowl Touchdown Cake, 24 cupcakes by Food Network Kitchen

Click here for recipe and directions

Sallee'sSix - The Brownie-Blondie Edition

Brownies. One word that makes me think: crinkled, chewy, chocolate squares of fudgy deliciousness.

Blondies. Buttery, tender squares of sweet richness. Okay, I have to stop or start pulling blondie ingredients off of the pantry shelves.

Non-chocoholics rejoice because this recipe list includes blondies for you.





1. Zucchini Brownies   Gardeners, your zucchini plants are producing like crazy. You are tired of making zucchini bread, zucchini relish, etc... How about some zucchini brownies? Trish, over at "Mom on Time Out", has a wonderful zucchini brownie recipe just for you!

2. Dulce de Leche Brownies  Special occasion coming up and your short on time? Try these brownies that start with a Ghiradelli Brownie Mix and are topped with Dulce de Leche Milk Caramel Spread.

3. White Chocolate Decadence Brownies  I promised non-chocoholics that I would include some brownies for them. Here is my first offering, a platinum blondie from Leigh Anne over at "Your Homebased Mom".  Six ingredients for the blondie and five ingredients for the frosting. Decadent and easy. 

4. Caramel Crunch Blondies  Dorothy Kern, from "Crazy for Crust",  made these blondies to send to an Armed Forces member in a care package. Dorothy has more blondie recipes that you may like, Lemon Coconut Blondies and Nutter Butter Butterscotch Blondies. Three blondie recipes from one link. Woohoo! Now you know why she is one of my favorite six for the brownie edition. 

Tip: This recipe uses caramels and mini-chocolate crunch bars. Bookmark this recipe or post,  and bake blondies using those left over Halloween candy bars that your children received.

5. Brown Butter Caramel Toffee Chip Blondies  My mouth is watering just from typing the name! Luscious, buttery, and richness (singing voice) are playing a melody to my taste buds. Stephanie, over at "Back for Seconds" is a sweet genius! 45 minutes to sweet satisfaction! PLUS she has a yum-a-liscious Snickers Brownie .

Tip: The Snickers brownie recipe uses mini-candy bars. Use those extra Halloween candy bars that the kids received. 

 6. My Kid's Favorite Brownies  From Shelly over at "Cookies and Cups",  a simple brownie recipe that will transport you back into childhood. 

Caramel Chocolate Turtle Cake

Since I am a chocoholic, I used a trio of chocolate flavors: devil's food chocolate cake, milk chocolate chips, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Then, I layered and topped the cake with this luscious, buttery, and velvety smooth caramel sauce.
 Nut allergies are a  concern for many people when they eat a dessert, but not with this cake. The turtle cake is nut-free. However, nut lovers will not miss the pecans while eating this triple chocolate, caramel smothered cake.

After I made this cake, I carried it to work with me so my coworkers could taste test it. My coworkers fell in love with the caramel topping and were very surprised to find out that the caramel was home made. Some of the compliments the cake was given were: fantastic, amazing, awesome, addictive, and rich.
Craving a taste of some homemade happiness on a plate? Try making
my version of a Caramel Chocolate Turtle cake.
P.S.  I had to use my serrated bread knife to neatly slice through the caramel on top of the cake. 

Cake Ingredients

1 box devil's food chocolate cake mix
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1  cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 batch of caramel sauce

Caramel Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 Tbsp. butter

Golden brown, luscious caramel sauce ready to use.

Caramel Directions

• Place all ingredients, except the vanilla extract, into a large pan.
• Cook over medium low heat. (#3 on my gas range) Do not be tempted to turn the heat up. My first batch scorched because I got impatient and turned the heat up. 
• Stir constantly until mixture begins simmer.
• Stir occasionally with a whisk.
  
• Cook to 225 degrees Fahrenheit
• Watch closely and stir until mixture is thick and golden brown.  

• Remove from the heat.
• Add 1 tsp. of vanilla
• Stir until well blended.
• Keep warm. I put mine on top of my stove where the oven can keep it warm.

Cake Directions

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Butter the bottom and sides of a 10.5 inch spring form pan. 
• Dust with cocoa powder.

• Make cake batter as directed on box.
• Pour half of the batter into pan.
• Bake 15 - 22 minutes. 
• Remove from oven.
• Pour a little more than half the caramel mixture over the warm cake in the pan.
• Sprinkle with the milk chocolate chips.
• Spread with remaining cake batter.
• Bake 25 to 28 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. At 28 minutes my cake still wasn't quite done in the middle. I added another 3 minutes to the cooking time.
• Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. I had trouble getting a butter knife around the edge of the cake. My darn eyes and hands didn't work together and I accidentally cut into the cake edge. 
• Cool at least 30 minutes.
• Remove spring form pan from the cake.
• Place on a plate.
• Drizzle with caramel sauce and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• Store loosely covered. Update: Okay I tried loosely covering my cake and everything stuck to the caramel I topped the cake with. I ended up using a large, plastic salad bowl as a cake cover and taped it to the cake platter to transport the cake to work. 

         
After cleaning my spring form pan, I realized that lining the pan with parchment paper would have been a better way to get this cake out of the pan.
Also, parchment paper would prevent the batter from creeping into the tiny gap between the bottom and sides of the pan. 

Mothers Day Tea Light Holders

Glitter salt dough, cookie cutters, and tea lights are all you
need to make this easy and economical craft for Mothers Day. 

Old fashioned salt dough can be updated with the simple addition of Wilton gel food colors and glitter. I was visiting The Imagination Tree looking for a Mothers Day craft for church when I saw Anna's post for Rainbow Glitter Salt Dough. Wow, why didn't I think of this? Anyway, I knew I wanted to have the kiddos make a tea light for mom using this great salt dough idea. Read on to see the basic recipe and directions.

The basic recipe for one pound of salt dough is:

1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of salt

1/2 cup of warm water

2 1/2 - 3 tablespoons of glitter

a small amount of Wilton gel food coloring in the desired color

Extra Item 

1 can of clear spray paint

Salt Dough Directions

• Place the flour, salt, and glitter in a bowl.
• Stir until well blended.
• Add the warm water
• Stir with a sturdy spoon until the dough begins to cling together.
• Knead the dough by hand until it forms a ball.
• If the dough is sticky, add a small amount of flour to the bowl and knead it into the dough.
• Continue to do this until the dough is no longer sticky.
• Divide dough into four balls.
• Flatten the balls slightly and add desired amount of gel food coloring to each ball.
• Fold the dough over on itself and knead the color into the dough.
• This makes four 1/4 pound balls, or enough to make 8 - three or four inch tea light holders.

Tea Light Directions

• Begin with a two ounce ball of one color. (Slightly larger than a golf ball)
• I flattened the ball into a disc that was a little larger than the cookie cutter I wanted to use.
• Then I added designs with two contrasting colors before cutting the dough into the desired shape with a cookie cutter. 
• Center a tea light over the dough and press it into the dough.
• Wiggle gently until a well is created for the tea light to sit in. Remove the tea light.
• Bake at 200 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit for two to three hours.
• Let tea lights cool.
• Spray a light coat of clear paint onto the tea lights to help keep the glitter from "shedding". 
• Your beautiful tea lights are finished.

For a look at painted holders go on over to Life as a Mom and see Janel's tutorial.

Crispy Chocolate Mint Shamrock Treats

Creating a St. Patrick's Day Treat

Bill and I love chocolate and mint cookies. The two boxes of  GS Thin Mint Cookies were eaten forty-eight hours after arriving at our house. Craving more of that chocolate mint combo, I searched the cookie aisle at the store for more chocolate mint cookies. Then, wanting to create a St. Patrick's Day treat led me to whip up a test batch of crispy chocolate mint shamrock treats. The mint flavor was great, but the melted,white marshmallow mixture didn't look appealing with the chocolate cereal. Also, I piped mint frosting on the treats with a medium drop flower tip that successfully made the shamrocks look like broccoli. No, I am not showing you a picture!

Test Batch One results - Great flavor, but low eye appeal. Who wants to eat chocolate mint broccoli? 

After careful thought, I decided to add a tablespoon of chocolate chips to the marshmallow mixture. Who doesn't want more chocolate? AND the mint frosting will be piped on with a #5 outlining tip to highlight the shamrock shape. No more green stars or drop flowers. Unless they are tiny accents. 

Double Chocolate Mint Shamrock Treats Recipe

Yield: about 14 treats

Ingredients

4 Tbsp. butter              1- 10 oz. bag miniature marshmallows             6 cups Cocoa Dyno-Bites cereal

1 Tbsp. semi-sweet chocolate chips                                                    1/2 teaspoon mint extract

shortening to lightly grease baking pan and hands

Directions

• Grease an 11x13x9 inch baking pan lightly with shortening. Set aside.
• Place butter in a  large, microwaveable bowl and microwave for 30 second. 
• Stir once or twice.
• Microwave for an additional 15 seconds, or until the butter is melted.
• Remove bowl from the microwave. Add marshmallows to the bowl and stir until the marshmallows are coated with the butter.
• Place the bowl of coated marshmallows in the microwave.
• Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir mixture once or twice.
• Repeat this step twice, or until the marshmallows are melted.
• Add chocolate chips and stir until well blended. This may take a minute or two.
• Add mint flavoring and stir until well blended. 
• Add Cocoa Dyno-Bites and stir until the marshmallow mixture is blended evenly with the cereal
• Place cereal marshmallow mixture into the lightly greased baking pan and press lightly with greased hands until the cereal is in a single, evenly packed layer. 

Stirring in the chocolate chips

Treat mixture pressed into the baking pan.

Shaping the Shamrocks

Equipment

• Two 1 3/4" cookie cutters - a heart and a square
• baking sheet
• waxed paper
• shortening or pan coat

Directions

1. Lightly grease cutters with shortening, or spray with pan coat. 
2. Place waxed paper over a baking sheet
3. Cut six hearts from packed cereal mixture and one square. 
4. Cut the square in half for two stems.
5. Place the two stems on the baking sheet and arrange tips of three hearts around each stem in shamrock shape. 
6. Gently, push the hearts and stems together.
7. Repeat steps three through six until you have used all of the cereal mixture.
8. While the shamrocks are cooling and hardening, make your frosting

                 

Treats after pushing the pieces together.

Shamrock Frosting

Ingredients 

1 lb. powdered, or confectioners sugar (half of a 2 lb. bag), sifted

1/4 cup plus 1 tsp. water 

1/2 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon mint extract

green food coloring

Directions

• Place shortening and butter in a bowl. Beat on low speed until will blended.
• Add the mint flavoring, water, and a cup of sifted sugar to the bowl.
• Beat on low speed until combined. 
• Place rest of sugar in the bowl. Beat on low speed until combined.
• Add just enough food coloring to achieve a pale green color.
• Place frosting in a pastry bag with a #5 piping tip. Outline each treat with the frosting. 

Your shamrocks are ready to be eaten immediately, or if you have enough will power, you can wait until the frosting hardens.Happy St.Patrick's Day chocoholics,  I hope you enjoy eating  your piece of homemade happiness on a plate!