Critter Cookies Recipes

STAINED-GLASS CRITTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift flour and salt into a bowl; set aside.
• Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and lemon juice. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let one disk of dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Place dough on a nonstick baking mat; place a piece of plastic wrap over dough. Roll out dough between baking mat and plastic wrap to 1/4 inch thick. Remove plastic wrap. Cut out cookies with a 5-inch butterfly- or dragonfly-shaped cookie cutter; cut out negative space in the wings using both sides of a small heart-shaped cookie cutter to create a mirror image (see Butterfly or Dragonfly templates). Use a drinking straw to create a hanging hole at top of cookie, if desired. Transfer baking mat to a baking sheet. Transfer baking sheet to freezer, freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet from freezer; remove scraps and reposition cookies so that they are at least 1 inch apart. Roll out scraps, and repeat. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.
• Transfer to oven and bake for 8 minutes. Let cool and sprinkle candy in a single layer in negative space of each cookie. Return to oven and bake until lightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks; carefully remove with a metal spatula.
• Mix together some of the royal icing with food coloring until desired shade is reached for wings. Transfer to a small squirt bottle. Outline wings (see Butterfly or Dragonfly templates) with colored icing. Draw several zigzags across entire surface of the outlined area. If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly. Using tweezers, add candy decor to wing edges, if desired (see Butterfly or Dragonfly templates). Let dry.
• Mix together some of the royal icing with food coloring until desired shade is reached for bodies. Transfer to a small squirt bottle. Outline body (see Butterfly or Dragonfly templates) with colored icing. Draw several zigzags across entire surface of the outlined area. If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly. Using tweezers, add dragees or candy eyes to create eyes (see Butterfly or Dragonfly templates). Let dry.

MUDSLIDE CRITTER BARS

Steps:

• For the crust: Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with the cooking spray.
• Place the cookies in a food processor and grind into fine crumbs. Reserve 1/2 cup of the crumbs for a later use.
• Place the remaining crumbs in a bowl and stir in the melted butter and salt. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan evenly and transfer to the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the brownies.
• For the filling: Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of water to make a double boiler. Set the double boiler over medium heat and stir to melt. Set aside to cool slightly.
• In a medium bowl, mix together the melted chocolate mixture, the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla and eggs. Fold in the white chocolate chips, and then pour the batter into the chilled crust. Bake until set, 28 to 30 minutes.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Sprinkle the reserved cookie crumbs over the finished brownie dish. Tuck the gummy worms on and into the cookie crumb "dirt." Cut the brownies into squares to serve.

THE BEST CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, salt, and butter until a paste forms with no lumps.
• Whisk in the egg and vanilla, beating until light ribbons fall off the whisk and remain for a short while before falling back into the mixture.
• Sift in the flour and baking soda, then fold the mixture with a spatula (Be careful not to overmix, which would cause the gluten in the flour to toughen resulting in cakier cookies).
• Fold in the chocolate chunks, then chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. For a more intense toffee-like flavor and deeper color, chill the dough overnight. The longer the dough rests, the more complex its flavor will be.
• Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Scoop the dough with an ice-cream scoop onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, leaving at least 4 inches (10 cm) of space between cookies and 2 inches (5 cm) of space from the edges of the pan so that the cookies can spread evenly.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the edges have started to barely brown.
• Cool completely before serving.
• Enjoy!

CRAZY CRITTER CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
• Beat all ingredients except frosting, candies, cookies and decorating gel in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Fill cups 1/2 full.
• Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean. Remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Spread with frosting. Decorate with candies to look like butterflies and ladybugs .

CRISPY BUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg whites and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. , Roll into 1-1/2-in. balls, then roll in sugar. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Flatten with a fork. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

CRITTER COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350. Cream the shortening and sugars together until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. In a seperate bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon and baking soda. Gradually add the dry mixtureto the wet, a little at a time, until thoroughly incorporated. Add the oatmeal and walnuts. The dough should be very still and clining to the beaters. More flour may be needed to achieve this consistency.
• Scoop the dough into ball, about the size of a walnut, which is 2-3 TB, place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350for about 18 minutes. The cookies "poof up" while baking and the cookiesare very airy.

COOKIE CUTTER COOKIES

Steps:

• In an electric mixer cream the butter with the brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time, mix well. Sift together the flour and salt, add it to the wet ingredients beating until just incorporated. Place the dough in a 1 gallon size plastic bag. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured board roll the dough to approximately 1/4 inch thick. Remove rolled dough to a lightly floured board and using any shape cookie cutter cut the dough into shapes. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 7 to 10 minutes (depending on the size of the cookies). Remove to a rack and cool before decorating. Place the rack with the cookies over another pan to catch the excess chocolate. Put the chocolate in a quart size plastic bag. Place the bag with the chocolate in a saucepan with hot water. Allow the chocolate to melt, squeezing the bag to mix occasionally. Snip one of the corners off and drizzle chocolate over the cookies. Allow chocolate to set before serving.;
• To decorate: 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped.