Cookie Jar: Spooky Pinwheel Cookies

It's almost Halloween!  Yippee!  I love Halloween!  I love the idea that candy will be marked down with a deep discount as soon as Halloween is over.  I can buy my fill of Twix and Three Musketeers!  That's the best part about Halloween.

One tradition we have in Hale o Kikukat is baking cookies during fall intersession.  That didn't happen this year because the Ds and I both took trips during intersession.  Luckily, the Ds stayed with me for the weekend after intersession (Mr. Dependable told me he had to work golf in Kona) so we were able to do our Halloween cookie baking.

D2 wanted to make Hoot Owl Cookies (she has been asking about this for a while), but I didn't think there would be enough for the kids to "help" if we did the owls.  Inspired by Pinterest, I wanted to try making pinwheel cookies.  After checking out a bunch of recipes, I settled on the dough for one of my trusty sugar cookie recipes and just changed the procedure to make the spirals.

If you prefer soft cookies, you can make the rope shorter than 12" before coiling.  But if you are like me and prefer a crunchier cookie, its very important to hold to the 12" length before beginning the coil.  A bunch of the spiral cookie pictures on Pinterest feature thicker cookies.  They look neater than the ones we made, but I'm guessing they weren't crunchy.  Any leftover dough (or if you get tired of rolling the dough into ropes) can be rolled out and cut with cookie cutters.  You can find the procedure and baking times for the cut-out cookies here.

Turned out only D2 helped me with the cookie baking.  D1 recused herself and spent the time in her room.  I'm thinking that was a blessing in disguise.  D2 loves making and decorating cookies, while D1, being a taskmaster, just wants to get things done.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Spooky Pinwheel Cookies

     1/2 c butter, softened
     1/2 c sugar
     1 egg
     1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract
     2 c flour
     2 tsp baking powder
     food coloring:  yellow, orange, black
     non-pareils

Combine flour and baking powder.  Set aside.  Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg and extract and mix well.  Add dry ingredients.  Divide dough into 3 parts.  Tint each part a different color.  Shape colored dough into a flat brick and chill for 30 minutes.  Divide each color of dough into 24 pieces.  Shape each piece into a cylinder 1" long.  Place 2 cylinders of dough next to each other.  Add 3rd cylinder on top.  Roll together to form a 2" cylinder.  Chill for 10 minutes.  Remove 1/4 of cylinders from refrigerator.  Roll into a rope 12" long.  Then twist from one end.  Coil cylinder, taking care to keep center flat.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Chill while preparing remainder of cookies.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Roll edges of cookies in non-pareils.  Bake for 19 minutes.  Place cookies on cooling rack to cool.

Mini Cupcakes with Kick Ass Frosting (for Halloween and Anytime)

Halloween will be here soon.  A few weeks ago when we were in Honolulu, both Uncle Kevo and Aunty Renee suggested Party City in Iwilei as THE place to get Halloween costumes.  Aunty Renee said it was much easier to navigate through than the branch in Waikele, and she was right.  In spite of people congregating in the aisles, there was still ample room to pass (not like KTA!). We only had to go there twice for D2 to select her costume.  D1 and I ended up buying things too.

I always stress over what to send with the Ds (when D1 was younger) for class treats.  When I was younger and optimistic, I tried to send pencil and eraser packs instead of candy.  Now that I'm older and wiser, I send what D2 can easily carry.  Last year she took mini bags of popcorn.  I'm not sure what she will be taking this year.  While I'd love to send her with these cupcakes, I don't think she would appreciate having to carefully transport them.  Too bad because I know her teacher would love them.  I'm not even thinking about her classmates!

I first got the idea for these from my niece Jacy.  She posted a pic on Facebook of some micro cupcakes she made in the ketchup-sized cups (1 oz).  It was Jacy who sternly warned me about not going beyond half-full when filling the portion cups.  Thinking that a micro-cupcake was too small, I decided to use the 2 oz cups.  I took these to a work meeting, and they were a hit.  People ooohhed and aaaahhhed when they saw them, and once they took a bite, I was bombarded with questions.

I was outed!  I was forced to admit that I used cake mix from a box (Betty Crocker golden vanilla in the pics).  Feeling rather shitty, I retreated to my office to hang my head.  I noticed an email was waiting for me.  It was from one of the bosses.  FarcK!!!  Now what???  To my surprise, she asked me for the frosting recipe, deeming it "kick ass".  She said cake is really not worth eating unless it has frosting.  I had to agree.  She also asked how to make the cupcakes in the portion cups.  When we got to the filling part, I explained, "half full".  She then called me an optimist.  Hah!!!  I didn't dare tell her my reaction to seeing her name in my inbox!  I just repeated, "half full".

Happy Halloween!  And thank you, Jacy.

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Mini Cupcakes

     1 box cake mix, any flavor
     33-40 2 oz. paper portion cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (or whatever the box says).  Prepare cake mix according to directions on box.  Fill each paper portion cup half full.  Do not fill any more!  Place filled cups on a baking sheet.  Bake 15-19 minutes (depending on cake mix).  Remove to rack to cool.  Frost when completely cool.

Kick Ass Frosting

     1 c milk
     1/4 c flour
     1 c butter, softened
     1 1/2 tsp extract
     1 c  + 2 tbsp powdered sugar, sifted

Combine milk and flour in a small saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, until thick. Remove from heat and cool completely.  Cream butter until light and fluffy.  Add cooled milk mixture and blend well.  Add extract.  In 3 batches, add powdered sugar.  Beat 10 minutes or until frosting comes together.