This post contains affiliate links. We will be compensated for qualifying purchases you make at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support! A month or so ago, Alicia called me and asked if I wanted the Cookie Gun she had found at Home Goods for a good price. (You might call it a Cookie Press.) She knew that I had broken mine and I didn't get to make any Spritz Cookies last Christmas! Ha Ha, how sad! I told her that I wanted it!
I had forgotten all about it when just a few weeks later, my husband and I went to visit her and her family in California!
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This post contains affiliate links. We will be compensated for any purchases you make at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support! Since I was a little girl, I have loved root beer floats. To me they were the tastiest, most refreshing ice cream treats ever. I love the taste of creamy vanilla ice cream mixed in with that sweet root beer flavor! I know that some people do not love root beer, but when it comes to sodas, root beer is always my first choice. Maddy thought that I should do a root beer post, and I was more than willing to do that! But, it may surprise her when she finds out that I was inspired by the root beer float flavor to make these Root Beer Float Whoopie Pies! They came out really good! I used the root beer flavor in the cookie part of this recipe and the filling is a very vanilla marshmallow cream. When I pulled these cookies out of the oven, I loved the color that evoked the color of vanilla ice cream, melted into a glass of root beer. I know that I was on the right track. I used Watkins extract, which you can find on Amazon, as well as a few other brands, to flavor the cookie part of this dessert. The vanilla cream filling is so great because it is made with Marshmallow Fluff! I finally found some at CostPlus Market! Or, you can find it on Amazon here. If you can't find Fluff, I am sure regular marshmallow cream will work. One thing I have learned when working with root beer extract in baking, that the root beer flavor gets stronger after a day has passed. So, making these the day before you serve them is a great thing to do if you want a strong root beer flavor and if you are on a time crunch and need to make them in advance, there is no problem with that. The recipe is pretty simple to make and if you are a root beer fan like I am, I'm sure that you will enjoy them! Here are a couple more Root Beer Recipes for you to enjoy:
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Here is something a little different to use fresh blackberries in! This is a soft bar with a nice and crunchy brown sugar crust. The top part with the blackberries is more like a custard than it is like a cake or bread. It is made with sour cream and cinnamon and with the blackberries folded in, they give you a juicy burst of fresh flavor! It is hard to describe, but pretty delicious.
The recipe is made in a square, 9x9 inch pan, so it isn't overwhelming, and my family gobbled it up pretty quickly! I hope you love it! I think that you will.
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I may have gotten a little over excited when I went to Target last month and saw the dog and cat cookie cutters. As I stood in the store fondling them and debating whether I should get them or not, a woman walked by and she said, "You know, if you buy those you will have to bake cookies!" She was right and I didn't feel like making sugar cookies at that moment, so I put them back.
Over the next few day, I couldn't get them off my mind. I kept thinking about how cute it would be to make the Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat and give them with the classic poem as a gift to a friend, neighbor or to my grandchildren. So, I went back and bought them! Life got busy and I didn't get around to making the cookies for awhile, which gave me time to think about the gift giving possibilities. We know that many people are struggling financially during these pandemic days. Some people always struggle, because of living on a fixed income or other reasons. As a grandmother with 11 grandchildren, 6 children and their spouses and other family members and friends, I know how expensive it can be to buy things for everyone. But, I am sentimental and giving gifts is a way that I like to express my love. Not only that, Christmas doesn't seem like Christmas to me if I don't make some of the gifts that I give. As I considered all of this, I realized that there is something of myself that I can share and maybe this idea is something you would also like to borrow.
When I was young, my mother would read poetry to me and share pieces that she loved. I always remember "The Duel" by Eugene Field, or sometimes known as "The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat." It isn't necessarily a Christmas poem, but I think the coziness of my memory makes it seem like Christmas to me. Since my mother is still alive at the age of 97, all of my grandchildren know her and love her. I think that I could definitely share this poem and my memories of reading it with her and they would appreciate it. It will be very inexpensive to print the poem off myself, scroll it up and wrapped it with a ribbon, and give it along with the cookies that I lovingly baked and decorated. (My cookies are delicious, even if my decoration isn't perfect.)
If you are familiar with the poem, you know that by the end of the story, the dog and cat have eaten each other up! A card accompanying the cookies could take a line from the poem and express the hope that the recipient "eats these cookies up" and enjoys them! Here is the poem if you haven't read it, or would like a copy yourself.
This poem has been made into book form and unfortunately, it seems to be a collector's item and is usually very costly! But I did manage to find this version for a fairly reasonable price if you would like to give an illustrated book along with your cookies.
Perhaps you have a story or poem that you cherish from your childhood that you could make into a similar gift. Here are some suggestions:
You can find a printable version of the story here.
What stories or poems do you love that you could gift with cookies? I would love to hear your ideas in the comments! How fun to eat and read together! What a great way to instill a love of literature!
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Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
April 2024
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