Baa Baa "Back of Lamb" Cookies!

Lamb Cookies..with a twist..or should I say tail?!

I dunno if you're gonna think these are half as funny as I do..hahaha!

Last April, as I was in the planning stages of my baby girl's baby shower, I bought a little trio of baby shower cookie cutters. I found that same bib cutter here if you'd like to purchase one.
Anyways..baa baa back to my story. So when I got home and went through my haul, I got an upside down view of my bib cutter. Oh my word..the first thing that popped into my mind was the back of a lamb. (Maybe it has something to do with all those adorable little "Bunny Booty" treats!) I started laughing out loud. Glad nobody else was around to see me in my pantry giggling at a pack of cookie cutters. And so, here I am almost a year later sharing my silly cookies with you.

Hope they make you chuckle.   :o)

Prepare cookie dough.

 Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface. I rolled mine out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut cookies and place on parchment lined baking pan. Chill pan in frig for 10-15 minutes. Bake cookies.

 Let cool.

 I wanted baby pink lambs so I used two colors of pre-made fondant. I mixed a small amount of pink with a larger amount of white. Roll out fondant.

 Place fondant onto the embossing mat and close to impress the design. I used this embossing folder..the best thing is, right now it's on sale!

 Using the bib cutter, cut out fondant pieces. 
Cutie, cutie lamb's booty!

 If you're having sticking issues, just use a little powdered sugar to dust your cutter and knife.

 Jelly Belly Jelly Beans aka Lamb's Tails.

Attach fondant to cookie and jelly beans to fondant with a small paintbrush and corn syrup.

 Awwww...

Sweet..

Cookie Recipe

(slight variation to Lila Loa's recipe)

1 cup salted butter softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

4 cups flour

Cream, butter and sugar. Add eggs and flavoring, mixing well. Add baking powder and mix again. Gradually add flour on low speed just till combined. I knead the dough a little to make sure the last little bits are flour are fully incorporated. Chill dough. Roll out on lightly floured surface and cut with cookie cutters dusted with flour. Place cookies on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Chill pan for 10 minutes in frig.
 Bake @ 375 for 7-9 minutes.

Happy Spring From Sugartown Sweets & Thanks For Stopping By!

Comments and new members make my life sweeter!

 

My Homemade Butterfingers Experiment!

Homemade Butterfingers!

As soon as I tasted my Chocolate Dipped Peanut Brittle the flavor reminded me of a Butterfinger candy bar. I knew right away these had to happen!

You've no doubt seen many versions of these on the web. Most of them call for candy corn. Well, to be honest, I've not tried those recipes..but I wanted a crunchy bar, and apparently I'm not the only one. The recipes I found for the crunchy ones are very similar to brittle recipes.

So..I took my peanut brittle recipe and followed it almost exactly by substituting peanut butter for the peanuts. 
Complete and Total Disaster. Oh my.. the terrible smell of burnt peanut butter permeating my sweet kitchen. Fail.

Onto batch number two.
I decided to go with the flow and add the peanut butter at the end of the cooking time. This would have gone smoother had I melted my peanut butter first. It still worked but it took me longer to incorporate it and then get the candy poured and cut before setting up.

It would also have helped if I had warmed the pan in the oven as I did with my brittle. 

When I cut into the candy, the first 3 cuts were easy. I just had to score the rest, which is why my bars ended up uneven. 

Final conclusions to my experiment are:
1. Melt peanut butter and add last.
2. Warm parchment lined pans while cooking candy.
3. Cut candy as soon as you pour it. Sets up fast.

My candy was a hit!
Lots of Butterfingers lovers in my family and this got a big thumbs up. 

We have success!

I'm a happy candy maker.   :o)

Ingredients needed.

 With peanut butter..really..you just can't go wrong!

 Heavy bottomed 4 quart saucepan and non-stick spray.

  Tools needed.

 Combine sugar, water and corn syrup and stir cooking over medium heat.

 Nice and bubbly.

When candy reaches 300 degrees, remove from heat and stir in vanilla, baking soda and peanut butter.

Quickly pour candy onto warm parchment lined pan.

I pressed candy flat with spatula lightly sprayed with non-stick spray.

Cut quickly and let set till cool.

 You can totally forgo dipping these in chocolate and just eat plain. I loved them like this!

 Flakey, crunchy, yummy layers.

Oh yes and yum go right here!

 Dip and set!

Homemade Butterfingers

2 cups sugar (i used Wholesome Sweeteners organic)

1/2 cup water (i used bottled Fiji)

1 cup light corn syrup (i used Karo)

3 tablespoons salted butter (i used Horizon organic)

1 teaspoon vanilla (i used 365 organic)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda (i used a new container of Arm & Hammer)

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (i used Skippy natural)

1 12 ounce bag Ghirardelli dark wafer melts

Measure out all your ingredients and have your candy thermometer and all tools in place before you begin making your candy.

Melt peanut butter on low heat in small saucepan keeping warm until ready to add at the end of cooking time. Place your parchment lined pan in a 200 degree oven to warm as you prepare the candy.

Combine sugar, water and corn syrup in a 4 quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Attach candy thermometer and stir frequently. When thermometer reaches 250 degrees, stir in butter. Cook while continuing to stir until temperature reaches 302 (i was shooting for 300, but just missed it) degrees. Remove from heat and immediately stir in baking soda and vanilla and peanut butter mixing well. 

Pour out onto parchment lined pan and use a long metal spatula lightly sprayed with non-stick spray (or something similar) to press mixture evenly. Cut candy immediately. Resist the urge to photograph these steps as your candy sets up..like crazy quick. *wink*

Let candy cool. Melt your dipping chocolate and dip candies. Place on parchment lined pan to set up. Commence to eating and sharing your sweet creation and listen for the Mmmmmms!

Thank You for stopping by

Sugartown Sweets!

Comments and New Members Keep My Life Sweet!

Peeps and Donut Bunnies

 Sweet & Easy Bunny Donuts!

Can y'all tell I'm over winter?

Spring is just around the corner, and even though I may be rushing it a bit..I offer no apologies! ;o)

I mean..just look at these familiar, beloved and welcome friends of Spring! Who's with me?

Hello Peeps!

 Opening a fresh bag of powdered donuts is total and complete torture if you happen to be on a diet..just sayin'.

 I was in Wal-mart a few days ago when I happened upon the "Bunny Bun". An adorable little Scunci hair product for girls. I went straight to the "sugar section" of the store looking for edible items with which to re-create it into an adorable little treat.

Here's what I came up with.

Tools you will need.

 Oh dear! I'm so sorry my little pink peep-ster!

To cut the pieces, you will need 2 circle cutters. One 1/2 inch diameter and one 2 inch diameter. I used the largest and smallest cutter from my fondant cutter set.

Lightly spray cutters with non-stick cooking spray.

Cut as shown in photo below.

 You now have the bunny ears for your donut.

Cut the small circle in half. You will use this as the bunny's nose.

 Melt 5 or 6 of the candy melts in a microwave safe cup for 30 seconds. Stir and melt for another 30 seconds.

I used the flat side of a metal spatula to scrape a bit of the powdered sugar from the topside of the donut. This would be where I placed my bunny ears. Attach by applying the melted candy to the ears and gently pressing onto the donut till set.

 Pour a small dollop of melted candy into the center of the donut.

 Attach nose and gently press the jimmies (whiskers) just under the nose into the melted candy. 

 Press sugar pearls (eyes) into the donut.

Spring Wishes From

Sugartown Sweets!

Thanks for stopping by today!

New members and comments are sweet indeed. :o)

Bluebirds in Candy Nests

 Bluebirds in Candy Nests

Half of my family is nearly buried in the snow.

Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky..

All we are getting here in our neck of the woods are promises of snow..sad. Our snow is a no-show. So..I'm just going ahead and getting ready for Spring!

Let me tell you, if you like the haystacks made with chow mein noodles and butterscotch chips, you're gonna love these even more!

This combo is definitely making its' way back to Sugartown Sweets!

 Aren't these little bluebirds the sweetest?

This edible craft is super easy to assemble.

 Get started by first making the candy nests.

I used almost half a bag of butterscotch chips to make 5 nests. I'd say the whole bag should make at least 10-11 nests.

Melt the chips at 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring each time. Mine took one minute total.

Break pretzel sticks in half and gently stir into melted candy.

 Spoon nests onto a parchment or wax paper lined pan. 

Let set while assembling your baby birds.

 As you can see, these don't need to be perfect. The bluebirds will cute them up!

Roll out fondant and press in leaf cutter. Remove wing piece making two for each bird.

*After I made these, I found that Wilton has discontinued these particular cutters. The new ones have crimped edges. If you don't own the old ones but would like to purchase them, I'm including the link here.

 Melt blue candy melts in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring each time. Apply a small amount of melted candy to the malted egg. I used the tip of a lollipop stick to apply mine.

Let set a few seconds and place triangle sprinkles. Now using the black candy writer pen, draw on two tiny eyes.

 To attach wings, apply a small amount of melted candy to the side of candy egg. Let set a few seconds and then gently press on wing. That's it! You are done!

He looks to be saying, "hi there!"

"If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why oh why can't I."

Wishing You A Sweet Day From

Sugartown Sweets!

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