Firework Sugar Cookies {Pipeable Sugar Cookie Frosting}

These aren't the cookies I said I was going to post for you today.  But while it's still July I thought I'd better hurry and post the ones we made for the Fourth.  I used my basic sugar cookie and frosting recipe and just piped designs on. This frosting is thicker than royal icing (it's basically buttercream) and tastes wayyy better, but also dries hard enough to gently stack the cookies after 12 hours or so.  This cookie/icing recipe is great for any holiday or themed cookie. You will probably see it a lot around here.  Someday I plan to experiment with using lemon or almond extract in place of the vanilla in the frosting.

In other news, Target should totally have a childcare station like Ikea to leave your kids at while you shop.  I would basically live there.  More than I do already I mean.

That's probably why they don't do it.

Can you imagine all those moms??

(I say this is a good idea but then I have visions of mean bully kids throwing cherry slurpees and super salty popcorn all over my poor innocent kids and the Target dog, Bullseye attacking their pants because they accidentally left some string cheese and meat stick in their pockets.  So probably I'd just keep them with me anyways and bring an absurd amount of snacks to keep them in the cart.)

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Shirley Temples

Did you notice my new look? I got a blog makeover this weekend! I am so not computer savvy or techy so this is big news.  It has been bugging me for awhile and I finally sat down and made some changes.  

(When I say "I"-  I really mean my husband.  I ate snacks and peered over his shoulder and nodded as he explained things to me and pretended to understand.) 

I also finally set up a Pinterest account for Dip It In Chocolate, which I have been meaning to do for awhile.  Click on my light blue Pinterest icon on the top right to follow me, and I'll follow you back.  My boards are pretty empty for today but I'm sure they will fill up soon with lots of things to make your pants tight. ;)

Since I was so busy being computer geniusy this weekend, I didn't have much time to bake, but I did make some delicious drinks.  These are low-calorie since they're made with Sprite Zero.  (About 30 calories plus cherries.)  And by saving all those calories you can eat the delicious cookies I have ready for you tomorrow!

I do try to conserve calories for you in the summer time, you know... ;) 

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Brown Butter Peach Pie Shortbread Bars

I thought your body wasn't supposed to start deteriorating until at least 30.  Apparently my body didn't get that memo.  So far 26 has been the year where I have to start dealing with wrinkles and phantom aches and general crabbiness.  (I wish I was joking, but I'm not.  Well, kinda joking about the crabbiness.)

This week I seem to have pulled a muscle in my back probably from pretending to be too realistic of a Velociraptor, so I have been scooting around the house like a hunchback and groaning a lot and using it as an excuse to not put on makeup or go running.  When a migraine joined my back in it's rebellion, I felt so sorry for myself I decided to make these bars.

I had been waiting months for fresh peaches to make them and they did not disappoint. These are really amazing. Especially warmed up with a big fat scoop of drippy vanilla bean ice cream on top.

Put them on your to-do list before summer is up.

And take "Playing carnivorous dinosaurs" off  of your list.

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Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream

Thanks to a cousin of mine I recently discovered Diet Coke with Raspberry from Sonic.  The heavens opened and raspberry diet coke rained down from the sky along with gumdrops and lollipops and Mike-n-Ikes and the streets were paved with Oreos.  (My blood sugar was kinda low so I might be slightly mistaken about this part, but that's basically what happened.)

Really, it was a great drink. 

I prefer not to drink my calories (obvs. so I can partake in chocolate-dipped goodness).  So finding a delicious diet drink is always a treat.

Some of my favorites are, Chick-fil-A's diet lemonade, Sonic's diet  Dr. Pepper with cherry, and Sonic's diet Cherry limeade with raspberry.

I kinda like raspberries.

Speaking of raspberries-


This chocolate raspberry ice cream is like eating frozen fudge.  In no frame of mind can I see how that could ever be a bad thing.

The bad news, is it's not calorie free.

{I know you're shocked.}

The good news is... we had a diet drink today.  ;)  

What's your favorite diet drink?

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Peanut Butter S'more Bars

Nothing says summer like S'mores.

Let's just add a little bit of peanut butter, shall we?   :)

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Summery Strawberry Coconut Cake

This summer has been... interesting...  being the first real "summer" for us, since Chase just started preschool last year.  I totally underestimated how much I actually got done during the 4 hours he was at preschool each week.  Back when I posted our dino treats I mentioned we had started doing some summer units, to keep him preoccupied, and to keep me from going insane.  We've now moved from dinos to continents and we'll probably do one continent every week or two until school starts in September.

I LOVE doing these units with him and he is in heaven, but so much of my free time now is prepping school stuff instead of baking.  (Seriously... homeschoolers... I have no idea how you do this.)  Luckily I have a ton of posts backed up so hopefully I won't be too absent, and I might even get an Arctic-themed treat posted sometime this week.  I love to bake but I also love to spend time with my kids, especially while they're so young and they still like me.  {kinda.}

Now that it's July and it finally feels like summer, I thought it was time to post this summery cake. 

Strawberry cake.  Coconut cream cheese frosting.  Fresh strawberries.  Coconut. 

It's a little slice of summery heaven. 

This  is so yummy I had to give half of it away so I wouldn't eat it all.  The fresh strawberries really make this cake, so I wrote this up as a 4 layer cake (just by cutting each 9 inch rounds in half across the middle) to make room for more strawberries and frosting. I also wrote up the frosting as 1 1/2 times what I did to make enough for each layer, and give you some extra to frost the cake adequately... *cough*.

Don't freak out when you see how much sugar the frosting calls for,  mmkay?  

It's worth it. I promise.

Happy July!!

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Stars n Stripes Mini Fruit Pizzas

Do you know what's ironic?   

Making patriotic treats for the entire month of June and then not having the slightest clue what to make for the actual 4th of July.

Seriously.

Apple pie? Hand-dipped ice cream cones? Red white and blue cheesecake parfaits? Strawberry ice cream? There's too many choices! 

Maybe we'll just go to Chuck-a-Rama.

(kidding).

In other news, my parents are back in their house after the wildfire and it is completely undamaged and un-looted.  They are feeling very blessed!  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for them and the firefighters. 



Recently I have seen so many variations of fruit pizza on Pinterest and it reminded me I've never posted my fruit pizza recipe. It is a favorite for Valentine's day and summer dessert around here.  The best part is you can make the crust/cookies in advance and it takes all of 10 minutes to put together day-of.  To do something different, I thought I'd make these minis so they are easy for single-serving.  (Plus then you don't ruin the pretty picture by slicing it up.)  Also fruit is healthy so you can eat these for breakfast. The bad news for me is we've already demolished all of ours so we can't eat them tomorrow.  Bummm-er.

Hope everyone has a lovely Fourth of July this year.  Have fun celebrating with family and friends and honoring this wonderful country & those who died to create it.  Don't forget to eat lots of red, white, and blue treats and reenact the American Revolution.

Wait, your family doesn't do that?

Oh.  

Mine either...

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Marshmallow Oreo Bars

Cookies.  Marshmallows.  Butter.

Magic I tell you.

Magic.

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Patriotic Chocolate-dipped Cinnamon Bears

The posts are backing up again so hopefully I will be posting a lot over the next week or so.  I wanted to update those of you that follow on Facebook and saw my post about the fire in Colorado Springs.  My parents are still evacuated but are just fine, and for now their house is unscathed.  The firefighters have done an incredible job of controlling this beast and keeping any more structures from burning down.  Unfortunately about 350 neighbors have lost their homes entirely.  Please please keep these families and the tireless firefighters in your prayers.  If any of you are related to a firefighter please let them know they are APPRECIATED.  They don't get told as much as they should, but they are cherished by many.   It truly takes a hero to don a 70 pound suit in 100 degree weather and fight right next to a wildfire that is blazing an extra 500 plus degrees.  And to do it all through the night.  And the next day.  And the next day.  Talk about hell incarnate.   Bless their hearts!  And bless those of you who have given thoughts and prayers to my family and their city.  It is appreciated more than you know.  Wish I could give each of you a great big hug and a basket of chocolate-dipped treats!




Want to talk about cinnamon bears now?


First I have to caution you- these are infinitely easier if you don't put them on skewers.  If you skewer, it takes a LONG time.  You need to thread very slowly and apply even pressure or your chocolate will crack.  And then, your chocolate will crack anyways.  And you will be annoyed and want to throw things.  So I am totally not recommending it but I admit it can be done.  IMO these are just as cute in a bowl for a snack, so no need really.

Cinnamon bears are a great place to start if you haven't dipped much before.  They are small and easy to work with and you can do a lot fairly quickly.  You can certainly use chocolate or brown melts in place of the white melts for traditional chocolate-dipped cinnamon bears.  Be aware that regular chocolate may not harden completely.  I usually get the best results from using a bar chocolate with a good snap (Ghiradelli or something similar) rather than chocolate chips.  You can of course do jimmies or drizzles in any color you like to make these for other holidays or occasions.

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Chocolate-dipped Caramel Rice Krispy Treats

Sometimes you accidentally create a beautiful thing.  (Cough.  Second Child.  Cough.)

Just kidding.  He was on purpose.

What I mean is, sometimes you make something, but you don't realize just how delicious of an idea it was until you taste it.

These Rice Krispy treats are one of those  experiments.  In Brussels, my mom used to pack a Cha Cha in my lunch pretty much every single day.  {A chocolate-covered caramelly wafer treat. } These Rice Krispy treats taste a LOT like a Cha Cha, which I can not find anywhere here, so they spoke directly to my heart.

These are really sweet so cut them small, but they are chewy and chocolatey and delicious.  A little slice of European heaven.

{Well you know.  Kinda.}

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