4 Easy Ideas for Salty-Sweet Chocolate Chip Cookies

Whether you have a killer chocolate chip cookie recipe or use refrigerated cookie dough like me, sometimes you just want something different.  I am a huge fan of salty-sweet snacks, so I experimented with different ways I could turn classic chocolate chip cookies into a salty-sweet treat.

If you want to surprise your family, then give one of these easy options a whirl!  All you need to do is add one of these savory foods to your chocolate chip cookie dough before baking.  I just push them right into the scoops of cookie dough while they're on the baking sheet.


4 Salty Foods to Add to Your Chocolate Chip Cookies . . .

1.  Salted pretzels pieces were one of my children's favorites.  We always have pretzels on-hand, so I just broke them into small pieces and they were ready to use!

2.  Salted cashews are a favorite in our house and they're less costly when you buy them in halves and pieces.  They are not too hard and are perfect to add to cookies.  (Please do not try if someone in your household has a nut allergy.)

3.  Crumbled bacon was a huge hit with my family.  They are all bacon-lovers, but were skeptical about bacon in their chocolate chip cookies.  They were pleasantly surprised!  You could also try crumbling freshly cooked bacon, but it would be best to drain off as much grease as possible before crumbling and adding to the cookie dough.

4.  Corn chip pieces (not tortilla chips) turned out to be very tasty in chocolate chip cookies.  I also tried these corn snacks, but they weren't quite salty enough and they were too light and crispy to add the amount of oomph I was looking for.


Like these easy salty-sweet ideas? Pin them for later!

If you try any of these salty-sweet chocolate chip cookie ideas, let us know how they turned out in a comment here.

List of Super-Easy Recipes!

For your convenience, please find a directory of all the easy recipes that have been featured on 3G2S below.  This page will be updated regularly, so be sure to bookmark it.

Easy Breakfast & Brunch Recipes:

• Bacon & Scallion Cornbread
• Chocolate-Dipped Almond Toast
• Chocolate Swirl Crescent Rolls

Easy Lunch & Dinner Recipes:

• Bacon & Shrimp Pizza Bake
• Bacon-Wrapped Italian Style Chicken Fingers
• Basic Tomato Sauce
• Chestnut Stuffing
• Chicken & Rice Slow Cooker Soup
• Garlic Bread from Leftover Hot Dog Buns
• Garlic Mushroom Swiss Burger
• Pepperoni Pizza Bake
• Pigtails & Fries
• Polish Sausage & Pierogies
• Popcorn Shrimp & Spinach Pasta
• Race Car Wheels Pasta Salad
• Savory Whole Grain Pasta Salad
• Seasoned Roasted Red Potatoes
• Shrimp Scampi Tortellini Kabobs
• Stuffed Mushroom & Onion Parmesan Pizza Crust Rolls
• Tomato & Spinach Flatbread Pizza
• Veggie Flower Pasta

Easy Dessert Recipes:

• Bear Paw Brownie Cookies
• Cherry or Peach Cobbler
• Dark Chocolate Pretzel Treats
• Decorated Dairy-Free Watermelon Cake
• Double Caramel Brownies
• Heath Bar Caramel Malted Milk Chocolate Brownies
• Hugs & Kisses Mini Pies
• Mango Paradise Ice Cream Cake
• Mini Apple Pies
• Mini Pixie Dust Cookies
• Peanut Butter Oreo Butterfinger Brownies

Easy Snacks, Appetizers, & Party Food Recipes:

• 3 Marshmallow Pretzel Dips
• Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms
• Blueberry Lemonade Frozen Pops
• Buttery Tortilla Chips
• Chocolate Dipped Melba Toast
• Fresh Bruschetta
• Frozen Pops Punch
• Halloween Candy Corn Ice Cubes
• Halloween Eyeballs Ice Cubes
• Halloween Ice Cream Sandwich Coffins
• Lactose-Free Frozen Milkshake Pops
• Parmesan Flatbread Breadsticks
• Rice Krispies Treats Centerpiece
• Salty Sweet "Interrogative" Rice Krispies Treats
• Sausage Onion Pepper Scoops
• Sea Salt Almond Caramel Pretzel Bites
• Soy Honey Lime Dipping Sauce

Summertime Party Treat Ideas plus an Easy Blueberry Lemonade Popsicle Recipe (#HABAusa)

Thank you to HABA for providing samples of fun silicone molds for us to base this review upon and for providing additional products for our giveaway prize.  All opinions expressed are our own.

Summer is almost here, and finding easy-to-make treats that cool off hot children is a must. HABA has come out with an amazing line of silicone molds that make cooking even easier. This simple but tasty popsicle recipe is sure to delight children and parents alike.

Easy Recipe:  Blueberry Lemonade Popsicles

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1 cup lemonade

1. Use ½ cup frozen fruit per one cup of juice. We used frozen blueberries and lemonade (not freshly squeezed lemonade) because it makes for a sweet and tart popsicle that we love.

2. Pour all ingredients into a blender and push the “smoothie” (or similar) button.  Continue to blend the ingredients until it is almost completely liquefied. Occasional chunks of fruit are fine...in fact, they make it taste even better.

3. Gently pour into HABA Silicone Popsicle Trays (or Ice Cube Trays), being careful not to over-fill.

4. Freeze on a level surface until completely hardened.

5. Carefully remove popsicles from the silicone trays and enjoy! These do not freeze solid, but instead more of a popsicle texture because of the frozen fruit mixed in.

You can pour these into HABA Silicone Ice Cube Trays too and serve in tea, lemonade, or water for a nice little addition to drinks. While the flavored ice melts, your drink’s flavor starts to change.

These silicone molds are great for parties, barbecues, or just because. The Jungle Snake Silicone Cake Mold was fun to use and we elaborated on our cake by covering it with frosting and decorating it with gumdrop scales, eyes, and a Fruit-By-The-Foot tongue. And we can’t forget the “baby snakes”, aka gummy worms.

All the molds are very well made of sturdy silicone and they are dishwasher, oven, and freezer safe. We look forward to using ours for many years. You can purchase these and all HABA’s amazing products on their website, www.habausa.com. The silicone molds start at $9.49.


Enter to win a set of 5 HABA silicone molds (a $75 value) . . . 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck in the drawing!

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. A random drawing will be held shortly after the contest closing. The winner will be announced here and will be contacted via email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be drawn.

Try This Shrimp Scampi Tortellini Kabobs Recipe for a Make-Ahead Easy Dinner #EasyPrepMeals #shop #cbias

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This #EasyPrepMeals shop has been compensated as part of a meal solutions social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser.

You all know (probably because I complain about it often) that our household is a very busy one.  Two things that results from this hectic lifestyle are ordering takeout far more often than we should and serving the same easy dinners week after week.  Even though those meals are favorites around here, we are in desperate need of new dinner ideas to help us get out of this rut, especially for those weekdays when we don't get home until 7pm after being at Taekwondo classes for two hours.

Recipe creation is not my strong suit.  I usually need some inspiration from something I see on another blog, on Pinterest, or a new product that has caught my attention, like Campbell's Sauces.  These sauces come in several varieties both for skillet pan dinners and slow cooker dinners.  It's meal solutions such as this product that get my brain working on new ideas for quick dinners that my husband and I can prepare for our family.  Checkout our latest recipe for a meal you can mostly prepare ahead of time and have for dinner tonight with very little prep time . . .

Recipe:  Shrimp Scampi Tortellini Kabobs + Dipping Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

Campbell's Scampi Skillet Sauces (1 pouch for every 3 people)

2lbs large uncooked shrimp (shelled and deveined)

10oz whole Bella mushrooms (halved)

20oz package of fresh rainbow tortellini

1lb cherry tomatoes (washed and dried)

shaved or shredded Parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 Tbsp butter

6" bamboo skewers

Campbell's Skillet and Slow Cooker Sauces at Stop & Shop

Tip:  The tortellini, shrimp, and mushrooms can be prepared ahead of time.  If you choose to cook some or all of those ingredients in advance, store them in the refrigerator tightly covered on or off the skewers.  Then simply warm them in the microwave before serving.

Step 1.  Boil water and cook tortellini per package instructions.  (Do not overcook so that the tortellini will stay intact when skewered.)  Then drain and set aside.

Step 2.  Put 2 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter into a skillet over medium heat.  Add minced garlic.  Saute over medium heat until garlic is fragrant.  Add shrimp and saute for approximately 5 minutes or until shrimp becomes opaque.  (Do not overcook.)  Remove shrimp from heat and set aside.

Step 3.  If you haven't already done so, wash the mushrooms and cut them in half.  Then in a separate skillet (or wash the one you used for the shrimp) melt 2 Tbsp of butter and saute the mushrooms for approximately 10 minutes over medium-high heat.  Remove from heat when mushrooms are tender and set aside.

Step 4.  Using your 6" skewers, create kabobs of shrimp, tortellini, mushrooms, and uncooked cherry tomatoes.  (You can customize your kabobs to each family member's preferences.  Our youngest son doesn't like mushrooms, so I made several kabobs without mushrooms.)

Step 5.  Pour the contents of your Campbell's Scampi Skillet Sauces pouch (or pouches) into a saucepan. Over low heat and while stirring, heat the sauce until warm and smooth.  Remove from heat and spoon into individual dipping bowls.  Allow sauce to cool for 5 minutes.  Then sprinkle shaved or shredded Parmesan cheese on top.

Step 6.  Briefly rewarm skewers in the microwave and serve immediately with the Scampi dipping sauce on the side.

This meal is great served with garlic bread or a salad.  The whole family enjoyed it (young picky eaters included).  The best thing is that you can make the skewers ahead of time, so all you'd need to do is heat the dipping sauce on the stove and warm the skewers in the microwave to get this delicious and quick dinner on the table on a busy night.  The garlic bread and salad are optional.  For those, we almost always opt for frozen garlic bread and Caesar salad in a bag.

Of course, you can make your own variations of these Shrimp Scampi kabobs to fit your own family's tastes.  What else would you add to your kabobs?


If you like this dinner idea, be sure to Pin It for later . . . 

If you are look for more dinner ideas, visit your local Stop & Shop or Giant Supermarket for an in-store demo on Saturday, May 3rd.  The demos will take place in select locations, so be sure to call your local store to check if there is a demo scheduled in advance.  Also be sure to checkout all the delicious-looking skillet pan ideas and slow cooker ideas from Campbell's Sauces on Facebook!

Easy Recipe for a Pirate Fairy Family Movie Night on the Fly (plus Blue Pixie Dust Cookies!) #ProtectPixieHollow #shop #cbias

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This #ProtectPixieHollow shop has been compensated as part of a Disney The Pirate Fairy social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser.

I'd love to say that our household is very zen and stress-free, but I can't . . . not even a little bit.  The truth is that ours is a very high stress household.  Everyone works hard and even the children rarely get downtime on weekdays during the few hours between the time they get off the school bus and the time they go to bed.  My oldest son just completed two big projects for school and all 3 children just recovered from a terrible stomach bug.  That's why I thought a surprise family movie night in the middle of the week would be just what the doctor ordered!  Since Disney's The Pirate Fairy released earlier this week on April 1st, I went to Walmart to pick up the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and a few other things I would need for planning a family movie night on the fly! (Get it?  Pixies . . . fly?).


Here is my recipe for a quick mid-week family movie night . . . 

Step 1.  Get your children to do extra homework the night before to free up their time for a weekday family movie night.

Step 2.  Go to Walmart and buy Disney The Pirate Fairy (in the New Releases section).  I saw that the Walmart Exclusive gift set with the bonus Bake Off DVD, which also includes 10 animated shorts, was the same price as the regular Blu-ray/DVD combo, so I grabbed it.

Step 3.  If you don't already have the the following, you can grab these at Walmart too:  large cupcake liners that look like flowers (I bought Wilton cupcake liners, but you could probably cut the shapes out of regular ones), iridescent ribbon (like Tinker Bell's wings), green cellophane Easter grass, covered straw cups, refrigerated sugar cookie dough, blue sugar crystals, a small round cookie cutter, confectioners sugar, and some Pirate's Booty snacks (Arrrrrrrgh!!!).

Step 4.  Bake and decorate the mini Blue Pixie Dust cookies in advance (see the super-easy recipe at the bottom).

Step 5.  Set up a little "Pixie Hollow Patch" with everything you need for the movie with one serving of Blue Pixie Dust cookies, one serving of Pirate's Booty, and one cup of milk per child.

Step 6.  Eat an early dinner.  If you didn't have time to cook, then order takeout to make things as stress-free as possible and to ensure that the children don't get to bed too late since it's a school night.

Step 7.  Sit down with your children and enjoy the movie!  (I totally enjoyed it as much as the children did.)


Other ways to make your family movie night fun . . . 

• Read a Disney Fairies book for your bedtime story after the movie
• Bookmark The Pirate Fairy games online, so the fun can continue the rest of the week.
• Print out these free printable Pirate Fairy coloring pages for use in the days to come.

Captain Zarina - The Pirate Fairy Scene on Disney Video
Although I've watched several Disney Fairies movies in the past, I have to say that this is honestly my favorite one.  Although I had been introduced to most of the fairies in past movies, this was the first one I've watched that really focused on each fairy's special talent and showed off how amazing and magical each talent was.  I think my favorite fairy is Rosetta because she is such a lady and she beautifies everything she touches.  Still, it would be exciting to have the talent of alchemy, which belongs to the newly introduced fairy, Zarina.

Something else about The Pirate Fairy that both I and my children very much enjoyed is that this movie had a place in time.  To me, other Disney Fairies movies were just adventures pulled out of no specific time from Pixie Hollow.  This one included the winter fairies, whom we were introduced to in the movie Secret of the Wings.  The viewer also eventually realizes that one of the characters is actually a young Captain James Hook (pre-hook) and a newly hatched crocodile named Crocky grows up to be Tick-Tock, the ticking crocodile from Peter Pan.  If your children have not already seen Peter Pan, it might be a good choice for your next family movie night as a follow-up to The Pirate Fairy.

Overall, this movie sends a great message about the flaws of not making an effort to see the potential in the new and nontraditional.  It also shows how important the ability to forgive is, something I want my children to be reminded about as often as possible.

Due to it being a school night, we had to save the bonus features and the Bake Off DVD for the following night.  The Bake Off also contained the theme of tradition vs. innovation and tied in very nicely with the story of Zarina, the pirate fairy.

If you're able to get The Pirate Fairy Blu-ray/DVD and Bake Off DVD gift set at Walmart before they sell out, let me know how you and your children like it!


Now as promised . . . 

Recipe:  Easy Pixie Dust Cookies

WHAT YOU NEED:

refrigerated sugar cookie dough

small round cookie cutter

blue sugar crystals

confectioners sugar

milk (or water)

Step 1.  Preheat the oven as directed on cookie packaging.

Step 2.  Slice the cookie dough per package instructions.  Then use your small round cookie cutter to cut your mini cookies out of the cookie dough slices.  Combine and flatten out the remaining dough to cut additional circles.

TIP:  Because of the small size of the cookies, I do not recommend using shaped cookie cutters.  I used a scalloped one, but it still baked into circles with smooth edges.

Step 3.  After the cut dough has been placed on a cookie sheet at least one inch apart, bake them for HALF the time recommended on the cookie dough package.  Watch the cookies carefully and remove them from the oven as soon as the edges begin to brown slightly.  Let them sit for a few minutes, then remove them with a spatula and put them on a plate to cool.

Step 4.  While your cookies are cooling, put 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar in a small bowl.  Then add a teaspoon of milk (can be substituted with water).  Stir until the icing is smooth and spreadable, but not runny.  If it's too thick, add another 1/4 teaspoon of milk.  If it's too runny, then add a little more powdered sugar.  Keep doing this until the icing is the desired consistency.

Step 5.  Neatly apply the icing to the top of one cookie.  Then sprinkle the blue sugar crystals on top of the freshly iced cookie immediately.  (If the icing begins to set, then the sugar crystals won't sink into it and will fall right off.)  Do this for all your mini cookies.  Serve after the icing has set completely.

Eat and enjoy!!!

Ad: How to Have a Fun & Easy 2-Step Dipping Valentine's Day Family Meal . . . Double-Dipping Required! #LuvTyson

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This #LuvTyson Chicken Tenders shop has been compensated as part of a Valentine's Day social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser.  All opinions expressed are my own.

My husband and I have a date night about once a year and it rarely falls on Valentine's Day.  That is the one day of the year when most of the adults whom we trust to watch our children have their own big plans.  If this happens to you as well, why not make the most of it by have a fun Valentine's Day family meal?  (Romantic candlelight dinners are overrated.)  Since I only do "easy" when it comes to meals, let me show you how simple it would be to create a special kid-friendly dinner for Valentine's Day!  First, you'll need a food that all your children love.  In our case, this would be chicken tenders.

You may think that chicken tenders are just an everyday food, but it transforms into something fun when you introduce the concept of 2-step dipping . . .

"2-Step Dipping" is when you dip your chicken tender into a sweet or tangy sauce and then dip it a second time into something crunchy and savory!

Our Valentine's Day family meal had 6 components . . . 

• Chicken tenders plus 3 sweet/tangy dips and 3 crunchy/savory dips
• Cheese and crackers with heart-shaped pepperonis (cut with kitchen shears)
• Valentine's Day themed plates and napkins
• Chocolate roses
• A red drink (ours was 70% lemon-lime soda & 30% pomegranate cranberry juice)
• Valentine's Day cookies

I found everything I needed at Walmart, including the disposable dipping cups with lids, Valentine's Day stickers (for just $1), 12" paper doilies, chocolate roses ($1 each), everything we needed for dipping, the ingredients for our red drink and our own special dipping sauce, Valentine's Day Peanut M&Ms for our cookies, and of course the Tyson Original Batter Dipped Chicken Breast Tenders.

Be sure to look for a coupon in your February 9th Sunday morning paper for Tyson Batter Dipped Tenders!

There were several things to prepare, but most of them were quite easy.  Our 7 year old daughter was able to help with some of the prep work, such as placing the Valentine's Day stickers on the dipping cups, filling the dipping cups with some of the sauces, and placing the lids on the cups.  We had some stickers leftover, so we wrapped the chocolate roses in a Valentine's Day napkins and secured them with napkin rings we made with the stickers and wide curling ribbon.

For the 2-step dipping, we used two sauces that we have enjoyed dipping other things into in the past.  Then we made a 3rd dipping sauce of our own.  We also crushed 3 of our favorite savory snacks.  What we ended up using for dips were . . .

• Wise Onion Rings (crushed)
• Barbecue corn chips (crushed)
• Cashews (crushed)
• Honey
• Cocktail Sauce
• Soy Honey Lime Sauce (Recipe below)

RECIPE:  Soy Honey Lime Dipping Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup low sodium soy sauce

2 to 3 Tbsp honey

1 tsp lime juice

Step 1.  Pour soy sauce into a small mixing bowl.

Step 2.  Add lime juice, blending it into the soy sauce.

Step 3.  Add honey one tablespoon at a time, stirring to completely dissolve the honey in the soy sauce before adding the next spoonful.  (Taste the sauce before you add more honey.)

I have to say that our children had a blast with the 2-step dipping!  Since they each had their own set of dips, they could experiment with various combinations.  Some of the favorites were the cocktail sauce or the honey with the crushed barbecue corn chips.  Our Soy Honey Lime Sauce tasted great with the chicken tenders, but the solid dipping ingredients did not adhere to it as easily as they did to the honey and cocktail sauce.

Now I want to know what ingredients you would use for your 2-step dipping family meal!

Easy Stuffed Parmesan Pizza Crust Rolls #Recipe

Since the big game is coming up, I thought it would be a great time to share this easy to make game day recipe.  These stuffed rolls were inspired by this Stuffed Pizza Rolls recipe shared by Six Sisters Stuff.  The possibilities really seemed endless with this recipe and we enjoyed experimenting with different ingredients to bake inside the rolls.  We did make a batch with pepperoni and shredded Mozzarella inside with red sauce for dipping and our children just loved it.  For my husband and myself, we wanted something that suited our tastes better . . .

Stuffed Mushroom & Onion Parmesan Pizza Crust Rolls Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

refrigerated pizza dough

4 to 6 whole white mushrooms

1 medium yellow onion

4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp melted butter

2 tsp garlic or Italian seasoning blend

1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
butter or olive oil
nonstick cooking spray

marinara sauce (optional for dipping)

Step 1.  Preheat the oven according to the refrigerated pizza dough's package instructions.

Step 2.  Slice and sauté the mushrooms and onion in a little butter or olive olive oil.  Remove from heat and put aside.

Step 3.  Unroll the pizza dough and press (from the center outward towards the edges) until it has a uniform thickness of approximately 1/4".

Step 4.  Using a pizza cutter or a knife, cut the dough into squares approximately 2".

RECIPE TIP #1

You can make the squares in any size to fit your appetite.  The 2" size is easier to eat for children or for finger foods when entertaining.

Step 5.  Place a bed of shredded Mozzarella cheese onto each square.  Then top with a spoonful of onions and mushrooms.

Step 6.  Bring the four corners of a pizza dough square together with the filling inside.  Then pinch the dough so that it is completely sealed, being careful not to stretch the dough out so much that it makes holes in the bottom or sides.  Repeat with the remaining pizza dough squares.

Step 7.  Spray a glass pie pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Step 8.  Place each filled ball roll into the pie pan.  Then brush the tops with a bit of melted butter.

Step 9.  Sprinkle each roll with garlic or Italian seasoning.  Then generously top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Step 10.  Bake rolls in the oven for approximately 12 to 15 minutes or until they turn a nice golden brown on top.  (Baking time may vary from one oven to another.)

RECIPE Tip #2

If you are using filling that gives off moisture, like the vegetables we used, you may want to bake the rolls for slightly longer (without burning the cheese on top) to prevent the pizza dough from becoming soggy.

Step 11.  Cool for 5 minutes and serve hot either alone or with a side of marinara sauce for dipping.

This recipe can really be adjusted to suit your own tastes.  For example, my husband is not a huge fan of an abundance of melted cheese, so I put less shredded cheese inside the rolls.

These stuffed rolls would be a huge hit on game day!  You could try trading our onions and mushrooms for crumbled sausage, cheddar cheese, ham and cheese, or just about anything you enjoy on a pizza or in a hot sub or calzone.  What would you put inside yours?

3 Tasty & Easy Ways to Add Something Fun to Your Halloween Celebrations! #SpookyCelebration #shop #cbias

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study about Halloween Celebrations for Collective Bias and their client.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Since I am not usually into Halloween baking, I thought I would share some easy no-bake ways to make your Halloween celebrations more fun.  In our house, Halloween is mostly about creating fun memories for our children.  This not only includes cool costumes and candies galore, but also memorable decorations and unique ways to celebrate.  Nothing makes me happier than hearing the words "Remember one year when . . . ".

Last year, we created some pretty darn cool favors to hand out to trick-or-treaters.  This year, I experimented with a few different ways to use candy to create something fun just for our children. After a week of experimenting (my poor husband was tasked with the job of eating all the failed experiments), I came up with a few cool things that anyone can make, even children.


How to make Eyeballs Ice Cubes . . . 

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 standard ice cube tray

Skittles candy

Step 1.  Fill each mold in a standard ice tray about 90% full with water.

Step 2.  Sort through your Skittles and pull out all your orange, yellow, and purple candies.

Step 3.  Place 2 of the same colored Skittles next to each other flat against the bottom in each water-filled mold of the ice cube tray.

Step 4.  Place tray in freezer and allow to freeze completely.

You will notice that the color coating of the Skittles will dissolve into the water almost immediately.  By the time the ice cubes have completely frozen, much of the candy center will have dissolved also, leaving behind two small pieces of candy that will resemble eyeballs.

How to make Candy Corn Ice Cubes . . . 

WHAT YOU NEED:

1 standard ice cube tray

Starburst candy (yellow and orange only)

knife

cutting board

Step 1.  Fill each mold in a standard ice tray about 90% full with water.

Step 2.  Laying each unwrapped Starburst flat on the cutting board, cut the candy into halves.

Step 3.  Place 3 pieces of cut candy flat into the bottom of each water-filled space in the ice cube tray.  Be sure to line the 3 candy pieces in a yellow/orange/yellow or an orange/yellow/orange pattern.

Step 4.  Place tray into freezer and allow to freeze completely.

Although the Starburst candy pieces do not completely dissolve, the results will be a gradient of color within the ice cubes.

Take a look at our Eyeballs and Candy Corn ice cubes . . . 

Keeping in mind that these ice cubes contain sugary candy in them, you may want to use plain ice cubes to fill 2/3 of the glass and add the candy ice cubes on top.  These taste great served with 7UP alone (which was my favorite) or in a party punch made out of 50% 7UP and 50% Hawaiian Punch.

How to make Ice Cream Sandwich Coffins . . . 

WHAT YOU NEED:

rectangular ice cream sandwiches

M&M candies

tube of white icing (for writing)

knife

cutting board

Step 1.  Lay each frozen ice cream sandwich vertically on the cutting board and cut off the tips of the top two corners.

Step 2.  To form the shape of a coffin, cut off the bottom two corners of the ice cream sandwich, starting your cut about halfway down the left and right sides.

Step 3.  Sort through the M&M candies and pull out the fall colors (brown, yellow, orange, and red).

Step 4.  Push the M&M's into the ice cream all around the sides of the ice cream sandwich, making sure to alternate the colors.

Step 5.  Using the white frosting, write the letters "RIP" on the front upper half of the ice cream sandwich.

Step 6.  Store the decorated ice cream sandwich in the freezer until ready to serve.

I experimented with all types of candy, such as Snickers and Twix Fun Size bars, to finally settle on using M&M's.  If you end up doing some experimenting of your own to make Halloween punch, this ice cream sandwich coffin, or other Halloween desserts, I would love to hear about your results.


For more fun #SpookyCelebration Halloween ideas, visit the Spooky Halloween Celebrations Pinterest board and BrightIdeas.com.  Also be sure to check for coupons on products you may use in these and other Halloween recipes.