They were super easy and so much fun!

All you need is prepared pancake mix, chocolate chips, bacon, and whipped topping.

Step 1:

Pour your pancake mix in a small circle and a larger circle.  Make sure to place them close enough together so that they will touch as the batter spreads out.

Step 2:

Flip the pancakes once and cook until done.

Step 3:

Have fun decorating your snowman!  Bacon for a scarf, chocolate chips for face and buttons, and whipped topping for snow.  You could really use lots of different yummy treats to decorate him so have some fun with it!

Be sure to let your kids have some fun decorating their own snowman pancakes.

My 3 year old loved placing the chocolate chips just right on her pancake…and then eating them right off as soon as she was done.

My son made a one-eyed “Snowclops” on his plate.

This was a fun treat for our family and one that I definitely plan to make again.

I wanted to make the cake myself, but I am no cake decorating master so it was hard to find a design that wasn’t beyond my skill level.  If you Google “Star Wars Cake” you will come up with some amazing ideas.  Exactly zero which I could duplicate.

So the next best thing was to Keep It Simple! 

I found an awesome Darth Vader candle holder on Amazon for about $5 (isn’t the red light saber candle adorable?).  I made a mini-cake for my son in his favorite flavor & simply iced it blue.  I added some black glitter candles I found at WalMart, wrote his name with icing in my quasi-Star Wars font, & he was so happy with how it turned out.  I was glad that it didn’t take any skill to do this, & the results were still cute & kid-pleasing.

I needed something to serve his friends, and my husband suggested using cookie cutters to make these:

Darth Vader’s head is shaped exactly like a bell…leave it to my Think-Outside-Of-The-Box Hubby to see that!

For the Darth Vader cupcakes, I used silver foil cupcake liners & baked some chocolate cupcakes.  I frosted them with chocolate icing & added white nonpareils as stars  for the background.

Using a mini-cookie cutter in the shape of a bell, I cut out Darth Vader heads from sugar cookie dough.  If your cookie cutter has a little “clacker” at the bottom of the bell, just cut it off.  Once these were baked, I let them cool completely & it was time for icing.

I made a batch of Royal Icing (recipe below) & colored about 2/3 of it black with gel coloring.  I would recommend using gel for the best results.  You can find food coloring gel in the Wilton cake decorating aisles of most stores (Wal Mart, Target, Hobby Lobby, etc).

I thinned the black  royal icing (1/2 tsp warm water at a time) until it was runny. Set cookie racks on cookie sheets or wax paper.  Put the cookies on a cookie rack, then pour spoonfuls of black icing over each cookie, allowing the icing to run over the edges & onto the cookie sheet below.  Repeat until all cookies are coated in black icing.  Allow to dry before moving.

Royal Icing turns hard as it dries, so once the black icing has set, I used the leftover white Royal Icing to pipe face details.  You can pick up a small piping tip in the same Wilton aisle as the food color gel & a single tip is a few dollars.  You could also use a freezer Ziplock bag and snip a small corner off, but your results will be a little harder to control.

Just follow the photo above for the simple white face details.  I would recommend making some extra cookies in case you flub the icing here or there…I know I did.  Once the cookie icing was dry, I placed one on top of each cupcake.  Easy peasy!

Royal Icing Recipe

3 Tablespoons meringue powder

4 Cups powdered sugar

6 Tablespoons warm water

Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks.  About 7-10 minutes using low speed in a heavy-duty mixer.  About 10-12 minutes on high speed using hand mixer.

For thinned royal icing, add 1/2 tsp. water at a time until icing is the consistency you want.

Is that bowl of Halloween candy staring at you today?  Did your kids bring home more candy than they could possibly eat?  Get creative & try this recipe…you’ll use up some of those tasty Snickers candy bars! 

Bringing kids into the kitchen creates the perfect time to bond & learn together.  Younger children can help chop the Snickers, measure & sift the dry ingredients, & help spread the batter in the pan.  Older children can follow this simple recipe themselves & create their own special dessert! 

And the best part about cooking with your kids?  It seems to open the door for conversation…especially with older kids…when your hands are busy together, tweens & teens seem to open up.  I think that’s my favorite thing about bringing kids of all ages into the kitchen.  From big to little, there are so many warm fuzzy moments!

Snickers Blondies

1 cup flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg, room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
6 Fun Size Snickers Bars (chopped into 4 pieces each)

 *Preheat oven to 350 degrees & grease an 8×8 baking pan.

*Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, & kosher salt.

*In a large mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, melted butter, & vanilla extract.  Once these ingredients are well blended, add the egg & mix until everything is combined.

*Add the flour mixture very slowly and mix until barely combined.  Using a spatula or large spoon, continue mixing ingredients until completly mixed.  Fold Snickers pieces into the batter.

*Spread the batter into baking pan.  Don’t worry if it seems like there’s not much batter…it all works out!

*Bake for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

*Allow to cool completely, then turn baking pan upside down onto a cutting board.  Cut Blondies into squares & enjoy!

If your family doesn’t like Snickers, just about any chocolatey candy will work.  Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are some of my favorites to throw in!

 And if you really want to be good, give them away as treats to a neighbor or your child’s teacher.  You’ll make someone’s day, & the candy stash will have grown smaller!

Scream Cheese Brownies

This first recipe is a fun twist to traditional brownies, & bringing kids to help in the kitchen is a great way to sneak in some learning!

Use 1 box brownie mix.  Prepare batter according to box directions.  Or you could use your own made-from-scratch recipe.

Cream Cheese Top Layer:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
5 Tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp flour
orange food coloring (optional)

Prepare brownie batter according to the box directions.   Pour ½ of the brownie batter into a  9×13 inch pan sprayed with cooking spray.

In medium bowl, mix cream cheese, butter, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, and flour.  Mix until combined well.  

Add orange food coloring until you reach the desired color. 

Spread cream cheese mixture on top.

Drop remaining brownie batter on top and pull a knife through to make swirl patterns.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until center is set.  Let cool before cutting into squares!

 Halloween Oreo Pops

These little treats are fun to eat & even more fun to share as gifts!   And what child doesn’t love helping with SPRINKLES!!!  Lots and lots of sprinkles!!

You will need:

1 bag chocolate cream-filled cookies

lollipop sticks

white chocolate chips

SPRINKLES!! 

wax paper

broom (unless you like crunching on sprinkles underfoot for days)

Insert a lillipop stick into each Oreo. 

Melt the white chocolate according to package directions. 

Spoon melted chocolate over Oreo pops until entire pop is covered.  Make sure the white chocolate touches goes up against the stick, otherwise it will slide out.

Lay pop on wax paper, & while still melty, let the kids sprinkle Halloween or Fall themed sprinkles all over.  What a fun mess!

I like to put them in the freezer to set the chocolate faster, and once they are solid, wrap them in plastic sleeves for gift giving.  Be sure to save some for yourself though.  They are sure tasty!

I love making cut-out sugar cookies with my kids during the holidays, but let’s be honest…it makes a huge mess and takes a long time!  If you’re looking for a quick way to make Halloween cookies with your kids, check out these adorable Candy Corn Sugar Cookies! 

No cookie cutters, no rolling out the dough…so these can be done lickety-split.

You will need:

*Your favorite sugar cookie dough recipe

*red & yellow food color

*loaf pan

Prepare your cookie dough as per your recipe for cut out cookies (not drop cookies).

Divide your dough into thirds.  Color 1/3 yellow, 1/3 orange (use color mixing chart on your food coloring drops box), and leave the last 1/3 plain.

Line a loaf pan with plastic cling wrap or wax paper.  Press yellow dough into bottom of pan, followed by orange & white dough.  Press firmly.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight for best results.

We didn’t do a very good job of splitting our dough evenly into thirds…but it turned out cute anyway!

When the dough is firm, turn loaf pan upside down & remove your dough.  Look at those layers!

Using a sharp knife, cut your dough into 1/4 inch slices. 

Cut each slice into triangles.  Discard (or eat!) the ends that are rounded if it bothers you.

Spread out triangles onto a cookies sheet & bake according to your recipe’s directions.  Be sure to pull them out before they get browned on the top…the colors will not be very vibrant if they bake too long!  I learned the hard way with my first batch…

I love how easy these cookies are to shape, and you don’t have to flour the counter, roll out the dough, use cookie cutters, re-roll your dough, and repeat the whole process fifty times. 

Allow to cool & enjoy!

One of the things that says “summer” more than anything else are popscicles.  This is by far my kids favorite way to consume a banana – stuck on a stick, smothered with chocolate, and covered with sprinkles.

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Freezer Banana Pops are also a great way to rescue those bananas that are nearing the end of their shelf life.  These homemade Popsicles will keep in the freezer for several weeks.

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Your Banana Pop Ingredient List:

Lollipop sticks.  We cut up bamboo skewers to create our sticks.  You can also use popsicle sticks or even plastic forks.

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Chocolate.  Melt it in a small crockpot or a double boiler on low.  Add a dab of butter to it while it melts and stir frequently so the chocolate will be smooth.

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Sprinkles.  ‘Cause everything is better if it is rainbow

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Egg Carton.  We plugged the sticks into the egg carton to help keep the pops upright and not touching each other so they would look pretty.  They taste just as good if you lay them down on a lined cookie sheet.

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What is your favorite summer Popsicle?

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Coffee PlayDough Recipe.

This recipe was adapted from the basic playdough recipe found on Anna’s site, The Imagination Tree:

2 Cups of Flour

1/2 Cup of Coffee Grounds

1 Tablespoon of Instant Coffee (when it wasn’t dark enough)

1 Cup of Salt

2 Teaspoons of Cream of Tartar (she called for more, but this stuff is hard to find, so I cut the amount by a third).

1 Cup of very hot water

2 Tablespoons of oil

Anna also called for glycerin drops.  We didn’t have any “drops” but I shaved a tiny piece off of a bar of soap.  Glycerin Soap bars are the clear or see-through kind.  A little bit goes a long way.

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Mix the dry ingredients.  Add the wet, stir bunches.  Let it sit for awhile to thicken, then stir some more. 

Do you want to win some of my playdough or other stuff we make?  Occasionally, I do facebook-only giveaways (like yesterday) and one lucky facebook fan won a portion of this batch of coffee playdough!  Follow the Quirky Momma facebook page to learn about some of my favorite sites and all the activities that are on my to-do list…  I love connecting with you, my readers, on there!

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… And, if you like mud, come back tomorrow!  We will feature a collection of some muddy ideas discovered from some of my favorite sites.

Sun Scholar has two fun activities where she made her kids food into an experience.  In her post Edible Beach Bucket, Rachel made a graham cracker topped pudding for her kids to enjoy and then made a watermelon shark – complete with a mouthful of fish.

Deb from Science at Home had several snack ideas, the one that stood out to me was scotch eggs.  I have never heard or seen them before, but they look like little bread covered globes!  This would be a perfect take-out “learning” snack!

Jill of Kitchen Fun has a whole blog chock full of silly cooking ideas for kids!  I could get stuck there for hours!  Two of the posts she recently linked up include her Panda Burgers and the Bert and Ernie Fruit Faces.  Yummy!

Amy is one of my new blogging pals.  I have enjoyed browsing her blog chronicling the preschool she is running from her house.   She has numerous varieties of butterfly snacks, some with muffins, others with fruit and tortilla chips but the one she linked up had fun with veggies – my favorite!

Another wacky kids blog is Paint on the Ceiling, featuring Hannah and her kiddos.  This week they had fun munching on and painting with their food!

Bananas, flax seed, antioxidant filled chocolate and pretzels make up this fun and simple “spider snack“.

Kelley of Little Wonders made a great bucket list that I featured on the QuirkyMomma Facebook page a few weeks ago.  This week they linked up one of their activities: Making banana pops!  These look so yummy!

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The It’s Playtime weekly link-up is featured on the following blogs – check them out to see the different play-themed posts they are featuring:
* Anna : The Imagination Tree
* Jamie : hands on : as we grow
* Rachele : Messy Kids
* Jenny : Let the Children Play

How to Play :

* Let us know you love us, make our day & link back to us in your post/blog.
* Visit on Thursdays.  Link-up a post about play. Your link will show up on each of the blogs in the It’s Playtime community.
* Each hostess will pick posts to feature. (By linking you are giving us permission to use an image and link to you)

P.S. Printables, giveaways and reviews will be deleted, we are trying to keep this link-up party about playing with our kids.
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Do you have any tips on how to save money on meals when you are “on the go”?  I’d love to hear about them!

1 – In the blog, Creativity in Progress, Sunghee created a fun way to showcase those mini-playdough tubs to be party favors.

2 – Denise of Mom in Madison had fun making texture disks with her dough, imprinting various plants.  This is a great way to study botany.

3 – This us a great picture tutorial on how to create a dough bowl.  It is not in English, but the pictures are perfect!

4 – Anna of The Imagination Tree has a whole collection of playdough posts, including one where she describes the different tools and toys her kids use to enhance the fun!

5 – Lisa made an all-natural Herbal Scented Playdough.  I love how she dried her creations.

6 – Caz of  A Little Learning had fun this past Easter recreating playdough eggs with her kids.  They used yellow dough for the yolk, wrapped white dough around it and encased it in a plastic egg.

7 – Jill of Meet the Dubiens had fun teaching her kids about the earth by creating a playdough model earth complete with a core, mantel and crust of continents and oceans.

8 – Peanut Butter and Marshmallow Playdough.  It sounds yummy!  This is a fun moldable treat that Amanda enjoyed as a kiddo.

9 – We used play dough to explain letters that look alike to our kiddos.  My son especially is very spatial.  This activity resonated with him.

10 – Nicole is on MomLoop and is the creator of The Activity Mom.  She created edible playdough with frosting – looks delicious.

11 – Cheryl of Little Running Teacher made little surprise balls.  She hid blobs of paint inside plain dough for her kids to squash and discover.

12 – Sand Play Dough is fun, almost as much fun as digging in the real sand at the beach.

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Do you have a favorite playdough recipe?  Or a favorite activity that you do with your kids?  I’d love to hear about it.