Chocolate Dipped Wonders

Working full time now and going through a divorce, not to mention only having my smartphone to blog with. I really haven't had the time to bake or create. I do want to eventually re-vamp my blog with not just sweets but the occasional recipe and crafts too! Thank you to all of my loyal followers and fans that are sticking it out with me! Things will pick up again!
Here is a favorite from last year: Chocolate Dipped Valentine's Pretzels

 

Thanks to Red Fly Creations for sharing my Dipped Chocolate Valentine Pretzels! Please stop by and visit Red Fly Creations for a Chocolate Dipped Valentine 's Day! 

Shamrock & Heart Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cut Out Cookies with a glaze style icing...yum! Best of all, I didn't even have to decorate them! These were my daughters project, she was making for her someone special. This is his favorite recipe that we use for cut-out cookies and for icing, and this flavor combination is absolutely perfect!

For the last Shamrock Cookies that we made, Katie cut and baked and then I decorated. Today the roles were reversed. It is always so nice working with my daughter on baking projects! I am so thankful everyday to have my daughter as my best friend!

This was her first time using this type of icing, it is a little different to work with since it is thinner than the royal icing, but it is slightly softer with better flavor too. I love the colors that she chose!

Of course Katie had to make hearts along with the shamrocks since they are for her sweetheart. Everyday, even St. Patrick's Day, is Valentine's Day for the two of them!

 

For a list of recipe links, including those used for these cookies view my FAQ page!

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Link up your St. Patrick's Day Projects at the Luck o' the Irish Link Party!

2012 Valentine's Wrap-Up

Valentine's is officially over, but that won't stop me from sharing the love!

This is what I made this Valentine season!

Love Letters & Hearts Cookies

Black & Red Heart Cupcakes

Hearts & Kisses Cookies

Hearts -a- Flutter Cookies

Love Birds Cookies

Chocolate Dipped Valentine Pretzels

Rose Cake Pops

Chocolate Coated Valentine Who-Nu's?

Valentine Cake Balls

Shiny Heart Cookies

Hearts on Sticks Cookies

Valentine's Brownies

Girly Cookies

Words of Love Valentine's Cookies

Valentine's Graffiti Cookies

Personalized Valentine's Cookies

Emoticon Valentine Cookies

Be My Cupcake

Giant Chocolate Chip Valentine's Cookie

Glitter Says "I Love You" Cookies

Red & White Flower Cookies

Red & White Flower Cookies

Once I got going with Valentine's I just couldn't stop! My daughter thought these looked tropical, so I thought I would share these last since they could be any occasion!

For these I once again used the Sugarbakers' Chocolate Mini-Chip Cookies recipe. You can find the recipe at The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle! The Ghiradelli Mini Chips made them perfect!

I had premade all of the royal flowers with leftover icing from the Valentine Brownies topped with Roses last month. After the flowers dry for 2 or 3 days, they can be stored in an airtight contain close to forever!

The cookies were outlined, flooded, and decorated with a size 2 tip. After the cookies were dry I glued on the flowers with royal icing. These could be done in any color for any occasion!

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Glitter Says "I Love You" Cookies

This cookies were just so much fun! I just love glitter! This was my first time ever using Disco Dust aka edible glitter and I have Lorraine's Cookies to thank for it, since I won her 1,000 Fans giveaway! If you haven't already, stop by and see her, she is a very talented cookie artist! The cookie cutter that made these cookies was part of the giveaway also and is available at Copper Gifts. The edible glitter is available at Karen's Cookies. (both were sponsors of the giveaway!)

  I have had these fabulous goodies for a few weeks and these fun items have been screaming at me to use them! I have found that I love putting words on cookies and the scalloped oval cookie is perfect for words! I had to dedicate one to my sweetheart, Brad!

Of course, I couldn't just not make one of these fun cookies for my daughter to give to her sweetheart too! Good thing he likes cookies and these cookies are made with a chocolate chip cut out cookie recipe, you can find all the recipes I used on my FAQ page!

To make the cookies, I first colored my royal icing black and let that sit for a day in an airtight container to deepen in color. The outline and flooding were then done using tip 2. After drying for about 12 hours, to be sure they were good and dry, I worked a little at a time (one cookie and just one part of that cookie like the dots or a name) piping red royal icing with a tip 1 and immediately sprinkling on the glitter and just letting it sit for about 30 minutes before dumping off most of the excess glitter. I left them alone overnight to make sure they were full dry and then used a soft brush to brush away the extra glitter that still remained. I can't lie to you, I had glitter all over the place! I worked over waxed paper so I could just fold it in half and put it in a container to use again. Static was loads of fun too and I think everything has a little sparkle to it now! However, I love it!

Disco Dust rocks!

:)

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Valentine's Graffiti Cookies

More fun Valentine's Cookies! My daughter decorated these fun cookies for her boyfriend for Valentine's to go along with the Personalized Valentine's Cookies!

These were made by decorating a cookie with royal icing and letting it fully dry and then drawing on them with edible markers! Of course he loved them and he even shared them on Facebook before I did :)

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I link up at these fun parties!

Personalized Valentine's Cookies

Valentine's Cookies for the happy couple!

Happy Valentine's Katie & Garrett!

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I link up at these fun parties!

Giant Chocolate Chip Valentine's Cookie

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here is a quickie! Really this is something that can be made at the last minute!

All that is needed is a package of chocolate chip cookie mix and the ingredients that go with it, red buttercream icing, heart sprinkles, and piping bag with tips 3, 17, and  22. The pan that I used is by Wilton sold exclusively at Target, there is a cut out heart in the center that I filled with Cherry M&M's.

Prepare cookie mix as directed on package.  The pan is already non-stick, but I spread a little Wilton Cake Release in the pan and around the center heart stem for good measure. Spread cookie dough in pan. The dough was quite sticky and I had to sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough to be able to flatten it better with my hands. I sprinkled the heart sprinkles on before baking. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 20 to 22 minutes. This cookie is 1-inch thick, so it needs the extra time. I let the cookie cool in the pan on a wire rack for a full hour before removing it from the pan. It could have probably been removed sooner, but I didn't want to risk cracking it.

For the borders and writing I used buttercream icing. If you don't want the mess or don't have time to make the buttercream, canned frosting with some additional confectioners' sugar (2 to 3 tablespoons) mixed in to thicken it up would work as well. The outer border is the reverse shell with tip 22, the inner is tip 17 reverse shell. If you are going to fill the center with candy, it is best to do that before piping around the center heart. I finished by writing "Happy Valentine's" with tip 3.

 

While you are visiting today, why don't you share your Valentine's Craft Projects at the "Share the Love" party that I am co-hosting with Happy Hour Projects!

and also be sure to enter the "EB Mine" Eggland's Best Giveaway!

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I link up at these fun parties!

Emoticon Valentine Cookies

 Happy Valentine's Day!

People say it is a commercialized holiday. I make it a cookie-ized holiday and make my loved ones lot of cookies for Valentine's Day!

Have we not learned by now I can't resist bright colored things and sales? Again, found these little candies on sale and had to get them with no clue what I would do with them! I also happened to pick up some Ghiradelli Mini Chocolate Chips! Cookies...that sounds like a plan! More specific...

Sugarbakers' Chocolate Mini-Chip Cookies! You can find the recipe at The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle!

The cookie dough was to die for! But, I didn't, you may, so as a public service announcement, eating raw cookie dough is a No-No! Just in case you want to temp fate...it taste delicious! I did manage to roll it and cut it out and made cookies with it though! For this you must use metal cutters, plastic wouldn't have sliced through the chips! The hearts are scalloped, a cookie cutter passed down from my Mother-in-Law, but the scallops didn't really show since the dough did spread a little more than my regular cookie dough. However, being a chocolate chip cut out cookie, it was so worth it!

These cookies were outlined, filled, and decorated with a size 2 tip and royal icing. See my new FAQ Page for a list of all the recipes that I like to use!

Napkins, Plates, and a fun Chinese Take-Out box to make sharing these easy!

Don't be sad, Valentine's isn't over yet, not at Mrs. Fox's Sweets anyway! I have Valentine's Sweets that I will be sharing all week!
 

While you are visiting today, why don't you share your Valentine's Craft Projects at the "Share the Love" party that I am co-hosting with Happy Hour Projects! 

and also be sure to enter the "EB Mine" Eggland's Best Giveaway!

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I link up at these fun parties!

Words of Love Valentine Cookies

Another fabulous find! Recently I made Girly Cookies and Princess Castles & Tiaras Cookies with a Wilton shaped cookie pan. Well, I found another shaped cookie pan, again on clearance at Michaels, this one was on sale for just $3.99!

The pan has all of these shapes and all you have to do is squish sugar cookie dough inside. The pan directions say to fill either 2/3 or 3/4 full. I do like to fill the cavities pretty much all the way full. Bake 10 to 12 minutes according to pan instructions. It's that easy! I had wanted to take a picture of the cookies before I decorated them, but forgot!

These are a nice size cookie bar, they measure at about 5-1/4 inches in length!

Easy to decorated since it just involves tracing the design imprinted from the pan! I have really began to like this type of pan. I used tip 2 to outline, fill and decorate.

Hugs and Kisses!

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I link up at these fun parties!

EB Mine Valentine's Brunch and Giveaway!

February is not only the month of Valentine's Day, but it is also National Heart Health Month!
I was thrilled when Eggland's Best offered me this opportunity to host this EB Mine Brunch for my loved ones and giveaway for my fans! 

According to the the American Heart Association, Heart Disease is the #1 cause of death in women.

Eggs can be incorporated into a heart-healthy diet, and are one of the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat. Eggland’s Best eggs contain more than 2X the heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids than ordinary eggs, 2X moreVitamin D and 10X more Vitamin E, a vitamin associated with reducing the risk of heart disease. (Information source: Eggland's Best) Find out more nutritional information at Eggland's Best.

As you can imagine, I go through a lot of eggs with all of the baking that I do! I only want to give my family the best! Eggland's Best Cage Free Organic Eggs are my favorite eggs to use. I just feel better giving my family eggs known to be healthier. Not only are Eggland's Best eggs better for you than ordinary eggs, but as a baker, I found out myself that Eggland's Best eggs crack much easier than other eggs. I like to get down to baking, not picking out weak shell pieces! Besides, Eggland's Best is the only egg my Grandma will use and Grandma is never wrong!

 

On the Menu for the "EB Mine" Brunch:

Heart Shaped French toast with stawberries, maple syrup, and a slice of bacon (everything in moderation!)

For this selection I used a slightly altered recipe from Eggland's Best ABC French Toast
French Toast

2 Eggland's Best Eggs
1/4 cup 1% milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons banana applesauce puree
6 slices wheat bread
4 to 6 strawberries slices with "v" shape cut from top to shape like heart

Whisk together all ingredients. Cut out bread using a metal heart shapped cutter and dip bread into egg mixture. Cook on medium high preheated griddle for about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown and dry.
   

Strawberry Muffins
made using heart healthy Eggland's Best eggs, heart healthy whole wheat all-natural unbleached flour, and strawberries which are also known as a heart healthy superfood

These muffins were made using a recipe from Martha Stewart's Website- Strawberry Muffins

 Also on the menu not pictured:

Tortilla wraps with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, onions, and chopped bell peppers
  

For Dessert:
a Mrs. Fox's Sweets original recipe

View full recipe at: Oatmeal Raisin White Chip Cookies
 

Now for the "EB Mine" Giveaway:

(one lucky reader will receive the following)

2 Free EB Dozen coupons (Any variety- classic, cage-free, or organic)

1 Free EB Hard Cookedand Peeled variety coupon

1 EB Apron

1 EB Spatula

1 EB Whisk

1 EB Cutting Board

1 EB Mixing Bowl

1 EB Bowl Scraper

1 EB Coffee Mug

1 Plush Egg

1 EB Tote Bag
   

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Disclosure: Eggland's Best provided Free Eggland's Best Egg coupons for myself and my EB Mine Brunch guests, a giftcard, information, and an "EB Mine" giftbox for myself and one of my lucky readers!
For more information about Eggland's Best Eggs Visit the Eggland's Best Website, also find them on Facebook, and Twitter! 

Share the Love Party!

Hi everyone and welcome to the Share the Love Party!

In addition to Mrs. Fox's Sweet Party and Happy Hour Project's Freestyle Friday this week, we have decided to have a special Valentine's Party for everyone to participate in! That's right, for this party link up your crafts, projects, sweets, and anything you have made for Valentine's (as long as it is appropriate of course!)

I am going to start off the party by sharing my favorite Valentine project from Happy Hour Projects!

Handmade Valentine's Greetings

and then my personal favorite from my own Valentine's projects....

Love Birds Cookies

Just a couple of small requests:

1. It would be lovely if you would Share the Love and stop by and visit my co-host Adrianne at Happy Hour Projects! She has some awesome projects over there!

2. Following us both isn't required, but would be very sweet of you if you did!

3. It would also be nice if you Shared the Love by helping to spread the word about the party, however you wish! If you would like to grab a button for this special party, go to the Grab A Button Page for the code!

4. Link to your specific Valentine's post, not directly your main blog. Link up as many sweets, craft projects, diys, tips, anything Valentine's related that you would like to share! Just keep it clean!

 

Happy Valentine's Day from Happy Hour Projects and Mrs. Fox's Sweets!

Valentine's Cake Balls

Anyone for recycling some leftover cake?

When I make a cake, I make a big one and there are always a lot of leftovers, just like this left over piece of Princess Castle Cake from my daughters birthday. I have found the perfect ratio of frosting to cake is what is on a piece of frosted cake already! I know this piece looks a little rough, I had to pick off the flowers and anything I didn't want mixed in the cake balls, all also cut the brown part off the bottom before squishing the cake into cake balls.

I rolled all of the balls and then put in the refrigerator to chill. I heated up the Chocolate Candiquik and prepared to dip. I found cake balls a little more difficult than cake pops because there isn't a stick to shake the excess chocolate off with! One by one I got them covered and placed on waxed paper. They didn't look that pretty undressed, the bottom part was driving me crazy!

I added a mini cupcake liner and they dressed up quite nicely, covering those not so pretty bottoms!

  

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I link up at these fun parties!