Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Halloween Recipe: Black Cat Cookies

I made these cookies with the little guy I nanny for. And they may or may not have been used as a bribery tool. :-) You see the little guy doesn't eat very much. His mom packs his lunch for school, but he rarely eats unless it's mac n' cheese or dinosaur shaped nuggets. He likes peanut butter and jelly but he goes to a peanut-free school, so that's not an option. She usually packs him leftovers from the dinner before but they end up coming back home, untouched. So in an effort to get him to eat either at school or at home- I don't care where he eats, the goal is to get nutritious food into him- I told him we could make these together. It worked!

Now it only worked for a week, but for a week, he ate pretty well. He always likes to get into the kitchen with me and bake and I've told him as a reward for being a good eater, we could bake up a treat a couple times a month. We'll see how that goes. He's been sick this week but we're going to bake up some pumpkin muffins for a Halloween party this Friday- he's dressing up as a pirate! I'll share the recipe soon, because they're simple and delicious! Back to the black cat cookies...I found these cuties at Coleen's Recipes, but I think the recipe originates from Taste Of Home. Coleen made these last year and I'm glad she shared them again this year because they're fun, tasty and definitely kid friendly!

The cookie dough is very stiff and uses quite a bit of cocoa, but it all works out. If you have a stand mixer, use it. If not then you will need some elbow grease for this one. The recipe states it makes 24 black cat cookies, but I thought they were kind of big and could be made a little smaller to stretch out the recipe to feed more people if necessary. I intended to use m&m's for the eyes since I don't like candy corn, but the little guy does so that's what I used. I think they're cuter this way anyway. They're crunchy on the outsides from being rolled in the sugar before baking and they're chewy on the inside. And if you let the kids help with this one, each cat will be unique and different. Just be sure to use caution when applying the candy because the cookie sheets are hot!

Black Cat Cookies adapted from Coleen's Recipes and Taste Of Home

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  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar (plus more for rolling)
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup baking cocoa
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 48 candy corn candies
  • 24 mini m&m candies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time then and vanilla.

Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture until well incorporated.

Divide dough into 24 even pieces. Roll each piece of dough into 1-1/2-in. balls. Roll each ball in granulated sugar, then flatten with the bottom of a juice glass. (I flattened them with my palm, then coated them in sugar). Place 3 inches apart on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. (You can grease your cookie sheets and forgo the the parchment paper, but since I only had one cookie sheet to work with, it was easier to remove the parchment with the cookies still on it to cool, while I baked another batch).

Pinch the top of the cookie in two places to form ears. For whiskers, press a fork twice into each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes in preheated oven.

Remove from the oven and immediately press on candy corn for eyes and m&m's for the noses. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. (If using parchment paper, slide the whole sheet to the rack to cool before moving the cookies since they're fragile when warm). The candy will set at the cookie cools.

36 comments:

Plain Chicken said...

SO cute! Great idea - love the fork whiskers

Abby said...

Very cute! My son would love these. (But he still wouldn't eat. Glad I'm not the only mom with that problem. Ugh.)

Kim Lehnhoff said...

I love the cat cookies!

You're allowed to take fresh baked stuff to school?

We're not, all treats must be purchased/mass produced, (and filled with preservatives, I guess).

Teresa said...

Oh Monica!
Those cookies are adorable!!!!!!!!
Cutest things I've seen all day!
And I KNOW they are yummy with that cocoa!
xoxox
Happy Halloween!

tamilyn said...

Those are adorable!

Peanut free school-really??

Anonymous said...

What a great Halloween idea! The sugar sprinkled on top looks so nice on the cookie.

Unknown said...

aww these are so cute, what a good idea :)

Monica H said...

June- I'm pretty sure they can take home baked goods to class, but they only allow cupcakes and they have to be peanut free. We didn't take these to class though, we made them to keep at home!

Teresa- Thank you!

Tamilyn- Yup! It's a small Montessori school, so maybe that's why.

~Monica

Coleens Recipes said...

What fun and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the goofy eyed ones, how cute.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

I love all the pix of LD's hand! :)
~ingrid

tease-spoon of sugar said...

I love this idea! The cookies are so cute and it doesn't require a bunch of icing. I'll definitely be trying these out as soon as I can. Thanks for sharing this!

Please Do Not Feed The Animals. said...

The cats are really cute - quite cheeky looking! Great idea with the bribery, I'm glad it's working.

Donna-FFW said...

Love these.. they are adorable!!! I will make them this weekend!

Unknown said...

What a great idea! Making these tonight for my son's class party tomorrow - thanks for sharing.

Avril said...

Meow, Meow Monica! ;-)

These are just the sweetest little kitties ever! We are HUGE cat fans @ our house....this will be a great project to do with my little Jo this afternoon.

Thanks Darlin' for passing on such a great idea!
~avril :-)

Janet said...

What a cute idea, kid and story! LOVE it!

Kristen said...

Aw, those are super cute! And a great bribe. =)

Anonymous said...

These are adorable!

The Blonde Duck said...

Popped in to say hi! These are so cute!

Unknown said...

These are so stinking cute! I can't wait to make them with Little Butt!

Bunny said...

Awe, such a worry to have a little one that doesn't eat. Your such a good nanny Monica! These cookies are adorable!

Debbie said...

I saw these on Coleen's site also. They are adorable Monica....

Julie said...

Wow, that is a lot of cocoa...I'll bet that makes them super yummy!

Anonymous said...

Cute! We do the same but use the candy corn to press into the shaped ears and a different assortment of candy for eyes, which ever the kids want for eyes :)

Natasha @ Saved by the Egg Timer said...

So so cute! The are very creative and look like they come together very easy too, which is a bonus!

Unknown said...

cute! we're thinking about having a lemonade stand and selling something seasonal...these may be it!

Anonymous said...

great idea1 and so cute too! those are one big cookies ;) Love the idea!

-Amalia

http://buttersweetmelody.wordpress.com

blackbookkitchendiaries said...

i love how cute this is... thank you for sharing this. happy halloween!

Hungry Hungry House said...

I love these! I have enjoyed all your Halloween ideas and really love your blog!

oneordinaryday said...

So cute and clever. I love the whiskers!! Claudia would really like making these, so they're getting bookmarked right now.

zackboston said...

I made these for a community brunch and they were a big hit with the church ladies. . . they said they were like little cakes, not cookies. and I saw a few of them tucking one into their purse for the grandbaby. Thanks! It's a keeper.

Rose Forever said...

Cool! I never thought of using fork for designing cookies. Lol. But they are really cute. My kids will enjoy making this one also. Maybe I should add some cream cheese frosting on the mustache of the cookies.

Sue said...

Cute,simple and yummy!~LOVE them!

Amanda said...

Just stopping by to let you know that I have featured your project on Fun Family Crafts! You can see it here
http://funfamilycrafts.com/black-cat-cookies/

If you have other kid friendly crafts, I'd love it if you would submit them :) If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above.

zackboston said...

I have made these cookies for two years to take to a weekly Sunday Community Brunch held by Mel King in Boston.

You know they are good, because this week, two children stopped by where I work to remind me that this is the Sunday before Halloween and that they wanted to make sure that I would make them!

So here I am on Sunday morning, baking!

Thank you for this well-loved recipe!

Mrs McGoo said...

Made them today - great cookie recipe - I added little sugar bananas for fangs - looked and tasted great!

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