Hi Everyone,

Well, after the Halloween raffle tray was packed and sent off to a good cause, Bob and I realized that we didn’t have a dessert for us for Halloween, but I had an idea…

I saw a recipe that intrigued me on Pinterest from a great website “dessertnowdinnerlater” by Amber Brady, a few months ago and I double-checked that I had all the ingredients in the house.

I did, so I made a batch of “Candy Corn Sugar Cookie Bars”.

This recipe came to the rescue for a Halloween dessert for us.

Amber also includes her recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting.

(The frosting recipe is also below…)

In addition, I had a recipe for a Candy Corn Vodka Cocktail but we were too tired to make the cocktail tonight, and I really needed a cup of coffee instead.

I will include the cocktail recipe if anyone is interested. We might try to make it another night but I was just too tired with all the baking today. One sip and I would have definitely fallen asleep.

So, here is the LAST Halloween post of the day for Halloween 2021.

By the way, we had our annual Halloween chili & sour cream cornbread for dinner and I’ll post that tomorrow with the recipe.

It seems this year, I needed a few more hours today to get everything done with all the doorbell interruptions. We had over “one hundred trick or treaters” and it was quite a busy day.

So enjoy the recipe… and visit Amber’s website.

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies Bars

Recipe courtesy of http://www.dessertnowdinnerlater

INGREDIENTS

•  1/2 cup butter, room temperature
•  1 cup granulated sugar
•  1 egg
•  1 1/2 Tbsp milk
•  1 tsp vanilla
•  2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•  1/2 tsp baking powder
•  1/2 tsp salt
•  orange and yellow food coloring (I used Wilton’s food coloring gels)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Lay parchment inside a 9×13-inch baking dish with the ends hanging out the 13-inch sides (so you can lift out the cookie after it’s baked) and spray the 9-inch edges with pan spray since they aren’t covered with parchment.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until combined.
4. Split dough in half and color one half orange and one half yellow.
5. Press the yellow cookie dough onto the bottom of the baking dish; I used a mini rolling pin to roll mine evenly across the bottom of the pan.
6. Press orange cookie dough onto the yellow cookie dough layer. I found it easiest to roll the orange cookie dough onto a lightly floured counter about the size of the dish, cut the orange dough into large squares and then assemble the squares on top of the yellow layer, smoothing over the cracks.
7. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly golden. Cool completely.
8. Pulling on both sides of the parchment paper, lift the cookie dough out of pan. Trim the crisp edges with a knife, if desired.
9. Prepare The BEST Cream Cheese Frosting and spread it evenly over cooled cookie bars. Cut the large slab of cookie in half lengthwise, and then cut into triangles. Enjoy!

NOTES

Cookies can be kept at room temperature OR refrigerated if you are worried about the cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

courtesy of Amber Brady

INGREDIENTS

•  8 ounces cream cheese, cold (I typically use Neufchatel cream cheese)
•  1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
•  1 cup powdered sugar
•  1 tsp pure vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place the cream cheese in a mixing bowl.
2. Using a hand mixer, beat until smooth.
3. Gradually add the butter 2 Tablespoons at a time, and continue beating until smooth and well blended.
4. Add powdered sugar and vanilla all at once. Blend until combined and smooth. (Don’t beat too long or the frosting will be too soft to pipe. If this happens, place the frosting in the refrigerator or freezer until it firms back up.) Use for any recipe that calls for cream cheese frosting.

NOTES

*You can store this frosting either at room temperature (which is 70 degrees Fahrenheit) or in the refrigerator. Do not go back and forth storing from one to the other, for food safety reasons. Use your own judgment.

YIELD: 1 1/2 cups frosting, which will frost about 12-14 cupcakes

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Candy Corn Cocktail

For the video on how to prepare, click the link- https://tasty.co/recipe/candy-corn-cocktail

Ingredients:

for 1 serving

• 1 cup whipped cream flavored vodka
• ½ cup candy corn, plus more for garnish
• 8 tablespoons orange juice
• 4 tablespoons whipped cream

Directions:

1. In a medium glass bowl, combine the whipped cream vodka and candy corn. Set aside to infuse for 1-2 hours. Strain the candy corn solids from the vodka and discard.
2. Add the orange juice to a 1 cup (7½-ounce) martini glass.
3. Place a spoon, back side up, against the inside wall of the martini glass. Very slowly begin pouring 3 tablespoons of the infused vodka over the back of the spoon, making sure that the vodka hits the inside of the glass before reaching the orange juice. This will create a layered effect, causing the vodka to sink to the bottom of the glass, below the orange juice.
4. Top with whipped cream and garnish with more candy corn.
5. Enjoy!

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I hope you try both recipes and enjoy!

Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Diane

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