Halloween Cookies

I can't let a Halloween go by without making sugar cookies.  I found a great recipe on Allrecipes.com that I have made a few times with excellent results.  They are decorated with royal icing.

Pumpkin Pie Bites

I got this idea from Bakerella.com. They turned out well. My only suggestion is - be sure to use a pumpkin cookie cutter that is as evenly round as possible. My cookie cutter was horizontally oblong. So it made it difficult to fill the entire cavity of the muffin pan.

Caramel Apple Cake Pops

These tiny caramel apple-inspired pops are made out of apple flavored cake and cream cheese, which are dipped in caramel and finely chopped peanuts. To make these you will need:

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

8 egg yolks

3/4 cup milk (or 1/4 cup apple cider and 1/2 cup milk)

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 large apple, diced

8 oz cream cheese, softened

14 oz caramels

1 1/2 cups finely chopped peanuts

32 lollipop sticks

First, I made the cake. I adapted a yellow cake recipe I found on Allrecipes.com. Instead of 3/4 cup milk, I used 1/4 cup apple cider and 1/2 cup milk. I also added a teaspoon of cinnamon and one large apple, diced. The apple was added by hand after all the other ingredients were combined.

Once the cake was baked and had cooled, I crumbled it into pieces in a large mixing bowl. Then I added 8 oz. of softened cream cheese and combined with a rubber spatula until incorporated. Next, I put the mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. While I was waiting, I unwrapped 14oz of caramels and placed them into a microwave-safe bowl. I also finely chopped 1 1/2 cups of dry roasted peanuts and placed them onto a plate. Please note - If the peanuts are not finely chopped, they will be likely to slide off the pop, and take the caramel with it.

I rolled the mixture into one-inch size balls and placed them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Then I inserted lollipop sticks about three-fourths of the way into the balls. Next I melted the caramels in the microwave in one minute intervals until smooth. I dipped the balls into the melted caramel, trying to cover as much as the ball as possible. Then I quickly rolled the bottom half in the crushed peanuts, and the pop back onto the wax paper-lined pan. Once all the pops were coated, I placed the baking sheet into the refrigerator for 3o minutes. The recipe should make around 32 pops.