German Chocolate Cake Cookies

1 box German Chocolate Cake mix
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup diced pecans
1/2 cup oil
2 large eggs

In a large mixing bowl mix together eggs, oil, and cake mix together. Stir in white chocolate chips, coconut, and pecans. If dough is too dry and crumbly stir in a tablespoon of water at a time until you reach desired consistency. Roll into balls and space 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake on 350°F for 9 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 24 cookies.

Chocolate No Bakes

1/2 C Butter (see recipe)
2 C Sugar
1/2 C Buttermilk (see recipe)
4 Tbsp Cocoa
1/2 C Peanut Butter
4 C Quick cooking Oats
2 tsp. Vanilla

Add the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil, and boil for 1 minute. Stir in the next 3 ingredients and drop onto wax paper or foil. Let cool until set. 

Homemade Thin Mints

1 cup unsalted butter softened (see recipe)
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour
3 bags semi sweet chocolate chips
3 teaspoons mint extract
2 tablespoons Cisco

Preheat oven to 350° and lightly grease baking sheet. In a mixing bowl beat the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix thoroughly, scraping down the side of the bowl once or twice as necessary. Mix in the vanilla, salt and cocoa powder until well combined - the dough will be thick and smooth, almost frosting-like in texture. Add the flour and mix just until the dough comes together - it may be a little crumbly, knead it once or twice just to make it uniform. Divide the dough in half and flatten each piece into a 3/4-inch thick disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll to a thickness of 1/8-inch. Use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to cut circles of dough. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart (they won't spread much). Re-roll the scraps and cut more cookies until all dough is used. Bake the cookies for 9 minutes on 350° Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for a few minutes before removing them to the rack to cool completely. 

While the cookies cool, prepare the chocolate coating. Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30-second bursts at 50% power, stirring in between each, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract and Crisco. You can use more or less than I suggested above - maybe start with a little less and add until it tastes as minty as you'd like.

To dip the cookies:
Drop a cookie in the melted chocolate and use a fork to flip and coat all sides. Lift the cookie out of the chocolate with the fork and allow the excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl. Transfer the cookie to a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Repeat with remaining cookies. If the chocolate hardens before you finish dipping, just pop the bowl back in the microwave briefly to soften it up. Transfer the cookies to the refrigerator to set the chocolate. Store them in the refrigerator or freezer.Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Food color mixing chart

Here is an easy to use chart for making some of the basic colors used in cake and cookie decorating. This is only a small portion of the colors you can make, but still a good starting point.

Colored Sugar

I hate buying colored sugar in the store because it is ridiculously priced, over $2 for a quarter cup of sugar. If you're like me colored sugar is a staple in cookie and cake decorating. So I thought why not just make it at home and save tons of money in the process? I am also not limited to the small color selection in store anymore I can make any color under the sun! So if you have a few minutes to spare and want to make some beautiful colored sugar check out the recipe below!

Colored Sugar

1/4-1/2 cup sugar for each color you want to make
Liquid food coloring (see color chart)
Wax paper
Small air right storage containers

Put strips of wax paper down then pour piles of sugar at least 6 inches apart. One pile for each color you want to make. Put 4-6 drops of food coloring per pile and stir thoroughly with a fork until you reach your desired color. Leave sugar on the wax paper to dry for 10 minutes then store each color in a separate air tight container. It has a forever long shelf life too. Have fun decorating!