Lots of Baking Going On, plus Cupcake Printables

With our Chocolate Birthday Party going on tomorrow,
I've been doing ALOT of this today....

And this...

To get some yummy creations like this...

I have a HUGE guest list coming, so I want to have LOTS of chocolate treats for them to enjoy.

My food list looks like this:

Brownie pops

Marshmallow pops

Chocolate suckers

Rice Krispie treat bites

Chocolate pretzels

Chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate Ice Cream treats

Chocolate covered strawberries

Chocolate Covered Oreos

Snickers cupcakes

Hershey chocolate Mousse cupcakes

German chocolate cupcakes

Cake pops

As you can see, there's LOTS to be done today.

But I did want to share with you two of my favorite candy recipes.

So here's the printables for our Hershey chocolate Mousse cupcakes (my absolute FAVORITE cake of all time) and our Snickers cupcake (a new addition to our family.)

Enjoy!

It's back to work for me.



M and M Dots Birthday Party

Celebrate your love of chocolate and M and M candies with this M and M Dots birthday party.  Find all the ideas you need to throw a fun party here.

M and M Candy Dots Birthday Party

Candy Napkin Rings

Candy Party Favor Bags

MandM Cake Display

Chocolate Cookie Bowls

Chocolate Tablescape

Chocolate Candy Invitation

M&M Party Favor Bags

As you've seen lately, I've been making a lot of my displays for my candy party from M&Ms.  If you haven't been able to tell yet, I LOVE M&Ms.  They are such happy colors.  They are pretty much the perfect treat...especially the ones with peanuts.  YUM.

I hate to throw anything away, so I've been looking for a use for all the bags that I've been opening. 

Years ago, I made these M&M purses out of the large extra M&M bags I had,

(Don't judge...after making "hundreds" of them....I burned out and stopped in the middle of this one. It's been sitting on my shelf for 4 years waiting for handles which will probably never come.)

 and that's what came to mind when I looked at all these wrappers.  Mini "purses" I could use as party favor bags!

Since I am going out of town next week for spring break, I don't want ANY of the food left over after our party.  So I'm making each person a favor bag to put any extra food they want to take home.  This M&M favor bag is perfect to fit a cupcake inside.  Or a few chocolate covered oreos.  Or any of the yummy treats I hope to have.

They are pretty easy to make, once you get the "gist" of it.

So I hope that I can share the "gist".

To make each bag you need:

5 fun size M&M packages

x-acto knife

glue gun

Start by CAREFULLY slitting the bag open on the back side of the bag.

You should only have cut an opening in the back across the side.  Don't cut all the way through.

Dump the M&Ms into a bowl for eating while you work.  (Ooops...did I say that out loud?) Ahem, I mean for decorating or sharing at your chocolate party.

Pick one of the bags to be your base.

It all depends upon what design you want your bag to have as to which one.

Have them all the same, mix it up, whatever...

Now place a line of glue down the edge of one of the long sides.

Lay one of your other bags face up (this will be the front or back of the bag, so choose accordingly) on top of the glue line.  You want to match up the edges.

It helps if you fold out the two bags and crease the front bag's edge.  This will help it stand up straight.

See? No hands!

Now do the same thing for the other side.

This is where it gets a little "fun" to explain.

Take one of your side bags and fold it up to the crease on the bottom edge.

You want to make sure that it will be standing upright when you put it on, so don't fold the wrong edge.

Lay a line of glue along the edge and match up your creased side.

Lay it so it sits in roughly the middle of the side bag.

Re-affirm that crease so that it's straight along the bottom edge and will stand.

Matching up the lines of the bottom and front edge, fold the side bag to match.

Bring up the side bag and lay a line of glue down the folded edge.

Match it up with the front bag and press.

(It may take a little lining up to get the bottom area to lay flat, but it's not hard.)

Repeat times 3.

I promise it really is easy!

Or, if I've totally confused you, you can purchase these online HERE if you want these for your next party!

Linking up HERE.

Edible Chocolate Cookie Bowls

Okay, I promise...this is my last share today.

I just REALLY wanted to show you all these fun ideas for our Chocolate dessert table displays.

What do you think of this one?

These are chocolate cookie bowls.

To start, gather:

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

4 Tbsp. margarine, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together your margarine, sugar, egg, and vanilla in a bowl until light and fluffy.

Now add your remaining ingredients.

Gather whatever bowl or pan you want to template your cookie bowls after.

You could use a bread pan if you want a larger cookie bowl.

I wanted my bowls to be individual sized for small treats, so I used some ramekin bowls that I bought from Dollar Tree.

Just make sure whatever you choose is oven safe.

Cover your bowls with aluminum foil or spray GENEROUSLY with cooking spray.

Roll out your cookie dough into 1/8 inch thickness.

Use a cookie cutter to cut into shapes.

It would be fun to use different shapes here...maybe a scallop or a star, but make sure they are smaller cookie cutters so they will wrap around your bowl easily.

Cover your bowl with cutouts, overlapping slightly.

Bake cookie bowl at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are firm.

When your cookies are done, let them cool completely before carefully removing them from your bowl or pan.

Fill with yummy candy for the dessert table, or give each guest their own to fill during the party.

If you want a copy of the "complete" recipe, you can copy and save it here.

Linking up HERE

Hershey Candy Bowls

So I need your honest opinion on this one....

I took this $1.00 clear bowl from Walmart

and added the wrappers that I picked up from the floor.

(You would think my kids would at least hide the evidence of their candy snacking...but no.)

I modge podged the wrappers onto the bowl.

And this is what I got.

What do you think?

I just can't decide if I like them or not.

I think the idea is good, but not so sure on the turnout.

M&M Cake Display

Our chocolate party is on Friday and I still have ALOT of things to show you, so expect a few extra posts in the next few days.  I hope you don't mind a few more sweets to drool over...

I'm working today on the Dessert table display.  I need lots of different ways to show off all the yummy chocolate sweets we will have at the party.  And it's only fair that the displays be as sweet as the treats, right?

This display is almost as easy as the M&M Napkin Rings that I showed you last week, expect this time, I didn't want the display to be permanent.  I wanted the M&Ms to be able to be eaten off the display if the guests wanted, just like in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory!

So I started with a glass plate and candlestick display that I made.  If you haven't seen how to make these, simply glue the candlestick to the bottom of the plate.  Pretty easy, and awesome looking!

I also had some melted chocolate and a bowl of M&Ms left over from my Chocolate Table scape.  (Yes, my kids haven't eaten the whole bowl yet. Surprise. Surprise.)

Put a little drop of chocolate on the back of an M&M.

Place the M&M on the edge of the plate.  Hold it there for a few seconds until it will stay on it's own.  As your chocolate cools, the M&M will take less time to set then at with warm chocolate.

Now this is going to take some time, so be sure to do this in front of a good TV show or find yourself a book on tape.

(I personally do alot of things while listening to books on tape.  I don't have time to read myself alot of times, so I listen to them while I'm working on orders or party details.)

It took me about a 1/2 hour to make this cool M&M cake display, but it's totally worth it!

Linking up HERE