Halloween is the perfect season for us crafters and bakers to come out of hiding and show off our talents! Who am I kidding, we never hide. Our genius must be shared with the world! Trust me, the world enjoys it, and so do the kids! I do however, bake a little more around the holidays, making my famous Pumpkin Cookies, Monster Bites, and special desserts. I also like to branch out a bit and look for unique recipes I can sink my teeth into. The internet is never lacking with Pinterest, craft sites and awesome bloggers posting great ideas. So after I have done some cosplay, sewing, gluing, taping and making a fun glittery mess all over the house (that stuff gets everywhere), I like to make delicious baked treats.

This year my search took me to one little item that changed an all-the-time cookie into a perfect Halloween cookie. This one item is the Wilton Candy Eyeballs! Oh yeah, these change a normal chocolate cookie into a spooky eyeball cookie. How does it feel to have your food looking at you? Muahahahahahaha!!!!!

Photo from Joann Fabrics

This recipe is pretty simple to make, I put it at the EASY level. You can either follow my chocolate chip cookie recipe or use your own. Be sure to get the kids involved because making cookies is a great family activity and the eyeballs will add that extra touch of fun! Who knows, these may become a yearly thing.

Spooky Halloween Eyeball Cookies

• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Items needed: Cookie sheet Spatula Oven Mixing bowls Ingredients: 2 sticks of butter softened 3/4 cups of granulated sugar 3/4 cups of brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla 2 eggs 2 3/4 cups of all purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder 1 tsp salt Chocolate chips Wilton Candy Eyeballs (spooky or normal)

Directions: In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking soda and salt, set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars together until fluffy (do not over mix) Add vanilla and mix until combined on medium speed add one egg at a time. Make sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding another. After all eggs are fully incorporated, slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Mix until it is just blended together Add the chocolate chips and mix them in with a spoon Chill the cookie dough for 30 min Preheat oven to 375 degree F Place a Tablespoon of chilled cookie dough on the cookie sheets one 2 inches apart Bake for 7-9 minutes (depending on your oven, start at 7 and go up from there) Once the cookies are done, place the Wilton Candy Eyeballs in the cookies before they cool. Be careful! The cookie are HOT! Kids should have adult supervision or the adult should do this part of the decorating. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes and then serve with a glass of milk

Grab your Wilton Candy Eyeballs from Amazon.com and begin your spooky baking!

Yes, there is a day for eating desserts. This may be the best non-holiday holiday ever. I mean, who doesn’t like desserts!

Since it is October and it is basically the Pumpkin Pie Spice Season, I thought the best way to celebrate National Dessert Day would be with something Pumpkin-y. Thanks to Family Disney, I found the perfect Recipe to make for National Dessert Day! Inspired by Mickey Mouse’s Ears, Disney created the yummy Mickey’s Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. This is a make from scratch recipe so there is a little work involved, but the best recipes usually require a little work. And they are oh so delicious!

Picture from Family Disney

Mickey’s Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
What You’ll Need
Mixing bowls
Whisk
Electric mixer
Wooden spoon

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup cooked pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pastry bag with 3/4-inch or so opening (or large plastic food storage bag with a lower corner snipped)
Baking sheets
Parchment paper
Cooling rack
Cream cheese frosting (homemade or store bought)

Directions
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt.

2. In a second mixing bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar together until creamy. Beat in the egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract.

3. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Then spoon the batter into the pastry bag.

4. For the Mickey faces, pipe 2.5-inch blobs of batter on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, spacing them evenly apart. Remember, you need two for each whoopie pie. Use a clean fingertip to gently flatten the blobs into uniform circles, as shown. Tip: dipping your fingertip in water periodically will keep the batter from sticking to it.

5. Pipe small ear blobs at the top of each batter face, keeping them as close in size as possible. Again, use a wet fingertip to flatten them, as shown.

6. Bake the Mickey pumpkin cakes until they spring back when you press down on the center (about 8 to 10 minutes). Let them cool on the baking sheet slightly before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. Spoon cream cheese frosting into a pastry bag.

8. Pair up the baked pumpkin cakes, matching the shapes and sizes as best you can. Working with one pair at a time, turn one of the cakes face down and pipe moderate mounds of frosting on the face and ears. Top the frosted cake with its match and gently press down to spread the filling and hold the whoopie pie together. Store leftover whoopie pies in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Check out other recipes featuring Pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice from these wonderful cookbooks!