I used to be a teacher. That’s really the only excuse I have for being as excited for Back to School as I am. There’s just something about the pencils and notebooks–I even like the smell of new books. Do kids still get books? Or is it all iPads or chips inserted directly in their brains?
So even though my kids are so tiny they mostly have no idea what’s going on, that has not stopped me from planning a back to school party. This is basically me going crazy planning a party and them thinking that my ideas are weird and my food is suspicious. Life with boys.
Today I decided to go outside of my comfort zone a bit and make candy-coated cookie pops. If I knew myself at all, I would have stopped before I even started. I consider myself a crafty girl. I can paint, I scrapbook with the best of them, and Modge Podge is one of my best friends. I know my way around a craft store–heck!–I used to work at one.
I fall down in the food arena, though. My husband is good at food. Me? I’m OK if I have a recipe and even that’s not a guarantee. I could get distracted and forget to season the food and bletch. And yes, that’s a true story.
But I was swayed by the adorable pictures on Pinterest and went for it.
I wanted to make cookies that looked like apples. The recipe I had used mini-oreos and I used gluten-free regular sized faux oreos because one of my twins has a gluten issue. I don’t think this was my problem, but it didn’t help.
I started by melting candy. The bag said that it is easy to microwave and OF COURSE I don’t have a microwave because I’m a weird hippie who insists on cooking my food the old-fashioned way. I used the double boiler method listed on the bag, and the candy just never seemed to get very liquid. It was more like lumpy paste. I threw in some extra oil and then it was more like red glue.
After covering the oreos in red candy, things really fell apart. Literally. The oreos slid down their sticks. They cracked open. My husband attempted to rest them in funny positions to prevent this and that just led to other ridiculous things. It was like the melty clocks of Dali only apples and not fine art and actually just scary and weird.
Sigh.
I’m filing this one under disaster and moving on. This year’s Back to School party will not include apple cookie pops. Come to think of it, maybe it’s a good thing my kids don’t really know what’s going on.
If you’re looking for more fun, back-to-school content? We’ve got tons of it in our Back to School Guide! You can check that out here.
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Too funny! Remind me to never let you cook! Next time instead of oil, add shortening, coconut oil or paraffin wax and add more than you think you’ll need. Then stir stir stir until it gets thin and as it gets thicker add more of the above!
You’re hilarious. If it makes you feel better, I’m a trained pastry chef, and I find the whole concept of cookie pops, cake pops, etc. impossible and almost unbearable. And I KNOW that they’re very difficult to make properly.
It’s such trickery! They make it sound SO EASY and I think, “I can totally do that.” But I can’t. Sigh.
My wife always shares this photo when she tries something she saw on pinterest: http://craftfail.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/cookie-monster-cupcakes-nailed-it.jpg
Congrats to you for trying!
Jude