I’ve shared before one of my favorite tricks for encouraging young kids to try new things in the kitchen. Sometimes all it takes is relating it to something they know and love. Caribbean Rubbed Pork Chops with Mango Salsa instantly became cool when I told my three boys it’s Captain Jack Sparrow’s favorite dinner. Hummus and Tandoori chicken? “Just like Aladdin eats!” Green smoothie? “Shrek Shake.” You get the picture. My little trick turned into fun theme nights and my family loves making an event out of a dinner and movie combo. It’s a great way to add a little excitement around meal prep and have fun with the family! Because of this, Kate and I jumped at the chance to create some recipes inspired by the new DreamWorks Animation movie coming out this month. Like, we sent each other about 48 texts in the span of a few hours with all sorts of crazy caveman ideas.
Have you guys seen the trailer for The Croods? My kiddos are excited about it, it looks super cute. And can I just say, I’m so glad to live in a time where animated films are just as entertaining for adults as they are for kids. I love finding movies that we can all go to and equally enjoy. Some of my favorite movies are animated!
Kate and I thought it would be fun to make a themed dinner, which is why she posted her awesome Cranberry-Cola Glazed Babyback Ribs recipe, meant to be eaten caveman style (hands only- the messier the better!) (Click Here for the Recipe)
Now you just need dessert. When I was thinking about this, I instantly thought of my cub scout days (like, when I was volunteering with cub scouts, not when I was a cub scout. Because I was never a cub scout. Obviously.) We used to do a little activity to teach fire-building skills where we used pretzels for the wood, and marshmallows to make a little rock pit, and coconut for fire, etc. That idea quickly transformed into these darling little edible campfires I thought it would be adorable to do this on a cookie or cupcake for a dessert!
Set up a little station with some sugar cookies (I totally bought mine already baked from my grocery’s bakery, but here’s our favorite from-scratch recipe.) Some chocolate frosting, some crushed Oreo cookies, and your rock candy.
Three simple steps here: Spread on some frosting, sprinkle the top generously with dirt (Oreos!), and then surround your fire pit with rocks (safety first.)
You can do them multi-colored, or pick out the same color rocks. I think I like the ones with a uniform color.
Now we need some fire!
I just took a handful of coconut and put it in 3 separate bowls. Drop a couple drops of liquid yellow food coloring in one, red in another, and orange in the last one. Use a fork to stir and smash until the coconut is colored. At first it will look like nothing is happening, but just keep smashing it around and soon it will distribute. Place the coconut on a baking sheet and we’ll toast it in the oven.
The nice thing is that the food coloring prevents most browning, so the coconut stays vibrant and bright, but has that perfect toasted crunch to it. It also holds its shape like little fiery flames. Just place a little fire right in the center of your fire-pit.
These are pretty darn cute just like that, don’t ya think? In addition to being fun for a themed movie day- these would be great for an activity with boys in cub scouts, or girl scouts, or girls camp, etc.
And what I think is even cuter, is adding a few little mini pretzel sticks so you have some wood to burn. I gave my pretzels a quick dip in chocolate, mostly because I think things that start with the phrase “chocolate-dipped” are a general improvement over things that don’t start with the phrase “chocolate-dipped.”
Campfire Cookies
Description
These campfire cookies are a lot easier to make than they look! Quick, easy, and fun, this is a great treat for summer time!
Ingredients
- *quantities vary by the size of your cookies, how many you’re making, etc.
- Round sugar cookies
- Chocolate frosting
- Crushed chocolate cookies (like Oreos)
- Candy coated chocolate rock candy
- Coconut
- Small pretzel rods (optionally dipped in chocolate)
Instructions
- To color coconut, separate coconut into 3 separate bowls. Working with one bowl at a time, add a few drops of liquid food coloring (one bowl yellow, another orange, another red) and stir and smash with a fork until color is distributed. Place coconut on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 5-8 minutes, stirring once, until lightly toasted. Cool completely.
- Frost sugar cookies with chocolate frosting and sprinkle crushed chocolate cookies on top. Line the outside edge of cookie with rock candy. Sprinkle cooled coconut in the middle and prop up 3-4 pretzel rods (trim to be shorter if necessary.)
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.
This post is in partnership with DreamWorks Animation and Twentieth Century Fox’s The Croods. All opinions expressed are our own.
Questions & Reviews
So cute and creative. Way to go, once again!
Reminds me of girl’s camp kick-off nights.
Dang it! These would have been perfect for my son’s blue and gold Cub Scout banquet last week! I will have to remember these for next year 🙂
Super cute! I know my boys would love these!
Very cute cookies! I think I need to start naming dishes like you do for my picky 3-year-old.
These are adorable!!! And I love those lil rock candies I’ve used them on themed cakes before. Sounds like fun to make with the kiddies too!!
LOVE IT! Can’t wait to make them for my camping enthusiasts. Thanks!
These just may be the cutest, most fun cookies ever! I’m going to invite my daughter’s friends over and have them make these as a fun activity. They will love it as much as I will. Fun! Fun! Fun!
I LOVE these! So cute and so easy! Can’t wait to make them!
These cookies are darling and your directions are simple to follow. Thanks!
When I looked at the top picture I thought the “rocks” were peanuts. Raisins would also work well for those of us not ambitious enough to hunt down chocolate rocks. 🙂 Too cute. I think we will make these soon to get pumped up for camping season!
Super cute for a camping trip!
Before I read through the directions, I thought the rocks were made out of peanuts rather than candy. Soooo rather than wasting precious time (when you could be baking with your kidos) searching for edible rocks, use peanuts if necessary. Another idea is to sacrifice an animal cracker on top of the pretzels.
Oh I’m dying…why didn’t I think to sacrifice and animal?! That’s hilarious, lol!
These are way fun! I was just thinking that if you couldn’t find rock candy, the one where you did all brown rocks looks like honey roasted peanuts from a distance. Not quite as cute as the rocks but they would totally work. It has been so long since I watched TV that I didn’t even know this movie was coming out! Good job advertizing for them! :0 )
Got to try these
How fun! Any ideas besides coconut for the fires??
These are so cute. I want to make these and smores!
Those are absolutely adorable!
Way cute!!! I love you how make something look hard to do, but so easy and simple!! We can’t wait to make it them!!
These are so fun! My kids will love to make these! Can’t wait to try them!
I can’t wait to make these with my seven little grandsons! So cute and I’m sure yummy too. You are sooooo….. creative! I love reading your posts and have tried many of your ideas.
These cookies are so cute! We will have fun making them.
those cookies are adorable! i hadn’t even heard of this movie until now but would like to take my husband and son.
I love the colored coconut fire. Seriously clever (and delicious!). Someday I’ll have kids who are old enough to care and I’ll make cute things like this.
These would be so easy to build on a real camping trip too! What a fun idea!
I love Winco bulk section! We’ll have to try these when we go camping this summer. Thanks!
My boys will love this. So cute. I think it would make a fun treat for a summer birthday party too.
Adorable cookies! You ladies are so creative!
Too cute to eat! 😉
Super cute cookies!