So this week, we’ve covered on-the-go breakfasts, kid-friendly lunches, and fun things to do with your kids in the kitchen. I think we’re all ready for a little dessert, don’t you?
“But wait!” you say. “What kid doesn’t like pretty much all sweet treats?” And you have us there. But we’re going to showcase what our kids all-time favorites are. At the very end, I’ll show you a cute and easy after school project for your smart little owls that even the littlest helpers can be in on.
Summer may be winding down for most people, but here it’s still in the 90s-100s on a regular basis, which means we can toss around a little ice cream after school:
And it’s definitely still warm enough here to enjoy a big bowl of Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
or some Frozen Pudding Pops!
Watermelons are wildly in season, so if you find some on sale or have a bunch left over, whip up a Strawberry-Watermelon Slushie!
For those of you who are enjoying fall weather, whip up some Apple Cider Doughnuts
or Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
to help you get into the fall spirit.
Some schools don’t allow homemade treats and snacks to be served to an entire class, but if you’re still allowed to send homemade goodies for holidays and birthdays, you can’t go wrong with Peanut Butter and Jam Bars (if your child’s school allows nuts)
Sugar Cookies
(mine will fight to the death for the ones with Glace Icing), Colorburst Cupcakes,
or Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies. And speaking of birthdays, when cake time rolls around (which, after all, is the most important part of birthdays), this monkey cake (and cupcakes) is top banana. Bad joke. It’s been a long day. 🙂
Now…does anyone else have a hard time letting their kids help in the kitchen? I feel like so much of the time, I’m focusing on my food turning out pretty for blog pictures or guests or parties paired with my hatred for cleaning up food-related messes that I’m really not great at letting my kids help me in the kitchen.
which effectively makes me tear up within about 2.5 seconds and reminds me that my “baby” is in Kindergarten and my sweet babiest baby is in preschool and that if I’m gonna have any more babies, I should probably get cracking. So I’m trying to be better about not kicking my kids out of the kitchen and part of that has been finding projects that they can work on that are quick and hard to mess up.
About a year ago, there were lots of blogs posting about cute little owls made out of Moon Pies. They’re the perfect project for little hands and while they might not be the most intricate or elaborate treats ever, they’re darling and there are plenty of easy opportunities for your kids to help. Like actually help, not like, “Sure, you can help! Come here and put those measuring cups into that drawer and then back again!”
Here’s my problem: I hate Moon Pies. Every year at the Mardi Gras parade, there are people on floats tossing Moon Pies and I will forget that I hate them and YELL for them because they’re pretty high up there in value when it comes to Mardi Gras loot. And every. Single. Time, I bite into it and wonder what I was thinking. So I had to come up with an alternative. I tried Oreo Cakesters, which ended up being too small and too sugary, especially when they were decorated. I finally settled on Rice Krispy Treats (and yes, it’s completely coincidental that that commercial makes me cry and that I’m using Rice Krispy Treats in this recipe, and no, I am not being paid by Kellogg’s, Snap, Crackle, OR Pop to bring them up twice in one post) for the owls and Double Stuft Oreos for the little baby owls.
If you’re making the bigger owls, you’ll need a very sturdy round cookie cutter–think along the lines of the metal ones with the rubber gripper on top. Believe me, your hand will thank me. Then you just cut as many circles as you need (or as you can) with the cookie cutter. Save the scraps for snacking or try letting your kids make sculptures out of them (just rub some oil or shortening on their hands first to keep them from getting too sticky). Dip the treat in some melted chocolate.
and shake it to remove the excess chocolate. Insert a lollipop stick into the bottom and lay the chocolate-covered treat onto a piece of wax paper coated with vegetable shortening.
You do almost the same thing with the Oreos, only you insert the stick BEFORE you dip them. When the Rice Krispy Treat gets warm from the chocolate, it loosens up and the stick falls out. Trust me. I made a giant mess.
When you’re done dipping, place two peppermint Mentos in the chocolate for eyeballs and a candy corn for a beak. The Mentos are kind of big on the Oreos, but I think it’s kind of goofy and cute, like a little kitten with eyes that take up half its face.
Spoon the remaining chocolate into a Ziploc bag and cut a tiny corner off the bag. Carefully (this is a good job for the grown up) dot each Mento with chocolate, making the eyes. Allow the chocolate owls to cool completely–you can pop them in the fridge or freezer if you need to and they’ll be done in no time.
I popped these suckers into a wooden basket filled with floral foam and basket filler. It looks kind of like a little nest, don’t you think?
Well, that’s it! I hope you guys have enjoyed Kids Week as much as we have! Don’t be too sad, though–if you’ve been with us for over a year, you know that we’re just BEGINNING to kick off our favorite time of the year and we have lots of fun tricks up our sleeves for this fall and the upcoming holiday season!
Chocolate Owl (and Baby Owl) Pops
Description
These cute little owl pops are a great for any fall party, and kiddos love ’em!
Ingredients
- Rice Krispy Treats (on the cereal box) and/or Double Stuft Oreos
- 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3 Tbsp. canola oil
- Peppermint Mentos
- Candy corn
Supplies
- Long lollipop sticks
- Wax paper
Instructions
- Using a heavy-duty round cookie cutter, cut desired number of circles out of the Rice Krispy Treats. If using Oreos, carefully insert a lollipop stick about halfway into the cream filling. Set aside.
- In a 9″ pie plate, combine the chocolate chips and oil. Heat on high for about 2 minutes or until the chocolate is smooth and liquid, stirring every 30 seconds.
- Dip each treat/cookie into the chocolate and twirl to remove the excess chocolate. Insert a lollipop stick halfway into the dipped Rice Krispy treat. Place dipped treats onto a sheet of greased wax paper.
- Place 2 Mentos on each “owl” for eyes and a candy corn for a beak. Spoon a few tablespoons of remaining chocolate into a Ziploc bag and cut off a tiny corner. Dot each Mento to make an eye. Allow to cool and harden–you can place them in the fridge or freezer to hurry things along.
Notes
- Great tip: If making Rice Krispy Treats, be sure to line the pan with greased wax paper. When they have set up, you can just pull out the wax paper, making your life infinitely easier!
*Disclaimer
Kate– Do you know how long these will last if stored in an air tight container?? I want to make these for some of my students (Rice University Owls!) and need to make quite a few, so wasn’t sure how long they will last after making them? Thanks!
I imagine they’d be good for quite awhile. I would actually leave them out for a few days to make sure there’s not moisture before you seal them up because any moisture will cause problems.
I think the Chocolate Owl Pops could be transformed into turkeys for Thanksgiving : )
Oh my….how cute! I was supposed to take cupcakes for the Cupcake Walk, and had planned on buying them, b/c I thought the kids would like them better. Now I'm totally making Owl Cupcakes! Thanks for your great ideas!
I made these as a class treat for my 2 year olds class. They were a hit! I did use marshmallows for the eyes instead and dipped a toothpick in the chocolate to do the eye centers. Sure cute! I only did oreos. Had a few causalities but we quickly took care of them 🙂 I am loving your blog!
Kathryn–Mine have always just slid right in. I'm thinking they might have been sitting on the shelf at the grocery store for awhile? What if you heated a few in the microwave for just a few seconds at a time until the filling softens up?
I had a really time inserting the sticks into the double stuff oreos. ANY suggestions? I tried to cut out a piece of cream, I tried melting the cream a bit and then gently putting the stick inside. I tried gently screwing it in. HELP! I need to make 15 more!
Thanks Sara. Great idea!
I was given super short notice that my daughter's first day of preschool(today)would require her to bring in birthday treats. My weekend was completely booked with her party and fifteen million other things to attend. I needed something quick but super cute. Lo and behold, this post showed up on my reader. A package of Oreos later, my daughter excitedly brought in 20 baby owls for her birthday treat. It was a fun way to start preschool! Thank you, thank you for saving me from store bought cookies!!
Stacey- yes, I do! Because I thought of turkeys too the moment I saw those cute owls! I am just going to use upside-down candycorns 🙂
The owls are adorable and could morph into really cute turkeys with the addition of some candy feathers. Different colors of Wilton candy melts piped into feather shapes would work, but does anybody have a better (read that as easier) idea?
Love the ideas and the owls are so cute. When I need a really big round cookie cutter, I use a can. You have the whole bottom to push against, and yes, my (arthritic) hands do thank me!
Look forward to doing some of these with the grand kids!
These are adorable.
My 2 younger kiddos saw your oreo owls…guess what we're going to be making for class treats?
Love your site! Thanks for all you share!
I had strawberry puree in the fridge that I was trying to figure out what to do with, AND I had watermelon that had to be used today. We had strawberries and cream Popsicles and strawberry watermelon slushies today. Thanks for solving my problem. 🙂
The Hincliff Family–You're right, I did stick the stick in first in these pictures. Which is why I'm telling you not to, hahaha! 🙂 I've done it both ways and it was so much harder to put the stick in first. With the Oreos, it's no big deal, but the Rice Krispy Treats start falling apart.
Those owls are cute, but wouldn't it be easier to insert the lollipop sticks before dipping them in the chocolate? I would think that would make the dipping easier and cleaner. In the picture, it looks like maybe the stick is in when dipping, but under the photo and in the recipe, you mention putting the stick in after dipping.
These look perfect for treats at halloween/fall festival parties in school!!!! Even better – I can make all rice krispy ones and use ingredients that are totally safe for my older son!
great! can't wait to try them
My son's 1st birthday is next week and I have been looking EVERYWHERE for the bright sprinkles like you have shown on the colorburst cupcakes. Where did you get those??
Those owls are amazing!
I've loved your blog for a long time now, and I use your recipes constantly. But I just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed your posts this week. All the great ideas and fun – I'm looking forwards to trying them all. Thank you!
Oh, I love those cute little owls!
I like these owls, they may just be the Harvest Party craft/ snack for a 5th and 3rd grade classroom soon 🙂
My son wants to help in the kitchen, but he's too bossy. I'm not confidant enough in the cooking department to be told how wrong I'm doing it.
It usually ends poorly, so I avoid it for now. Maybe later when we've both learned better interpersonal communication skills.
My daughter is really starting to express interest in being in the kitchen (which just makes my heart flutter). These owls will be the perfect thing for us to try together. Thanks for posting!
All of your recipes are always so great–I love when you do round ups of all your past ones–I really need to make those colorburst cupcakes–how fun!
I just had to say that I am a lurker on your blog but I have so been enjoying your posts this week that I had to comment and tell you.
Your blog is awesome and I can't wait to get in the kitchen with my kids and try some of the tricks and recipes you posted on this week.
My husband is the cook in our family and really doesn't like having our daughter cook with him. He says that it's his way of relaxing and when she cooks with him then he doesn't get his relaxing time.
Me, I hate cooking, so having my daughter cook with me couldn't ruin it any more ;D