Mermaid Cupcakes & PEEPS Cookbook Giveaway

Do you guys love mermaids as much as I do? They rate very high up there like unicorns and rainbows for me. There's just something about those pretty and colorful tails.  

And since it's PEEPS season, how about making some mermaid bunny PEEPS??

PEEPS come in so many flavors these days so when I saw these orange creme flavored bunnies this year I didn't know what I would make with them BUT I knew they would come in handy. 

Green apple fruit strips worked out great for the tails.

Add some cute flowers detail and a little heart shaped sprinkle for the mouth.  The scales are made with light green candy wafers.

Or just make a bunch of mermaid tails and use them as cupcake toppers.  

OR make both!

My love of Marshmallow PEEPS is pretty obvious right? Well I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute to a new Peeps-a-licious Cookbook! 3 of my recipes are featured in the new cookbook for PEEPS lovers.  I'm so excited to be included in this fun recipe book!  The mermaids are not in the book (how to listed below) but there are some other really fun PEEPS treats.   Here's a sneak peak of the Harry Potter PEEPS Pops that are in the book!

And the super fun PEEPS AND COMPANY and Quarto Books are letting me give a couple of the cookbook out to some of my readers.  YAY!  

Enter to win below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How to PEEPS Bunny Mermaids

Makes 10 mermaids

Total time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 package of PEEPS bunnies (this used orange creme flavored)
• Green apple fruit strips
• 1/2 cup light green, blue melting, and dark green candy wafers
• 1/8 cup of green and pink melting candy wafers
• 10 mini pretzels (as base)
• Assorted sprinkles (mini red hearts for mouth, round for center of flowers)

Directions:

1. Cut out piece of fruit strip to wrap around bunny body and long enough to make tail.  Wrap strip to get the right mermaid tail look.
2. If making the tails (without bunny), 
3. Melt dark green candy in quart size freezer bag in 10 second intervals until just melted.  Snip an end of the corner and pipe tail shape onto parchment paper.  Let harden 15 minutes (or in refrigerator for 5 minutes).
4. Melt light green candy in quart size freezer bag in 10 second intervals until just melted.  Snip an end of the corner and pipe scales onto body and tails.
5. Melt yellow and pink candy in separate quart size freezer bag in 10 second intervals until just melted.  Snip an end of the corner and pipe flower shape.  While still wet add a sprinkle to center.  Let harden 15 minutes.  
6. Use some of the melted candy and attach flower to bunny as hair decoration and attach sprinkle heart as the mouth.
7. Melt blue candy in quart size freezer bag in 10 second intervals until just melted.  Snip an end of the corner and pipe small mound onto pretzel.  Attach a bunny to each (allows bunny to stand up). Let harden 15 minutes.
8. Add as cupcake toppers and/or insert tails into cupcakes.

Spring Hyacinth Flower Cupcakes

Yay, it's spring, it's spring, its SPRING! 

I haven't made cupcakes in so long that now I think I'm on a cupcake binge.  Last week I posted some mini Easter basket cupcakes and for this week here are more spring cupcakes with these super cute hyacinth flower cupcakes.  

Hyacinths are another of my favorite bulb flowers that show up at the beginning of spring.  I love all the pastel colors they come in and those bunches of fragrant tiny flowers look so pretty!

So of course I had to try to make some.  These cupcakes are are a bit more like grape hyacinths but still pretty and very spring-y!

See more details on how to make these little hyacinth toppers here over at sheknows!

I'm always happy for the warm weather to return and see the trees come back to life and flowers blooming.  Now if I can just stop the deer from eating all the blossoms in the yard!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Easter to all that celebrate!

Mini Easter Basket Spring Cupcakes

Hey All! Did you know Easter is this month? I just realized that a couple days ago.  It's March 27th so earlier this year instead of in April.  So it's a good thing I started thinking about Easter treats earlier than normal this year.  

Tiny things are my favorite.  I love anything tiny or mini - you know stuff that's usually normal size.  

And tiny Easter baskets with mini decorated eggs?! Heck yes!

One of my favorite candies that comes out in the Spring is Cadbury Mini Eggs.  Yummy chocolate covered with a sugar shell.  Totally delish.  This year I found them in all white eggs.  

I knew they would be perfect to decorate like little Easter eggs using edible food writers.

I have yet to dye actual hard boiled eggs with my kids.  Is that terrible or what?? In my defense, when they were little I just couldn't deal with the mess that it made.  My kids are only 2 years apart and with a set of twins it was just too much chaos for here for awhile! We did decorate eggs with stickers, markers or we did egg hunts with filled plastic eggs in the backyard.  We just never did the dunk and dye them part.  Plus they don't like hard boiled eggs so no one would ever eat them! Now since they are 11 and almost 9, I kinda think its too late to start that tradition. 

But I usually do find an activity for them to do so I got them to help decorate these little mini eggs this year and they loved it.  They got creative decorating and it was pretty quick - not to mention no mess ;)

The baskets are made using a plastic mold that was a frozen food tray.  It was the perfect size and shape for the basket part of an Easter basket.  The handles are made from pieces of licorice.

Super cute little Easter baskets.  Add them to cupcakes or your favorite sweet treat!

Thanks for stopping by! Can't wait for the Spring weather to come back and hang around for long long while!

How to Make Mini Easter Basket Cupcakes

Makes 12-15 Cupcakes

Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 box of cake mix
• 1 can of frosting tinted green
• 1/2 cup of melting candy wafers in various colors (for the basket)
• Licorice in rainbow colors
• Edible grass
• Cadbury mini eggs in white
• Edible food writers in various colors

Directions:

1. For baskets: melt each color in microwave safe bowl in 25 second intervals.  Stir until melted.  Spread candy along sides and bottom of mold (as in picture).  Refrigerate for 5 minutes.  Once candy is hardened pop candy out of mold. 
2. Cut lengths of licorice long enough to make a handle and reach each side of basket.  Use some leftover melted candy to attach as basket handle.  Hold in place until candy hardens. 
3. Add some edible grass to basket.
4. For eggs: decorate mini eggs with edible food writers in various designs (dots, stripes, hearts, etc)
5. Prepare cupcakes as per the box directions.
6. Pipe icing on with grass decorating tip onto cupcakes.
7. Add basket on top of each cupcake.

Bunny Ear Star Wars Cookies for Easter

After posting the #12DaysOfStarWars last year as a countdown for the new Star Wars - The Force Awakens movie, I said I'd be taking a Star Wars treat break.  Twelve days of all Star Wars treats was fun but a bit exhausting!  Well, a couple months break was all I could make it before thinking about another fun treat.  

With spring and Easter coming very soon I thought Darth Vader could use some bunny ears.  He and his Stormtroopers both could use some bunny ears.  Maybe that would lighten their moods.  

In fact I think everyone right now needs bunny years to lighten things up a little.  Wouldn't the next republican or democratic debate be much nicer if the candidates and moderators wore bunny years? I mean if Donald Trump wore bunny ears you definitely would know you shouldn't take him seriously, right??  I'll tweet that suggestion out and see who bites!  

But back to the cookies, they are homemade sugar cookies that would make super cute additions to your biggest Star Wars fan's Easter baskets!

I shared how to make them over at sheknows.

Here are some other Star Wars treats you may like too:

Day 1 Princess Leia Marshmallows

Day 2 Chewbacca (or Ewok!) and Wampa Coconut Macaroons

Day 3 Star Wars Bundt cake (with Yoda inside!)

Day 4 Star Wars Roll Cake

Day 5 Star Wars Character Christmas Cookies

Day 6 Star Wars Oatmeal Creme Pie Galaxy Cookies

Day 7 Star Wars Creature Candies and Cupcakes

Day 8 Star Wars Christmas Wreath Treats

Day 9 Star Wars - Mickey Mash-up Cookie Pops

Day 10 Star Wars Trooper Gingerbread Men

Day 11 Star Wars Bunny Peeps Pops

Day 12 Star Wars Droid Macarons

Minnie & Mickey Whoopie Pies

I needed a break from all the holiday posts lately and also had a craving for some whoopie pies.  But instead of plain old boring ones I thought Minnie and Mickey ears would be fun.  I saw these whoopie pies awhile back that are Mickey and Minnie shaped but thought it would be neat to make 2 tone cakes for Mickey and to also use the batter to make little Minnie bows.  

Ever since going to Disney a couple of years back I got into all that is Minnie and Mickey - especially the ears.  They are so iconic for Disney!  

Sadly, my kiddos (11 year old tween and 9 year old twins) feel they are too "old" for Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  First this month they dropped the bomb that Dr. Seuss is too babyish for them and now they are also too old for Mickey.  

WHAT???!!!! 

I can't take it anymore.  Stop growing up so dang fast.  

As another example, I always make their birthday cakes every year.  The request from the 11 year old this year is for me to make a large single Cheeto puff cake.  No more "mom can you make me a fire truck" or "mom can you make me volcano or R2D2 or Iron Man or an Earth cake or even a Minecraft Creeper cake".  A CHEETO.  Come on!  So I refused and told him to come back in a week with a new proposal or to at least put a business case together for the Cheeto cake.  You know you have to teach them life lessons and all, and if you want a Cheeto cake - you need to sell the idea to everyone involved and get them on board.  If he comes back with a powerpoint slide deck with talking points you may see me posting a How To for a Cheeto cake!  

Whatever, I'm still going to make them cute Disney treats.  They can't stop me.  But if you also see more Minecraft, Terraria, Plants Vs Zombies, or You Tube inspired treats, you'll know why.  

So apparently these Mickey and Minnie whoopie pies are more for me than anyone else in this house- but that's fine too.  BUT if you are an AFOD (adult fan of Disney) or if your kiddos are still into Disney - make some today!

I shared the how to make these Mickey and Minnie whoopie pies here on sheknows!

Thanks for stopping by and have a sweet week!

Some other Mickey inspired treats you may like too:

Mickey and Friends Pretzel Snacks

Mickey and Minnie Peeps Pops

Mickey Ears Star Wars Cookies

Candy Pots of Gold with Mini Gold Cookies

Hey all!  It's one of my favorite times of year when all the green and gold treats start showing up over the interwebs! 

Green has been a favorite color since I was little and I still fall for green stuff to this day.  And gold, well that's a no brainer because you don't expect treats to be gold - but there are plenty of them these days.  

So for this St. Patrick's Day I made some little pots of gold with gold treasure inside.  Everything is edible and would make a nice little addition to a Saint Patrick's day party (or just as a special treat for your little leprechauns)!

See the easy directions here over at sheknows!

Check out these other St. Patrick's Day Treats too!

Leprechaun Cupcakes

Rainbow Inside Cupcakes

Green Matcha Shortbread

Watermelon Peeps Squares

Lucky Charms Oatmeal Cookies

Naturally Colored Rainbow Cupcakes

Green Beer Bread

Rainbow Striped Cookies

Mint Chocolate Chip Men Cookies

Mini Candy and Marshmallow Cups

Rainbow Blondie Bars