Flag Shaped Coconut Macaroons

Any coconut fans out there? How about coconut macaroons?

I'm not talking about the super trendy macarons that are everywhere now.   I mean macaroons, the sweet and mostly coconut-y treats that I personally love!

I thought red, white and blue macaroons would be fun and I wanted to shape them into US flags for the 4th of July holiday.  Start by making a batch of macaroon batter divided into 3 bowls.  Leave one bowl as is and tint the other 2 with red and blue food gels.

Shape into flags and add non-pareil sprinkles as "stars" or use star sprinkles if you have them.

Bake until just done for about 15 minutes (depending on size of your flags and your oven) but watch them and take out at the first sign of browning of edges.

If you have coconut fans then these fun flag shaped macaroons will definitely be a hit!

Bring them to a party for a unique sweet treat!

Happy Fourth of July to those who celebrate! How do you plan to spend your 4th of July??

Red, White and Blue Flag Shaped Macaroons

by Michelle Clausen July 3, 2018

Ingredients:

1 and 1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
2 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
red and blue food gel
white small non-pareil sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Add all ingredients (up to vanilla) together in bowl and mix well
3. Divide mixture into 3 bowls
4. Add red gel to one of the bowls and blue food gel to another
5. Shape into flags using the mixtures (use spoon to drop mix onto baking sheet and butter knife to keep edges straight)
6. Add sprinkles as "stars" on to blue section
7. Bake for 15 minutes (depending on size of your flags and your oven) but watch them and take out at the first sign of browning of edges.

Prep time: 30 minutes Yield: about 12 macaroons.  Stores 1-2 days at room temperature (or 2 weeks refrigerated - you can also freeze them to last longer)


Other coconut treats you may like:

Star Wars - Chewbacca and Wampa Macaroons

Coconut Covered Cake Bite Bunnies

Mini Snow Ball Cake Bites

Snow Monster Cupcakes

Let's Play Ball - Filled Red, White & Blue Baseball Cupcakes!

Holy crow I haven't posted or baked in a LONG time! 

And you know what? That's OK.  Totally OK! 

For the longest time I was putting pressure on myself to post at least weekly.  For anyone that follows along, you know that I have 3 kiddos (10 year old twins and now a 13 year old - A TEENAGER holy cow!) and I work out of the house full time.  This blog and baking/creating edible treats has always been an outlet for me.  A way to relieve stress and do something that was just for me and unrelated to my day job.  That said it was becoming more of another "to do" on my ever growing to do list.  

Just more of my type A personality showing its ridiculous head in the form of "Michelle you know you haven't posted anything really unique in forever so you must be losing the creativeness that people always compliment you on so you know get on with it even though you have kids that want to spend time with you and but they don't know about the ins and outs of the world yet which is a mess and really scary right now so you better model perfect human behavior and empathy but also you have a day job that actually pays you money and health benefits and you have a new boss so you better show what you can do at work and maybe start volunteering at a soup kitchen because you know your life is good and you should be giving back but your tired and over scheduled already but that's no excuse and you also need to spend some 1:1 quality time with you husband of 20+ years because you're both always tired and only complain or talk about schedules and kids and stuff keeps breaking down in the house oh and your daughter has a heart transplant and even though she's perfect and doing great is she going to have a normal life and will she have side effects from the plethora of meds she takes everyday and you spend $600 at Costco every 2 weeks but that's cool because at least you only have to physically buy toilet paper every 3 months" and then after thinking that or very similar everyday for a year your tell yourself to take a moment to breath (really BREATH) and to stop anything that doesn't have to get done and that's OK.  

It's totally OK.

SO.....I did!  And guess what?? Life went on.  I didn't make or bake anything ALL summer.  No stress on myself for not posting or baking and it was nice and actually a relief.  

Now work is still stressful and the kids are back in school (also a stressful) but now I miss the baking/creating.  So that means it must be time to go back! And I did tonite!

In all transparency these filled baseball cupcakes are from the June.  (LOLZ) And that's OK!

I made them for my kiddo's end of little league season in June.  I knew I wanted to do baseball cupcakes but with a little something extra inside.

Take out the center of your fav baked cupcake and then fill with buttercream.

I used red, white, and blue tinted vanilla buttercream to layer inside the homemade vanilla cupcakes.  Add first color with a squirt of buttercream and follow with the other colors layered on top of each other.

Totally optional as the baseball stitches work just as well on their own.

But the layered filling is very fun for 4th of July or for your favorite baseball fan.

We're huge Yankee fans here and they're doing pretty well this season so we're hoping for October baseball this year! Might need to make these fun filled cupcakes again!

So what did you do this summer?!! Are you ready for all that is pumpkin spice? I am!

Red Velvet Fauxstess Cupcakes with Swirled Glaze for the 4th of July

Hey Peeps!  4th of July is coming up very very soon, so I mashed up again a couple of my favs:  

1.  Red, white, and blue food (I don't know why I love tinted food so but I do) AND
2. Hostess Chocolate Cupcakes

Hostess cupcakes are my secret little indulgence - preservatives, artificial flavors, and all - sorry healthy people but I think you have to have a little bad food once in awhile or you may burst.  I'm pretty sure there is a study out there that has drawn that conclusion.

They are also red velvet because its for the Fourth of July (duh) and it keeps the red, white, and blue theme going!  Don't forget the typical hostess squiggles on top...

...and the creme filling.  Never ever forget the creme filling!

See all the red, white, and blue details here at she knows

Happy Almost Weekend!

Red, White, and Blue Greek Yogurt Pudding Cups

 

It's time for all the red, white, and blue food! I always love seeing all the tri-colored treats for the upcoming 4th of July holiday.  This year I made some simple pudding cups made from greek vanilla pudding.  

Did you even know they made greek yogurt pudding?? I didn't so when I saw this instant pudding for the first time at the food store last week, I scooped up a couple of boxes.  Mix up the pudding as per the box directions then separate equal portions of the pudding into 3 different zip lock baggies.  Tint 1 bag blue, 1 red, and leave the last bag white.  

Snip an end of the baggie and squirt into cups, one color at a time.  I had some mini plastic square cups which worked great for this.  

Although the pudding is very tasty on its own, promise me if you make this that you'll add fresh strawberries.  Strawberries are my all time fav fresh fruit.  Don't they look absolutely delish??

After you add a spoonful of sliced strawberries,  go ahead and add some whipped cream and blueberries.  It doesn't have to look perfect, but it will taste pretty dang close to perfect as perfect gets.  

And there you go some mini pudding cups all red white and blue'd up in prep for the Fourth of July.  Plus there is fruit on them so that means you can eat 1 or 2 or 12.  

Have a great week peeps!

Flag shaped soft pretzels for 4th of July

Do you love soft pretzels as much as I do? 

And do you love all that is red, white, and blue? Well mash those loves up and make some homemade flag shaped soft pretzels this 4th of July!  Making them at home is really very easy - and shaping them into flags is like rolling play doh.  Get the kiddos to help!

See the full tutorial here at SheKnows.

Tidy Mom's I'm Loving It

Tip Junkie's Tip Me Tuesday

Works for Me Wednesday

Made by You Monday

Carolyn's Homework Today's Assignment Be Inspired

Time to Sparkle Tuesday
Two-Cup Tuesday

Cast Party Wednesday

Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party

Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday
Our Sunday Best Showcase

Red White And Blue Frosted Cookie Stacks

Holy Cow, Memorial Day is almost here! And if you are like me, the long weekend totally snuck up on you and you may not have any time to prep for a last minute invite to a BBQ or party.  

That's ok, these super simple treats can be thrown together in about 15 minutes.  I'm not sure who first came up with frosting cookies, and stacking them, but it's pure genius. I love anything easy and cute, and these are most def both. 

Start with some store bought cookies.  Of course you can use home made if you just happen to be so inspired, but I always seem to have a packs of cookies laying around, you know, in case of emergency.

PLUS I found these gems at Trader Joes, Speculoos Cookies.  How have I never had these before?? Crisp caramelized cinnamon spiced cookies? Heck yeah.  AND they have such a cute little design on them.  AND this is also the stuff they use to make cookie butter.  Come on, Cookie Butter!!?

Start with some vanilla icing and tint some red and blue.  Pipe onto the cookies.  And sprinkles (optional).  The End.  

I used some homemade buttercream for this (I always seem to have some leftover in the freezer) but you can use store-bought too.  The piping makes them look "fancier"!

Use any assortment of cookies you have around. Add some sprinkles.  Sprinkles make me smile so I try to put them on everything.  Don't put them on meat, meat + sprinkles is just weird.  

These little cookie stacks even make a neat birthday treat in a pinch.  

Happy Memorial Day to you all and I'll be thinking of all the women and men who have served and their families that have lost loved ones while in service.   Enjoy the long weekend and be safe.

Tidy Mom's I'm Loving It
Tip Junkie's Tip Me Tuesday

Works for Me Wednesday

Made by You Monday

Carolyn's Homework Today's Assignment Be Inspired

Time to Sparkle Tuesday
Two-Cup Tuesday

Cast Party Wednesday

Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party

Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday
Our Sunday Best Showcase

8 Treats all Red, White & Blue - Happy 4th of July!

So I had hoped to have one more 4th of July post before the big day, but alas, life gets in the way.  I did look back and I seem to have a thing for these colors because as you'll see there's lots of red, white and blue all over here.  

Like these baked wheat donuts with sprinkles (above) - Plain glazed donuts, blah.  Add sprinkles and SuperFunHappyTime.

AND

these Little Uncle Sam cupcakes - I promise no fondant was harmed in the creation of these little guys.

Some sweet and salty pretzel snacks (using goldfish crackers) - Red, white and blue goldfish?? Win, win, and win.

More baked donuts - ok ok these are more red, white, and teal but look how cute they are! Again, sprinkles!

 Ice cream topped angel food cupcakes (the color au natural).  Seriously one of the best cupcakes I've ever made. For reals.

 Flag pretzel snacks - Please excuse my obsession with all things sweet and salty!

Red, white, and blue madeleines (also made with natural food colors) - Make these now!

Some marshmallow candy cupcakes - aka bite sized fun!

 Thanks for indulging my perusal down red, white and blue lane.  Hope you all have an awesome 4th of July holiday to those who celebrate!

Ice Cream Topped Angel Food Cupcakes - Cupcake Couture Blog Party "Sprinkles Will Fly"

So another Cupcake Couture Blog Party! I can't get enough of them.  Betsy from Java Cupcake and Carrie from Bella Cupcake Couture are hosting again BUT this one is a patriotic cupcake theme! That means a whole lotta Red, White, and Blue.  You just cannot not smile when you see those colors together! And I can't wait to see what everyone whips up for the upcoming 4th of July holiday.

It really is a must to have red, white, and blue for the 4th and I love coming up with these colors without using any food gels/dyes.  This red (ok pink!) and blue (yeah ok purpley-blue) are from fresh berries only.

And my cupcake wrappers were these fun stars and stripes in red, white and blue!

I wanted something a little different cupcake wise, so went with angel food cake cupcakes (from a boxed mix to speed up the process). They baked up great!  It's basically like you are eating air, so you can eat like 1 or 2 or 12 without the guilt (ok pretend that is true).

And yay for berry season!  I made some blueberry and strawberry sauce by cooking about 2-3 cups of berries with about 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2-3 teaspoons of water.  Cook until the berries breakdown and make a nice thick sauce.

blueberry sauce - yum

strawberry sauce - double yum

Nothing goes better with angel food cake then ice cream.  So in place of frosting, these cupcakes have a scoop of red, white, or blue ice cream on top!

The white is plain vanilla ice cream, the "red" is vanilla mixed with a little of the strawberry sauce, and the "blue" is vanilla mixed with the blueberry sauce.  I added about 1 tablespoon of the sauce to about 2 cups of vanilla ice cream.  Definitely let chill, preferably overnite (you can see my strawberry ice cream was not as firm and that was about only 2 hours after I mixed it up.

You can top with a jelly bean "cherry" or sprinkles or whatever other toppers you like! And you can make these ahead of time and freeze the entire cupcake.  That seemed to work well since I needed these for a birthday party.

And the flavors of fresh berries, ice cream and angel food cake together--to quote a famous facebooker, Oh. My. (10 points if you get that reference).   You can also just dump some of the sauce over the entire cupcake to really kick it up several hundred notches.  Heat the sauce up a little before pouring it over.  I seriously could have eaten all of these on my own they were that good!  

I had a lot of fun with these "cupcakes" for the par-tay AND if you want to see some other cool patriotic themed cuppies, please stop by and say hello to these other fun bloggers playing along!

A Pumpkin and A Princess

An American Cupcake in London

Bella Cupcake Couture

Chronicles of a Foodie

Creative Food

Cupcake Project

Cupcakes Take the Cake

Diary of a Mad Hausfrau

Haniela's

Hoosier Homemade

Hungry Happenings

In Katrina's Kitchen

Inside BruCrew Life

Java Cupcake

Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons

Love From the Oven

Make Bake Celebrate

Not Just a Mommy

Not Your Mommas Cookie

Pint Sized Baker

Sugar Swings! Serve Some

The Baking Cup

The Decorated Cookie

AND there is a GIVEAWAY!!

              

Thanks to our amazing Prize Pack sponsors for their generous donations!  Please, visit their websites to see more of their fabulous products! 

Bella Cupcake Couture

The Smart Baker

India Tree

Lucks Food Decorating Company

Pretty Party Details

To enter to WIN this Prize Pack, simply fill out the entry form below.  

Contest opens 25June13 at 0700 PST and closes 1Jul13 at 2359 PST.  One winner will be chosen and announced within 48 hours of the contest ending. Winner will be contacted via email by betsy@javacupcake.com and will have 48 hours to claim their prize.  If they do not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be chosen.

This contest is open to residents worldwide. (WOOHOO! and GOOD LUCK!!)

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And again, thanks so much to Carrie and Betsy for hosting and pulling all of this together (again!).  I really had had a blast with this one!