Cookie Monster Cupcakes

November 2: Cookie Monster’s Birthday

Admit it! We are all kids at heart and have a little cookie (or dessert) monster inside of us. The lovable, googly-eyed, blue furry creature on Sesame Street TV has a voracious appetite for cookies and gobbles them up with gusto! But lately, Cookie Monster has been promoting healthier eating habits. But just for his birthday, indulge a bit with blue frosted cupcakes with—what else?—a mini chocolate cookie! Om nom nom nom—yum yum! Happy birthday, Cookie Monster!

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 dozen cupcakes (we used Duncan Hines brand Moist Deluxe Devil’s Food cake mix)
• 1-2 cans white frosting tinted blue (we used Wilton brand Ready-to-Use Decorator Icing tinted with Royal Blue Icing Color)
• 1 tube white icing (we used Wilton brand Ready-to-Use icing tube)
• mini chocolate chips (we used Nestlè Toll House brand mini morsels)
• Oreo Cookies chocolate mini bite size

Directions

Bake cupcakes and cool completely. Tint the white frosting blue. Fill a pastry bag with the frosting and, using the star tip, pipe the surface “fur” of the cupcake.  Fit the white icing tube with a round tip and pipe the eyeballs.

Insert a mini chocolate chip on the white icing point to make “googly eyes.” Shove a mini Oreo cookie for the mouth onto the blue frosted cupcake surface. Complete all cupcakes in the same manner.

Notes

• See our Food Flop page for “what could have been” Cookie Monster macarons.
• See our blog recipe post for Elmo macarons on Elmo’s birthday on February 3.

Curried Devil’s Eggs

November 2: National Deviled Eggs Day

We dress up deviled eggs for Halloween dinners and make them a little hot and spicy with curry powder and red bell pepper. The added appeal of these appetizers is that they are made with healthier ingredients, such as fat-free yogurt instead of mayonnaise and a crisp, fresh vegetable for a garnish. For an “eggs-traordinary” presentation, prepare curried devil’s eggs for National Deviled Eggs Day!

Recipe

(Adapted from Weight Watchers)

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs, boiled and shelled
• 3 tablespoons fat-free yogurt
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• red bell pepper slices
• black tube icing (we used Wilton brand)

Directions

Boil, cool and shell the eggs. Slice the eggs in half lengthwise. Carefully remove the yolks and place in a small bowl with the yogurt, curry and salt. Mash together with a fork until smooth. Fill the egg whites with a mound of the yolk mixture (we used a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip).

Slice the red bell pepper into a long strip. Cut out tiny triangles and arrange on them on the egg. To make the devil’s horns and beard, use two red bell pepper triangles pointing up on the wider end of the egg and another one pointing down on the opposite side of the egg. Lightly touch the tip of the black tube frosting to make the eyes and nose. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

• Knead the black tube icing and squeeze out the excess liquid on a napkin before decorating the curried devil’s eggs to avoid runny smears on the yolk filling.