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Are you one of those parents who can instantly whip up a creative, professional-looking costume every Halloween without fail? Are you full of good ideas and crafty know-how? Or are you like the rest of us, who may be short on time, sewing skills, or the capacity to make this year’s must-have costume? Don’t worry; you can make an adorable chocolate chip cookie costume for your child that will make you want to just eat him up.

For this costume, you need minimal sewing skills and a few craft supplies. Gather:

• Light brown or tan felt

• Dark brown felt

• Fabric glue or Elmer’s all-purpose glue

• Some cotton batting or pillow stuffing

Cut out four large circles from the light brown or tan felt. This will become the base of your cookie. You can trace a circle with a five-gallon bucket, a large mixing bowl, or a round trash can or simply free draw a circle, trying to make it symmetrical. Don’t worry too much about this – chocolate chip cookies are delicious whether they are symmetrical or not.

Cut small circles from the dark brown felt. These will be your chocolate chips. The next step is to glue the chocolate chips onto the cookie. Fabric glue is great, but you can also get by with Elmer’s if you make sure to let it dry thoroughly. You should now have a front and a back for two cookies (the chips only need to be on the front). Turn the wrong sides out on one of the cookie sets and sew it together. Leave a hole for the stuffing, and turn the big cookie right side out. Stuff your cookie, and then sew the hole. Do this for the second cookie.

Next, you’ll need to make straps. These will keep the cookie costume on your child and are very much like backpack strips. Cut strips from your light brown or tan felt. Enlist your child’s help: hold the cookies to her body and mark where you will place the straps. They should fit over the shoulders and then under the arms. You can then sew the straps in place or pierce the cookie felt and thread the straps through. The latter is easier and a more effective means of keeping the straps in place.

That’s it: your kid cookie is all ready for Halloween. The best part of this costume, though, is that it can be used again. You can take the straps off and use it for a floor or bed pillow or a chair cushion.

If you are pressed for time, you can choose a piece of light brown or tan fleece. Have your child lie down on it and draw a circle around them. Use dark brown fleece or felt for the chips, and then sew the two pieces together. Leave an opening for the neck and for the legs, and cut arm holes out. Even more pressed for time? Find a light brown sweat suit and pick up some dark brown felt. Glue the “chocolate chips” scattered throughout the sweat suit and call it a day. You can also just do a few quick stitches to put the chips on, which can later be removed so your child can wear the sweat suit for playtime or bed.

If your child is a cookie monster, she’ll love this homemade costume.

Glazed cookies are different from cookies that are iced with stiff Royal icing. Glazed cookies will appear more glossy when finished. They’ll have a more painted look. You can easily learn how to make a cookie glaze that will have you decorating cookies like a pro.

Sugar cookies are one of the best types of cookies for glazing. They take glaze well and they also lend themselves to shapes that are perfect for seasonal cookies. You might want to bake bright butterflies for spring and four-leafed clovers for St. Patrick’s Day. You can tailor your cookie making and glazing to every holiday easily. Glaze is so easy to work with that there’s no reason you can’t make a batch every week in a different theme!

When you’re asked to bake for the Girl Scout meeting, PTO bake sale or another fund raiser, try making glazed cookies. Once they set and dry, they are easy to transport. And they are cost-efficient as well as delightful to look at. Try your hand at them and you’ll keep returning to the thought of glazed cookies whenever you go to bake.

For a failure proof recipe that will allow you to turn out near perfect cookies, try this recipe today.

Colorful Cookie Glaze

You'll love this easy-to-make glaze that dries to a hard, glossy finish, with bright, beautiful colors.

Yield: Makes about 1/2 cup.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

1 cup confectioners' sugar

3 1/2 teaspoons milk

1/4 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract or 1/4 teaspoon Pure Almond Extract

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Assorted Food Colors

1. Mix confectioners' sugar, milk and extract in small bowl until smooth. Stir in corn syrup until glaze is smooth and glossy. (If glaze is too thick, stir in small amount of additional corn syrup.) Stir in 3 to 4 drops food color until evenly distributed and glaze is smooth. Add additional drops of food color until glaze is of desired color. Mix in your school's colors for a graduation cookie gift!

2. To glaze cookies, place cooling rack on foil-lined baking sheet. Holding a cookie by its edge, dip the top of cookie into glaze. (Or spoon the glaze onto cookies using a teaspoon. Cookies can also be glazed using a new small paintbrush.) Place glazed cookies on cooling rack to dry. (The foil-covered baking sheet will catch any drips.)

3. Use contrasting glaze colors to decorate glazed cookies, if desired. Spoon small amount of contrasting glaze into small resealable plastic bag. Snip off tiny piece of the corner of the plastic bag. Create design by squeezing contrasting glaze onto cookies. Allow glazed cookies to dry thoroughly before stacking.

Glazing cookies is a fast, easy way to add a splash of color to a cookie tray for the holidays, a birthday celebration, or a get well cookie basket. You can send over a batch of glazed cookies as a thank you to someone special or send them to school with your child in his lunchbox. Since they’re so easy to make, you can break out this recipe every time you bake.

I'm not sure about where you live, but it's getting cooler here.  For some reason, when the weather starts to cool down, I get in the mood to make muffins!  Baking them fills the air with that delicious muffin smell and the day just seems to get better after sitting down to this delicious treat warm from the oven!

If you have some ripe bananas sitting around, here is a great recipe for banana crumb muffins.  The crumb topping adds delicious flavor and texture to an already scrumptious treat!

Are you tired of baking the same old cookies? Have you started picking those raspberries yet?  Whether you grow your own, pick them somewhere else, or buy them at the store, raspberries are a small delicious little berry that has endless possibilities!

Raspberry butter is a delicious treat on toast, waffles, or anything else you'd put butter on!  The berries give your baked goods a sweetness that will keep you coming back for more!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softenened
• 1/3 cup fresh or frozen unsweetened raspberries
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• Dash lemon juice

Directions:

In a small bowl, beat all ingredients until well blended and smooth. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator; bring to room temperature before serving. Yield: about 1/2 cup.

Sure, you've made St. Patrick's Day Cookies, but are you looking to serve up something cool and green this St. Patrick's Day?  This recipe combines delicious Mint Chip ice cream with a cookie crumb crust for a dessert that strikes gold.

This is a great plan-ahead dessert because it can be frozen up to 2 months.

Ingredients

• 2 packages (14 ounces each) cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1 gallon mint chocolate chip ice cream, softened
• 1 carton (16 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
• Shaved chocolate

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and butter. Press into two 13-in. x 9-in. dishes. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• In a small saucepan, combine milk, sugar, butter and chocolate. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat then cool completely.
• Spread ice cream over each crust. Spoon cooled chocolate sauce over top; evenly spread to cover. Freeze until firm. Spread with whipped topping. Remove from freezer 10 minutes before cutting. Garnish with shaved chocolate.
  

Makes 2 desserts - 12 to 15 servings each.

Learn about making cupcakes for every occasion!

If you love layered cakes, or creative cookies, then you'll also love filled cupcakes! Cupcakes are quite easy to fill.

One way to do it is to use a cake decorating bag. Use a regular tip that would be used for large writing. On the top of the cupcake, poke the tip about three fourths of the way into the center of the cupcake. Squeeze the tube of filling and pull away from the cupcake. Don't let the filling ooze out of the cupcake. Gently scrape off any filling that is on the outside of the cupcake before frosting it.

Another way to fill a cupcake is to cut out a small section of your cupcake. This works especially well if your filling is thick or lumpy. At about a 45 degree angle, cut a small circular section out of the top of your cupcake - about 1 - 1 1/2 inches deep. Carefully remove that section. Fill your cupcake with the desired filling (frosting, cream, jam, etc.) and then replace the cut out section (trimming if necessary) then frost to cover up the patch.

Your friends and family will be amazed at how professional these cupcakes look and taste!

Learn more about filling and decorating cupcakes here...

Making trifles has been one of my passions this year because we were invited to tons of potlucks. I've stopped making cookies and moved on to something more challenging. Nothing gets more ooh's and aah's than a layered trifle dessert. It looks like you spent hours making it, but secretly you know that it was super easy to make. This recipe for brownie trifle is one of the most requested recipes in my family. It is rich, creamy and just plain fantastic!

Directions:
1) Prepare 1 box (19.8 oz) of brownies according to the box directions for fudgy brownies. Bake, cool, and cut the brownies into bite-sized pieces (1" squares).

2) In a large glass bowl, prepare 3 boxes (3.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix according to the package directions. Personally, I use about 1 cup less milk (total) than the package suggests because I don't chill my pudding prior to assembly and that way I have the correct consistency.

3) Be sure to have a large tub of cool whip topping, thawed and a package of chocolate-covered toffee bits (can be found in the aisle near the bags of chocolate chips).

Now that you have all the ingredients ready to go, you can begin the assembly process. Using a 3 quart trifle bowl, place 1/3 of the brownie squares in the bottom, top that with 1/3 of the pudding, top that with 1/3 of the cool whip and finally put on 1/3 of the toffee bits. Repeat that layering process two more times, ending with a layer of the Heath bar toffee bits on top. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 8 to 24 hours. Makes 16-18 good size servings.

Another Idea - For parties attended by adults, I like to poke the baked warm brownies with a fork and pour on 1/3 cup of Kahlua. Then I cool the brownies and cut them into the 1" pieces following the rest of the directions as outlined above. Kahlua adds a nice flavor to the mix.

If you're looking for alternative versions of this recipe, check out Anti-Pie Dessert Recipes for more wonderful ideas.

You can enjoy them in cookies, ice cream, granola bars or by themselves as a sweet little snack, but where did chocolate chips come from?  In 1933, a very inventive Ruth Graves Wakefield was baking cookies at the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts.  She modified the cookie recipe by cutting up a Nestle chocolate bar and adding the chunks to her batter.  The result - the world's first chocolate chip cookies!  Once Nestle got wind of Ruth's ingenius addition to her cookie recipe, they offered her a lifetime supply of chocolate if she would allow them to print her recipe on the packaging of their chocolate bars - which were sold with a chipping tool so customers could "chip" away at the bar.  In 1939, Nestle started packaging the chocolate "morsels" in a bag and selling them with Ruth's recipe - renamed the original Toll House Cookie Recipe.

In the last 70 years, the chocolate chip has been duplicated and re-invented with different flavors including peanut butter, mint, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, butterscotch and white chocolate - even white and dark chocolate swirls.  You can buy mini chips, regular size chips (a little less than 1/2" across), or jumbo chips.  The teardrop-shaped morsels are available from a number of manufacturers.

No longer used exclusively for baking, chocolate chips are a staple in most American households - including mine.  I always have at least two bags on hand for cookies, pancakes, brownies, 7 layer bars, or melted down to form a chocolate shell over my famous Christmas bonbons - I've included the recipe below:

Simple Chocolate Bon Bons

• 2 lbs confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

Melt butter and mix all ingredients together (easiest to do this with greased hands).  Roll into balls and place on cookie sheets lined with wax paper.  Freeze for 2-3 hours.  When the balls are solid, melt together a 12 ounce package of chocolate chips and a bar of parrafin wax (shaved - the best way to do this is with a cheese grater), either in the microwave or in a double-boiler.  Dip the balls into the chocolate mixture and place back on the wax paper to try.

Variations: You can separate the dough into smaller batches and add mint flavoring, coconut, chopped nuts or maraschino cherries.

Depending on the size of your bon bons, this recipe will make up to 7 dozen candies.

Find out more about the history of chocolate chip cookies here.

Who doesn't love a delicious fudge sundae for dessert or even just for a snack? These chocolate treats are so tasty and simply tradition that they should be found at every restaurant in America. But since they're not, you  may just have to make them yourself. Here's a great recipe to get you started.

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces unsweetened dark chocolate
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Melt the chocolate and butter in the top pot of a double broiler. Add the cocoa powder and stir until dissolved. Gradually stir in the sugar, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring.
2. Add the milk and cream. Cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Serve warm over ice cream.

If you're intrigued to keep going with these hot fudge sundaes, then try making ice cream sundae bowls for kids. They'll love it!

So you've grown fond of fruit, or maybe you're fond of mousse. Well this is the perfect recipe to give you a little bit of both! This little recipe is better than cookies, better than brownies, and better for you too (maybe).

• 1 tbsp. orange rind, grated
• 1 cup unsweetened orange juice
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 2 packets of gelatin
• 2 cups plain yogurt, fat free
• 10 ½ oz. frozen raspberries, drained

In a saucepan, mix orange rind, orange juice, sugar and gelatin. Heat to dissolve gelatin. Remove from stove. Leave to set in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Pour gelatin mixture into bowl of food processor, mix until mixture is creamy. Add yogurt and raspberries and beat again. Pour into dessert dishes or a mold and refrigerate for 1 hour. Serve cold. [4 servings]