Welcome to Happylifeblogspot! A food blog with drool worthy recipes
Raise your hand if you’re enjoying every last bit of summer! We sure are!! And that means getting our fill of all the wonderful summer flavors before the days start getting cooler. Key Lime Cream Pie is the most perfect dessert for June, July, and […]
Serve up a little slice of sunshine with our White Chocolate Fruit Tart! As summer heats up it’s only natural to crave juicy fruits and refreshing desserts and this beautiful tart is both. This marvelous dessert is super versatile and perfect for brunch, picnics and […]
Hey Y’all! Soooo….I’m about to change your life right now with S’mores Sandwich Cookies!! You don’t even need a campfire to create this delightful little treat. The cookies on their own are completely amazing so you’re going to have to resist devouring them hot out of the oven. But when you sandwich them together with a goey toasted marshmallow then you’ve really got the s’mores of your dreams. The first bite is the best part! Hints of cinnamon, graham cracker crumbs, and lots of chocolate chips make this easy to assemble sandwich cookie an instant hit. I know campfire marshmallows are a highly debated topic, but whether you’re team burnt, brown, or undercooked, we can all agree these cookies the best!!! S’mores lovers be warned cause it’s about to get dangerous. I’m warning you right now…be prepared for these to disappear quickly!!
Here’s all you’ll need: butter, white sugar, brown sugar, egg, milk, vanilla extract, flour, graham crackers, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon, chocolate chips and marshmallows.
So without further ado….here is the next recipe you’ll be making on repeat! In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. A hand mixer on medium speed will get the job done for ya. And it helps immensely if the butter is softened ahead of time (even if that means you gotta nuke it in the microwave for a hot second).
Next beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla extract and mix well. Imitation vanilla is perfectly fine for this recipe. I find that the chocolate chips, graham crackers and marshmallows bring plenty of sweetness to the table.
Mix in the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to distribute throughout the cookie dough. Then, at a low speed, blend in the flour a half a cup at a time. Continue to mix until the flour is well combined.
Stir in the graham cracker crumbs and chocolate chips. To make graham cracker crumbs I quickly pulsed the graham cracker pieces in a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor handy you can add the graham crackers to a plastic ziploc bag and break apart by hand or use a heavy rolling pin to crush into pieces. 
Scoop out a tablespoon of cookie dough and roll into a ball. The dough will be sticky so you’ll want to act fast and use a light touch. Place the cookie dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet spread about 2 inches apart. You’ll want to give these cookies some space because they definitely spread A LOT while baking.
If you’re not familiar with it, parchment paper is a non-stick baking paper. It reduces browning and when you’re done using it you can just toss it in the trash. No mess! It’s probably my favorite baking tool and a really easy way to elevate your cookie making. 
Bake S’mores Sandwich Cookies in a 375 degree preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. 9 minutes was just perfect in my oven. Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 1-2 minutes or until easy to remove with a spatula. Remove the cookies to a wire rack or countertop to finish cooling. 
Place cookies bottom side up back on the baking sheet. Top each cookie bottom with a large marshmallow. Broil on low for 1-5 minutes or until desired toasty-ness. Keep a close watch during this step as marshmallows can burn quickly. You’ll know they’re done when the tops are toasted and the marshmallows begin to puff. 
Remove from the oven and immediately top with another cookie. Enjoy the ooey, gooey, goodness of s’mores without the campfire. Simply irresistible!!! If you love our S’mores Sandwich Cookies then you’ve gotta try our S’mores Bar too. Just Mmmmmmm!
We’d love to hear from you! Leave us your comments and love down below.
Shop this recipe!
If you like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain…..then you’ll LOVE this cake!!! Pina Colada Cake is moist, delicious, and loaded with the same tropical goodness as the popular summer drink. Now you can sip your favorite drink and eat it too. This […]
I’m pretty sure S’mores are the official dessert of Summer. Well if you like S’mores then you’re gonna flip out over S’mores bars!! These deliciously decadent bars taste just like S’mores but without all the mess. Heck, you can even skip the bon fire which […]
When I think of the Fourth of July, I think of hot dogs and hamburgers cooking on the grill, lots of yummy corn on the cob and tasty pasta salads, and of course, a big ole juicy watermelon. Well now you can add Watermelon Cookies to that list! These over the top adorable little cookies will be the hit of every single bbq or cookout this summer. I mean seriously, does it get any cuter?!? A little food coloring and mini chocolate chips are all it takes to turn this basic sugar cookie recipe into something spectacular. Watermelon Cookies are really fun to bake but even more fun to eat. I’m not sure who loves them more, the kids or the adults. It’s probably a tie!
Here’s all you’ll need: butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, flour, salt, baking powder, red and green food coloring, mini chocolate chips and sesame seeds.
So Watermelon Cookies may look complicated but I’m here to walk you through it so don’t even worry about it. We’ll start by making a basic sugar cookie dough. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and white sugar with a hand mixer until its light and fluffy. If you don’t have time (or just plain forgot) to soften the butter, you can nuke it in the microwave for about 15-30 seconds. (literally me every time a recipe calls for softened butter)
Next beat in the egg and the almond extract. You can also swap out for vanilla or any extract of your choice.
Add the baking powder and salt and mix well. Then gradually mix in the flour about a half a cup at a time. This soft dough will make up all three layers of our Watermelon Cookies.
Now it’s time to mix our colors. Separate out 2/3 of a cup of cookie dough. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside. This is the batch of dough that will remain uncolored.
Then remove an additional 1/2 cup of cookie dough and add it to a small bowl. Using a spoon (or gloves), mix in enough food coloring to tint it a nice, bright green color. This will be make up our watermelon rind.
The remaining dough left in the mixing bowl will be tinted red. Add enough red food coloring to the mixing bowl to make a pretty watermelon colored dough. Roll the red dough into a 3-1/2 inch log. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate all the dough for two hours or until firm.
Remove the cookie dough from the fridge. On a lightly floured surface roll the plain dough into a 10 X 3-1/2 inch rectangle. Cut with a knife to shape into the rectangle. It’s ok if it’s a little bit longer. It’s better to be a little long than a little short. We need the long side to be able to wrap all the way around our red dough to cover.
Next unwrap our red dough, and place the log on a short end of the plain dough, like so.
Roll the plain dough all the way around the red dough log to cover. Pinch the seams to seal.
Unwrap the green cookie dough and roll it into a 12 X 3-1/2 inch rectangle. Place the cookie log on a short side of the green rectangle. Roll the green dough all the way around the dough log to cover. Pinch the seams to seal. The green layer will be very thin and that’s totally ok. We don’t want a massive watermelon rind.
Wrap the cookie dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or freeze for 1-2 hours or until firm (not frozen).
Unwrap the cookie dough and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Cut each slice in half and place two inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. If you haven’t jumped on the parchment paper train yet, then it’s time to start. Parchment paper will really elevate your cookie baking to the next level. It helps them to bake more evenly and also keeps them from sticking to the pan. Try it, you’ll love it!
Now here’s the fun part! It’s time to decorate these sweet treats to look just like mini watermelon slices! Press mini chocolate chips and sesame seeds into the top of the cookie to resemble fresh, juicy, watermelon. So cute!!! Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 9-11 minutes.
Here’s a simple trick for perfect cookies every time. Always rotate the baking sheets halfway through baking. I always use the top and middle racks in my oven, never the bottom. Then halfway through baking time, I swap positions. So the cookies that were baking on the top rack get bumped down to the middle rack and the cookies that were baking on the middle rack get moved up to the top. I also rotate the baking sheets so that the cookies that were in the front of the oven are now in the back and vice versa. This helps to give the cookies a more all around even bake and will give you fabulous results!
Remove from the oven and place on wire racks to cool. OMG! Look at those cute lil seeds!! I can’t even with these Watermelon Cookies!!! While we’re on the watermelon theme, have you tried our Watermelon Cucumber Salad???
We’d love to hear from you! Leave us your comments and love down below!
Shop this recipe!
If you haven’t tried Cookies and Cream Rice Krispie Treats, then you’re doing it wrong! This extraordinary mashup combines two of my most loved goodies, Oreo cookies and Rice Krispies cereal. Have you ever asked yourself what happens when Oreo cookies and Rice Krispies collide? […]
We make my famous Red, White, and Berry Fruit Pizza every Fourth of July. And sometimes on Memorial Day. And Labor Day. And whenever berries go on sale. And even on just because days. It’s so good that I promise you will never get sick of […]
Cake pops can be a nightmare to make! They can crumble, they can fall off the sticks, they can even taste like a mouthful of mushy, wet cake. I have heard all the horror stories! But even though they can be terrifying to make….they are just SOOOO darn cute!!! Once you’ve really mastered the basic cake pop technique, you can totally take it to the next level with the decorating and really create adorable treats to match any party theme. The possibilities are endless!! In this tutorial I will show you how to make basic cake pops. But don’t worry, we’ll still use sprinkles to make them super cute!!
Here’s all that you’ll need: Cake mix, frosting, Wilton Candy Melts, sucker sticks, and sprinkles.
Start by preparing cake mix according to package directions. I chose Funfetti! I love the pops of color it leaves inside the cake! So fun!! You can use a basic cake mix and a can of frosting. You don’t need anything fancy for this! Any flavor will work just as well.
Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool.
Once the cake is cool enough to handle, toss it all in a large bowl. You can just chunk it up any way you like. Try not to let your OCD get the best of you (me).
Now it’s time to get down and dirty! Crumble the cake into fine crumbs using your hands. This is a great time to let the kids help. They get to make a mess, but it’s a contained mess, so you both win!
Add two heaping spoonfuls of frosting. I don’t measure it out. I just take a regular old spoon from my utensil drawer and pile up the frosting. It doesn’t seem like it would be enough frosting for all that cake but it really is. The cake is moist enough that we really don’t need to go overboard. Less is more. Trust!
I used a cookie scoop to get my cake balls uniform (see OCD comment above) but you can also use a spoon or your hands as well.
Squish the cake mixture between your hands. Have some fun! Play with it like Play Doh if you want. Then once you’re done with that, roll it into a ball approximately 2 inches or so in size.
Continue to roll the rest of the cake mixture into 2 inch balls or make as many as you need. I used a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper as my tray.
Place Wilton Candy Melts in the color of your choice into a microwave safe mug. Heat for 30 seconds and then stir. Heat for another 30 seconds and stir. You can even heat for another 30 seconds and stir. After that I would heat in 15 second intervals. It’s very important not to burn the chocolate! Once it’s burned, it’s game over! There’s no saving it, only wondering what time Michaels is still open and if you have time to run out and get some more.
Be sure to reach all the way to the bottom when you stir. Microwaves don’t heat evenly, so it’s important to really mix the candy melts well.
Next dip the tip of your sucker stick into the melted candy melts. This is our first trick! This helps to ensure that your sticks won’t fall out.
Insert the stick into a cake ball. It’s like you’re gluing it with the candy melts.
Repeat the process for all of the cake balls. I try to use the same color candy melt for inserting the sticks as I do for covering the outside. It just makes it easier and it all blends better in the end. Next, we’re going to pop the tray of cake balls into the freezer for about 20 minutes. The trick to this is that you want them to be firm but not frozen! If they freeze, the temperature between the cold cake balls and the hot melted chocolate will be too much of a difference. This results in cracked chocolate and oozing oil! Not cute!!
You may have to remelt your candy melts. Do so in 15 second intervals. Once you reach the desired consistency, allow melts to cool for 1-2 minutes. We want it to be melted but not hot (see above). Dip the cake ball into the candy melts and gently swirl, making sure to cover the entire ball with candy coating. Lightly tap the cake pop on the side of the mug, allowing the excess candy coating to drip off. You’ll need to repeatedly tap the stick to the side of the mug. Sometimes I rotate the stick while I’m doing this just to keep everything nice and uniform.
Add sprinkles to the outside of the cake pop before the candy coating has a chance to harden. You’ll have to act fast so make sure you have a sprinkle station set up and ready to go! Caps off!
Stick cake pop into a foam block (I get them at the dollar store in the floral section). You’ll want to take a sucker stick and pre insert it so that you’re holes are ready to go. It’s easier to have it ready ahead of time and it helps to ensure your cake pop won’t get damaged or pop off the top! Another great idea it to use a deep pan filled with rice if you’re in a pinch. I’ve also seen them stuck through the holes of a colander but none of mine seem to accommodate sucker sticks.
Allow cake pops to air dry. This will also help with the cracking and oozing. They really don’t take that long, maybe 5 minutes.
I’m loving this red, white, and blue theme for Fourth of July! And the best part was I had all of the colors already on hand! My mason jar is filled with red, white, and blue skittles. These are going to be adorable centerpieces for our July 4th BBQ!! So patriotic!
Aren’t they adorable?!? Are you team chocolate or team vanilla??? What are your favorite cake pop and frosting combinations??? Once you’ve mastered the technique try our Ice Cream Cake Pops or our Melted Ice Cream Cake Pops!
We’d love to hear from you! Leave us your comments and love down below!
Shop this post!
Hi There! I’m Lisa. I’m a lover of all things crafty, creative, DIY, and delicious!!! Oh yeah and puppies too! I love cooking and baking for my friends and family but especially WITH my friends and family. I show my greatest affection through food. If I cook or bake for you, it means I really like you!
