suck on this

With the leftover hard crack candy from making tricked out candy apples, I couldn't resist making creepy vampire lollies. It's just so darn easy to  drop the thick syrup from a measuring spoon onto tinfoil... shiny side up. Work with a partner, one person pouring the syrup and the other person working the lolly sticks into the puddle. 

The vampire fang gummies add the fear factor. I found a bag of them at the dollar store. Working quickly, stick 'em on while the lollipop is still hot... before it hardens.

Wrapping them is tricky... don't use regular kitchen plastic wrap, it'll get too gooey and sticky and the candy will lose its hard-crackle crunch. Wrap 'em in cello, they'll keep for a week or two if it's not too humid.

Am I the only one who lurrves eyeballs? Jars of eyeballs at Halloween make me smile.

How about those soft and chewy, sparkly ginger cookies on the last post? Many of you asked for the recipe. Because I'm no evil sucker,  here it is:

Super Soft Ginger Cookies

3/4 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp water

1/4 cup molasses

2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp ginger

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

coarse granulated sugar for rolling cookies

Use your large bowl and electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, water and molasses and continue mixing until smooth.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, ginger, baking soda and cinnamon. Add dry mixture to the butter mixture, and beat until everything is combined to a soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes, until the dough is firm enough to handle.

Dump that coarse sugar onto a plate. Roll the dough into one inch balls and then roll each ball into the sugar, turning to coat the entire surface. Place balls on an ungreased baking sheet about 2 inches apart (these really spread and flatten out nicely). Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

Here's the thing about these cookies: the will be really soft and look undone when your timer goes off but take them out anyway. Let them cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely. They're just so soft and gooey on the inside they need a minute to firm up, but they really will. It's the truth.