Sugar Cookie Roundup

I have been baking up a storm. Here are a few things I've done. And yes, those are Christmas cookies I made in September! Retail thinks about the holidays long before you get your sweaters out of the closet! Also, Trinity University and my favorite St. Agnes Stars.

Chocolate Deadlies

I like chocolate. Really. But as I have gotten older I don't love it like I did. Maybe it's just the kind of chocolate, the cheap milk variety seems to make my teeth ache. M&Ms, Kisses, that sort of thing just doesn't have the appeal. I do love a square of 85% with a glass of cabernet, and I would rather that than a brownie. Strange how our tastes seem to change. I baked up a sugar cookie order last week for the Trinity soccer team (hence the soccer ball cookies) in town to play and the mom asked for a little chocolate something. Hmmm. Cupcakes seemed to fussy, brownies never seem to cut nicely, what could I do in a large batch that would be delicious and easy? Chocolate Deadlies.

This is a recipe my friend Melinda makes, and my daughter proclaimed them to be like Grandma's Brownies in a cup. Grandma's Brownies are a family favorite around here, and are known better as Texas Sheet Cake. Melinda makes the Deadlies a lot, and so I inquired about the recipe. Thankfully she had them on her computer and could shoot it to me while she was traveling. This recipe is so easy, way easier than Grandma's Brownies. You can whip up 48 in mini muffin cups in no time flat. The icing gets a little firm on top keeping the cake part moist and delicious.

I searched around the internet and it seems that the Deadlies are from a Junior League cookbook from Little Rock. I do not own this book so I can't tell you if the recipe has been modified from the original. I can tell you that even a non chocolate girl like me can appreciate the cocoa goodness of these babies. Perfect for a crowd. Go on, it's getting cooler outside, get in there and bake!

Chocolate Deadlies
3 sqs unsweetened chocolate
1 C butter
2C sugar
1 1/3 C flour
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs, beaten


Melt butter & chocolate in double boiler over low hear. Remove from heat. Add sugar, flour, vanilla and eggs. Fill mini muffin liners ½ full. This is important, if you overfill, the frosting will ooze everywhere!
Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Ice while hot

4 T butter
2 sqs unsweetened chocolate
4 C powdered sugar
½ C cold coffee (I used Trablit and water to make ½ cup)

While deadlies bake, melt butter & chocolate. Remove from heat and add sugar. Add enough coffee to make mixture smooth. Spoon on hot Deadlies.

I put a pecan half on top of some of the Deadlies, but they are perfect unadorned as well!

Knocking off the Opponents

A great season in any sport is an accomplishment. A few years back Nic was on an undefeated football team. It was a great season until we got to the state championship and lost in the last few minutes. I made this clever cake for the coaches way back then. I have been waiting very patiently for an opportunity to make it again. Here we go. Christina's volleyball team is having a great season. They are undefeated here in the metro area so I decided to get that cake made while the record was pristine! I started with a basic brownie in a jelly roll pan. Careful to not over bake this. Let it cool completely and frost with a dark chocolate buttercream. Then comes the work. I made the tombstones out of Milano cookies that I iced grey and wrote the name of our opponent and the match score. The fresh graves are chocolate jimmies. I order these from The Baker's Catalogue and they are real chocolate not the fake ones from the grocer. They are so delicious you can eat them right out of the jar! They were exposed to some extreme temperatures so they have a little bloom. This is when chocolate takes on a little grayish color. It doesn't affect the chocolate, and it looks great as fresh turned earth! I used another kind of cookie to make a small fence and put a few haunting spirits of the team to guard the graves. The ghosts have silver dragee eyes and are liberally painted with silver luster dust. I took it to practice as an incentive to work hard. Chocolate tends to motivate teenage girls. Here's to a great season thus far. Go Stars!