Forgive me, I’m a bit crazy today, or should I say crazier than my normal crazy state. I’m so, so, so behind schedule already. Our night-time egg hunt party is tonight. I still have brownie chicks to dip in chocolate, chocolate cake eggs to pipe, and let’s not even talk about the hundreds of plastic eggs that have yet to be filled. To top things off, the Naughty One is once again licking her toes completely raw and probably needs another cortisone shot. Did she not get the memo that our school board has imposed an unreasonable contract with unreasonable pay cuts, and we’re about to strike at any point? The memo goes on to say  that since Prince Charming still has not arrived on the doorstep, I remain a single mom supporting a boy and his high-maintenance, eat-anything dachshund on my soon to be cut even more, teacher salary. (By the way, she got the memo… she just ate it before reading it.) Whew, I feel better now.

Onto my Peeps! I am one of those obsessed Peep lovers who runs from store to store buying Peeps in all of their colors each spring. Here’s the thing, I don’t even love the taste of them. It’s all about the novelty. I got the brillant idea to make them in sugar cookie form last week, only to find out Peep cookie cutters do not exist (according to Google and Google knows everything). At that point, I already had it stuck in my head, which meant I had to create a Peep template and hand cut out my own cookies. The good news is that making your own cookie template means you can make any cookie your heart desires. The downside is they take longer and are not perfect. Here’s how to do it.

Step one ~ Make your template. I use heavy cardstock paper and make a few because their life expectancy is only so long. I googled “Peep template printable”, found one I liked and copied it into a word doc. I then resized it to what I wanted, printed and cut out.  

Step 2 ~ Roll out dough, place template close to the edge and cut around with a paring knife. It’s kind of like cutting into brownies, in that it isn’t a clean cut, little bits of dough stick to the knife. Just do the best you can.

                                                                                                                                                      Step 3 ~ Once you get your cookie onto the cookie sheet, use your fingers to gently smooth out the edges. Again, if you are a perfectionist, stop reading and avoid this entirely! It will only make you crazy!

                                                                                                                                                               Step 4 ~ Pipe royal icing along border and flood cookie. While cookie is still wet, sprinkle sanding sugar on cookie and shake off excess once the icing has had time to set. Add eyes with black royal icing.

                                                                                                                                                     Wishing you a great Easter weekend with your family and friends. What a great time to reflect on the many blessings in life ~ When I count my blessings they include… my friends who are always here during my crazy mom moments, my family who always jumps in at a moment’s notice to help out, my boy who I love more than life, and even the Naughty One who has brought such life and laughter to our home. Love them all!! Happy Easter!