Owl Cupcakes

Hhooo-Hhoo’s ready for fall…..
Ok. I know. That was about as corny a lead-in to a post as possible, but I simply couldn’t help myself. I mean look at these cute guys. 

I adore fall. When it does finally arrive here in the South, it is welcomed with open arms. Southerners know how to appreciate the first relief from soaring temperatures. The cooler temps and slight breezes  are a near perfect combination. It’s all we can do to stay inside to get our necessary indoor-work accomplished.   It also seems that everyone is ready to start bring out their fall decorations the moment the first chill is in the air.  Lots of pumpkins and scarecrows flanked by beautiful pots of mums.  This year it seems that owls are also making a huge appearance in the fall scene. I’ve been seeing them every time I turn around in the stores and online. 

When I found these cute cupcakes in Hello Cupcake! ,  I knew I had to give them a try. Amazingly, they are very simple. Your kids or grandkids would love helping with these, unless you’re making them at night and you fear the mega sugar overload that could occur from the helpers consuming the decorations. That’s what went down at my house. Since Little Runwilder has decided that she loves to bake, I almost feel like I'm hiding in the kitchen doing something of an illegal nature when/if she catches me. She will march into the kitchen with her most demanding voice and say “I must bake it!”
God, I love that little kid. I must say I can relate…I feel the same way sometimes.

I will offer one word of advice.  I do not recommend you use the el cheapo version of Oreos (aka off brand). I did. And they do not twist the white icing off on both sides. The white stays on one side and you end up having to use 2 cookies to get eyes for one owl.  And, to make matter worse, you have little bits of the cookie on the white (that makes for dirty owl eyeballs :(  so you must use a knife to scrape that away so that you’ll have perfectly white owl eyes. Seriously, just spend a buck more and get the real Oreos.  I will say despite my use of off-brand Oreos and the extra work on my part, my little taste-testers did not seem to have any complaints. See for yourself...

Little Princess Runwilder, aka "Miss I Must Bake it!"

"Yikes, my mommy needs to dress me in disposable clothes"

Princess Runwild, thank goodness one of you knows how to properly consume a cupcake with little/no waste.

Enjoy!

Owl Cupcakes
adapted from Hello Cupcake!


12 chocolate cupcakes
1 can chocolate frosting
24 Oreos
Medium bag of M&M’s

1. Separate the Oreos. You might want to microwave them for a few seconds first. Use a knife to remove any crumbs from the cream filling.
2. Using a serrated knife, make 2 parallel cuts 1/2 inch in from the edge on each plain cookie half. The two outside edges will be used for the ears.
3. Spoon 1 cup of chocolate frosting into a Ziploc bag, press out any excess air and set aside. Spread the remaining frosting on the cupcakes.
4. Using a little frosting, attach 2 of the large ear pieces, rounded sides in and about 1 1/2 inches apart, on top of each of the cupcakes. Angle the ears slightly away from each other, and allow them to extend about 3/4 inch beyond the edge of the cupcake.
5. Place two cream-sided cookie halves, cream side up, on the upper half of each cupcake to make the eyes.
6. Snip an 1/8-inch corner from the bag with the chocolate frosting. Pipe lines of frosting along the length of the cookie ears to cover. Starting with the edge at the top of the cupcake, pipe the feathers with the frosting using a squeeze-and-pull motion. Work inward from the edge in slightly overlapping rows until the section above the eyes is covered. Pipe a few feathers on the edge just below each eye.
7. Press a yellow M&M in the middle of each cupcake to make the beak. Use a dot of frosting on the cream of each cookie to attach a brown M&M to the eyes of the cupcakes.