Halloween Treats

Happy Halloween from all of us at Michael Richards Orthodontics!  Here are some more tasty treats that are also "brace-friendly"!



Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

1/2 cup pumpkin
1 cup Spice cake mix
1/3 cup chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together pumpkin and cake mix until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded Tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until firm and no longer gooey. Makes about 12 cookies.
*If you make your cookies very big, they will take too long to bake. If you are not in a hurry, bigger cookies are okay.

Cheesy Corns

Combine the taste of cheese pizza with the look of candy corn and--abracadabra!--you've got one crowd-pleasing snack.

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 450º. 

Cut two small round prebaked pizza crusts into wedges that resemble the shape of candy corn. Top each wedge with rows of white, orange, and yellowish cheeses, as shown.

Bake the wedges on a cookie sheet for 8 to 10 minutes, then let them cool for 5 minutes before serving. Makes 16 to 20.



R.I.P Pudding Cups



Spider Bites

These creepy cookies are as fun to eat as they are to set out for hauntingly hungry guests. This recipe is adapted from The Braces Cookbook by Pamela Waterman. The spider legs are made from licorice; check with your orthodontist to see if these cookies are appropriate for your family.

INGREDIENTS:

•1 cup vegetable shortening

•1 cup granulated sugar

•2 tablespoons water

•1 teaspoon pure vanilla

•2 eggs

•2 cups all-purpose flour

•1/2 cup cocoa

•1 teaspoon salt

•1/2 teaspoon baking powder

•1 package black rope licorice, cut into thin 1-inch pieces

•1 small tube of white (or color of choice) frosting

•Toothpicks

DIRECTIONS:

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.In a large bowl, combine shortening, sugar, water and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add eggs and blend.

3.Slowly mix in flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder at low speed. Drop tablespoon helpings of mixture onto ungreased cookie sheets and roll each helping into a ball.

4.Bake for 9 minutes. Let cookies cool for about 10 minutes.

5.Using a toothpick, create four small holes in either side of each cookie, then push one end of a piece of the cut licorice into each hole, creating the “legs” of the spider.

6.Once all eight legs are in place, create eyes or decorate at will using the white frosting.