Baby Blue is the New Black

There are some things in this world that will instantly make me happy. Fashion, makeup, any baked good, puppies, and BABIES! There is always a part of me that wants to ask the random mom in the Target Check-Out if I can hold her baby, but I refrain because what mother would let a random woman in the Target Check-Out line hold her baby? BUT!!! I don’t have to hold random babies anymore because, in March, I will be an auntie! My older sister is due to have a baby boy on March 28th. That means that on March 28th I finally get to be (what I believe I was born to be) THE COOLEST AUNT EVER!

 

So, being that there is a baby coming and that I love baked goods, people, and partying, I threw my sister a quaint baby shower to help her celebrate the wonderful bundle of joy that will arrive in exactly 77 days. (Can you tell I’m excited?) I was responsible for most of the baking, so I wanted to share some go-to recipes and ideas for baking! If you have a baby shower to prepare for, all of these goodies were super easy to make and are so cute!

 

 

Nutter Butter Babies

I made those cute little nutter butter babies that are all over Pinterest! They were incredibly easy and needed four ingredients and a microwave. You will need Nutter Butters, candy melts, shortening, and food coloring. Begin by melting the candy melts with a little bit of shortening (I used about a teaspoon per cup of candy melts) in the microwave and then add in whichever color of food coloring you want! I dipped the cookies about halfway and then let them dry on parchment paper. I wanted to make them look really dapper, so I used piping bags to add some detailing on the blankets, added bow ties, and eyes! Let them dry and there you have it! Really simple, yet adorable Nutter Butter Babies!

 

After the Nutter Butter Babies comes the sugar cookies!

 

Sugar Cookies!

How to make adorable, yummy sugar cookies:

1. To start you want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix the baking powder, flour, and salt together.

3. Then, in a separate bowl, mix the sugar, shortening, eggs, vanilla, and butter.

4. Once all mixed together, combine mixtures together.

5. I chilled my dough for 30-45 mins before I began rolling it out.

6. I made sure to flour my rolling pin and the counter before rolling and then made the cookies dough about 1/4 of an inch thick.

7. I used a lid to a mason jar to make perfect circles and placed them on a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper.

8. Bake the cookies for 6-8 mins, then allow them to cool before decorating.

 

 

Let’s move on the most important part: The Icing.

1. Start by mixing the butter, then slowly add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time.

2. Add your extracts (if you don’t like or don’t have almond extract, just add 2-3 tsp of vanilla extract).

3. Add your milk one tablespoon at a time. You might need to add a little more depending on the texture you want your icing to have.

4. After that, you are done with the icing! From here you may add food coloring!

 

The decorating is definitely the best part! I started by plopping about two teaspoons of icing on the cookie and then using a small frosting spatula to spread it out. Then for the decorations, I used Wiltons icing bags to write cute sayings and other decorations. This is really where you can be creative and have the most fun! I choose to write things like “Oh Boy!” “Baby Boy,” and “Beckett” (Beckett is the name of my soon-to-be nephew).

 

 

Vanilla Chip Mix

The next item on the baking list is a Vanilla Chip Mix and let me tell you: it is dangerous. You will have a little bit, and then a little more and soon you are shoveling handfuls into your mouth without even realizing how much you have had. It is so simple, and the only tools you need are a bowl, a spatula, and a microwave. To start, measure out all of your ingredients and add the peanuts, M&M’s, cereal, and the teddy bears (I used the Annie’s Honey Bunny Grahams cause I thought they would make the mix super cute for a baby shower) and pretzels into a large bowl. Put the vanilla chips and oil in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 15-second intervals until all the chips are melted. The next step is to pour the vanilla over the other ingredients and coat entirely! Let the vanilla dry and break up to make chunks. Placing small clusters into cute cupcake liners made them easier to pick up and carry around the party.

 

Ombre Cake

Lastly, I wanted to make a cake to be the centerpiece of the dessert table! I used two Betty Crocker white cake mixes (just to save a little bit of time) and used some gel food coloring to dye the color blue! I used the same Buttercream Frosting recipe that you see above and divided the icing into four bowls. I kept one bowl the regular white and dyed the other bowls different shades of blue. I used Wilton icing bags and a Wilton star decorating tip. Making dollops of stars in a line around the cake, switching layers from blues to create an ombre effect, and then ending in white. I used this cute baby shoe balloon weight as a cake topper and done! Simple, but so adorable.

 

Hope all of these recipes and tips have helped you for whatever event you are going to host, whether that be a baby shower or something else fun!

 

Love,

 

Abbie Michelle