lollipop cookies

My friend Jillaire made these lollipop cookies for her daughter's school birthday treat. I thought they were so cute, I had to try them for myself. I made them to take to H's ballet performance of The Nutcracker (cookies are sold at intermission as a fundraiser), and they were a big hit.Lollipop Cookies
recipe originally from The Cake Mix Doctor (I really need to get that book), via Family Bean

1 package (18.25 oz) plain yellow cake mix (I used lemon flavored cake mix)
1 cup flour
1 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 cup colored sprinkles (I used one 1.25 oz container, but just covered one side of the cookies)
48-55 wooden craft sticks (I must have made mine huge, because I only ended up with 25 cookies, thus needing only 25 sticks)

• Preheat oven to 375° and lightly grease two cookie sheets with shortening, or line with silicone mat.
• Place cake mix, flour, melted butter, honey, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.
• Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute.
• Stop the machine and scrape the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Mix on low for another minute. The cookie dough will be thick.
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls.
• Pour the colored sprinkles into a shallow bowl and roll the balls in them. Or just coat one side, like I did.
• Place the dough balls two inches apart on the greased cookie sheets. I staggered the rows of balls to allow room for placing the sticks (see below).
• Bake the cookies until the edges are light brown, 8-12 minutes.

• Remove the pan from the oven and immediately insert a craft stick halfway into the side of each cookie. (This was much easier than I expected.)
• Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for 1 minute.

• Carefully remove the cookies (also easier than anticipated) with a spatula and place on wire racks to cool completely, 30 minutes.
• Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.

Be warned--they're crunchy. But really, you wouldn't want a cookie on a stick to be soft, would you?

So, since this is my first time since starting the blog to bake something on a stick, I thought I would experiment with my camera a little, to see if I could get one of those awesome Bakerella shots.

My results were not so spectacular. But to my credit, I was working with less-than-optimal props. I didn't have any styrofoam around to hold the sticks, I don't have a fancy light like she does, and I don't have the coordinating fancy board to hold my scrapbook paper. See? Here's my setup:

Amateur hour, to say the least. But it was fun to try. :)