Shamrock Pretzels & Rainbow Cookies

I have been looking into making homemade pretzels but the thought of waiting for the dough to rise is just out of the question with my busy schedule. So I dug a little deeper and found this super easy recipe for pretzels at Munchkin Munchies.  Perfect for people with not a lot of time on their hands and budget friendly, which of course is a plus!

Image by Munchkin Munchies

Ingredients:

Canned refrigerated bread stick dough (Pillsbury Original Breadsticks)
Colored sugar
Cinnamon

Instructions:
1. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat it with cooking spray.

2. To create the clover shape, mold 3 sections of breadsticks into hearts and press them together (refer to photo). Attach a small stem, decorate, and bake according to the directions on the package.

Now this I can do!

While I was visting Munchkin Munchies I also found these Rainbow Cookies and I just could not pass up sharing them with you.

Image by Munchkin Munchies

Image by Munchin Munchies

 Play Dough Cookies (allrecipes.com)
* 3/4 cup butter, softened
* 3 ounces cream cheese
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* assorted colors of paste food coloring
* 24 lollipop sticks (optional)

1. In the electric mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth.
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir till soft dough forms. Divide dough into fourths. Tint each with a different food color. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Working with half of each color, shape dough into 3/4 inch balls and for each cookie place 1 pink, 1 green, 1 blue and 1 orange (I used red, yellow, blue and green) ball together to make 1 large ball. Shape into a 12 inch long roll (like a snake), starting at one end, coil roll to make a 2 3/4 inch round cookie. Place cookies 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet. Carefully insert lollipop sticks into bottoms of cookies.
4. Bake cookies for 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool and store in an airtight container.


These are almost too cute not to try to make - although it will have to be a weekend project!