By Lindsey Young, Harvey County Now
When my sister and I were kids, my mom would take us to the Rainbow Bread Outlet in Hutchinson on weekly grocery trips.
If we were especially good, we sometimes got a chance to pick out a bag of Sathers candy, which were two for $1 at the time. One of my favorites was black licorice laces. They were so fun to tie into knots and play with while you ate your treat.
I was reminded of that this week when I set out to make little mouse cookies, which called for licorice laces for the tails. I was disappointed when I couldn’t find them in my local grocery store, settling instead for some Pull ‘N’ Peel Twizzlers. I had no idea kids weren’t readily greeted with licorice laces in the candy aisle anymore.
Well, despite my licorice-based disappointment, it didn’t last long, as my cookies not only turned out adorably but really delicious, too. In fact, if you’re not in the mood to do all the work to form mice out of your cookie dough, I still recommend making this recipe just as plain cookies.
The recipe I used comes from the blog “Pampered Chicken Mama.” You can find the original at https://thefrugalchicken.com/childrens-book-read-and-bake-series-chocolate-cookie-mice-for-frederick-by-leo-lionni/. I added extra vanilla in my version.
These were adorable and a perfect, bite-sized treat. Plus, the recipe made almost 40 little mice, so if you’re looking for some cookies to share, this is a great recipe.
The only drawback was that the peanuts shifted a bit, and some of them popped out. I ended up either sticking them back into the warm cookies or deciding that they were good samples for me to try. You also really need to put these in a single layer in your container if you want to keep them intact.
Also, if you’re like me and can’t find black licorice laces, you’ll have to settle for red tails, too. In the end, it’s not so bad, though. Making a mouse-shaped cookie look too realistic might make them decidedly less appetizing.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly recipe column by Lindsey Young, who describes herself as an enthusiastic amateur cook and can be reached through her website at spiceupkitchen.net.
