Pop-up groundhog cookies

Pop goes the... groundhog?

Play
with your food!

Don't brave the cold weather to find out if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow this Groundhog Day — stay inside and make your own pop-up groundhog cookies instead!

These adorable groundhog cookies are edible, movable and easy to make. The best part is, you can find out for yourself if we should expect six more weeks of winter from the comfort of your kitchen. So go ahead — play with your food!

Pop-up groundhog cookie recipe

Yields 12-15 cookies, depending on size of cookie mounds

Ingredients and supplies:

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups oatmeal (preferably quick-cooking oats)
• Tootsie Rolls
• Chocolate frosting or chocolate candy melts
• White decorator candy balls and sprinkles
• Black food color marker
• Dark Chocolate Fudge Stripe cookies (or a similar cookie with a hole in the center)
• 1-inch diameter plastic cake dowels (cut into 2-inch segments)
• Powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:

Before mixing the cookies, arrange your plastic cake dowels on a sheet of parchment paper or waxed paper. In a large pan on the stove, mix and melt the sugar, cocoa powder, butter and milk over high heat. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Add the peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. Mix well.

With a teaspoon, scoop and drop your cookie mixture around the plastic dowels, forming small mounds about the same size as the Fudge Stripe cookies. Allow the cookie mounds to cool and harden completely before removing the plastic dowels. (Note: Don't attempt to cut out the center of the cookie after it has cooled, as the hardened cookies will crack.)

Soften a Tootsie Roll with your hands or in a microwave for a few seconds. Mold the ears and head, and widen the body so that it has a base slightly larger than the hole of your Fudge Stripe cookies but will fit through the hole in the cookie mound. Secure the eyes and teeth with a tiny dab of chocolate frosting or chocolate candy melts. Make a nose with another dab of chocolate. Draw two black dots on the eyes with an edible food color marker.

Pipe a circle of chocolate frosting or chocolate candy melts onto the Fudge Stripe cookie. Place one Tootsie Roll groundhog over the center hole. Place a cookie mound over both, securing it to the frosted bottom cookie. Allow chocolate to harden.

Insert your pinky or index finger into the hole to make your groundhog move up and down.

More food crafts

Rum and Coke cookies
Edible teacup cookies
Candy kabobs