Too Smart For Me!

So my Mini is an early riser.  She gets up between 6:30a-7:00a.  Shut up, it is early to me!!  I am more of a night owl than a morning bird.  I was talking about this with a friend of mine, Mae over at Mae's Got This, and she told me about this awesome thing she came up with for her Munchkin, she talks about it here.  I had heard from other parents that they used the same trick so I thought 'why not!'  Then I got lazy and so I never posted a picture of 7:00, I just talked to Mini about how she needs to stay in her room until her clock starts with a 7.  I didn't really expect much, fully taking the blame on myself cause I hadn't posted anything.  Well, she figured it out herself!  And will tell you all about how she doesn't come out of her room until there's a 7.  :-)  Go me, right!!!  Um, no.  Well... partially no anyways.  Every morning around 6:45a I hear thumping in her room (which is right above mine, YAY!)  Then at no later than 7:02a she is "sneaking" into my room.  Seriously?!  So I asked her this morning "do you wait for the clock to turn 7:00a?"  Her answer, with the cutest little grin "yep!"  So much for sleeping in.  :-)

Lumps of Coal

I'll start by saying thank goodness this is a holiday cookie.  By holiday cookie I mean there is really no reason to make it any other time of year (unless, of course, it is to hide in your closet and inhale the entire batch!)  This cookie gets it's name solely from the fact that it looks like a lump of coal, though I have heard it called a cookies & cream bar but what fun is that??? 

The recipe is pretty simple:

1 - 16 oz. package of Oreo Cookies (30 cookies)

4 Cups of Large Marshmallows well packed

(about 38 to 40 marshmallows)

1/4 Cup of Butter

Prepare a buttered cookie sheet.

Grind up the Oreo cookies in a blender or place the cookies in a plastic freezer bag and beat them to bits with a rolling pin.  You want a crumb like consistency.

Melt the butter in a large bowl in the microwave, when butter is melted add the marshmallows and microwave for another minute to minute and a half (just until the marshmallows are melted.) Stir the butter and marshmallows together until full incorporated working quickly so it doesn't cool.

Quickly add in the cookie crumbs and stir til they are completely coated.  Using a greased cookie scoop or a tablespoon drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the cookie sheet to set into lumps of coal; place the sheet into the refrigerator to make them a bit more firm.  These cookies are soft and yummy!

For larger lumps of coal you can press the mixture into a buttered 8x8 pan, allow it to set for 20 minutes and then soften the edges to make it look more coal like.

Store in an airtight container.  For giving away put several lumps in a bag and tie closed tightly with a ribbon.
 

Here's a tag you can use to label them:

There really isn't much else to say about these except that if you eat an entire batch it is soooo not my fault.  :-)  ENJOY!!!!