There’s nothing better than a hot dog on a nice summer evening. It’s something we grew up with, right along with the mysterious urban legend that hotdogs were made from the gross parts of our friend Cow. My brother and I refused to believe it. They taste so good, after all. And by the time we grew old enough to see the truth, we didn’t care.
These hot dogs hold a special place in my heart, simply because they aren’t real hot dogs, but cookies! Every year my kids ask me to make them at least once (usually as a classroom treat on their birthday). This batch is for a special ‘Class Market’ day for my youngest, who gets to hawk his wares in the classroom tomorrow as a way to better understand currency.
It’s funny that something that has always made me smile now makes me a little sad as well. It’s because my kids are growing up, and there won’t be too many more years of hot dog cookies, or seeing my kids’ faces light up as they decorate them.
I have to reflect at times like this how quickly parenthood flies by. At first they’re so little and depend on us for everything. Then they grow, test life out a little, take small risks and make mistakes. It’s okay though, because we’re always close by to take things in hand if need be. And then one day, we’re making some hot dog cookies and realize the kiddos are growing up. Where did the time go?
So I’m sharing these cookies with all of you, to help you remember not to get so caught up in the trials of everyday you forget to celebrate the joys in your life. Living now is what it’s about, not striving to make tomorrow perfect. So if you need a break from revisions, have a cookie. And take a minute or two to spend some time with the people that make all those trials worthwhile.
Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.
I’ve got two boys who will thank you profusely…once I get around to making them. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!!!
We’re going to try it!
Awwww…. how about the recipe?
Oh thanks I’ll definitely be trying it out sometime.
As promised, here’s the recipe:
Hot Dog Cookies
3/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp salt
***
— A tube of red gel icing
—Some yellow icing in a small nozzled decorating bag (I use a snack sized ziplock with a hole cut in the corner)
—3 tsp sesame seeds scattered on a plate
—chopped up green, red and white sugar candy (more on this below)
***
Mix your dough, then stick it in the fridge for an hour if you like (I use it right away but the dough is a bit softer, If you find it hard to shape, then stick it in the fridge).
Take less than 1/4 of the dough and put in a smaller bowl, then add a few drops of red food coloring to the small portion to create a hot dog color.
Take a bit more dough than you would regularly use for a normal round cookie from the white dough and shape it into a log. This is, yep, you guessed it, the bun. Take a knife and make a dent down the middle if the bun, then dip one side of the dent in the sesame seed. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and use your finger to ‘widen’ the dent into a trough to set the weiner into.
Shape a weiner ot fit the slot from the red dough, and Boom–you got a hot dog cookie. 🙂
Bake at 350 F for 10-13 minutes or until the bottoms start to brown. (Keep an eye on them on the first batch as elevation will make them cook faster or slower depending on where you live.)
Decorating:
Once the cookies are cool, use the gel/icing like you would ketchup & mustard.
Find some green, red & white ‘sugared’ candies and dice. You *could* use jube-jubes (the sugared ones, but they tend to be sticky so if you can find something in strips or strings (like the sugared sour candy stuff) it works much better. Even the sour watermellon slices candy or sour patch kids would work because they’re flatter than a sugar jube, and not as ‘wet’.
This part is a bit of work, but it really adds something to the cookie I think. Sprinkle the diced candy as you like to make it look like relish and onion.
Note: You’ll want to double the batch if you’re making these for a classroom of kids. Depending on how big you make them, a single batch will make 12-18. Enjoy!
If you make them, please post and let me know how it went!
I remember when my mom was first teaching me how to cook. The feeling of growing up too fast really works both ways, from my perspective– though the kid usually doesn’t realize how quickly they grew until after they’re grown.
Those are very cool cookies, Angela. And this is a timely post for me, too. It’s only been three weeks, but there are times when I feel like all i do is feed the baby, rock her, and change diapers. But when I look at the pictures I posted, I can already see a change in her. Keeping things in perspective is always good advice.
*sniff*
Beautiful post, Angela. I’m off now to hug my teenager who refused to go to school today (because it’s normally his favourite day and they’d replaced it with a school celebration – mostly sport!).
How do you make those cookies? He’d probably enjoy them.
Thanks guys! I will post the recipe in the comments in a bit if you want to check back later. Right now I have such a nasty headache, I think I might lie down for a bit.
The Classroom Market was a lot of fun–I ran the money exchange booth so got to watch the whole thing. Kids had brought in all sorts of personal treasures to sell–books, toys, handmade bracelets and of course, cookies and cupcakes. I entered a few draws and bought some cookies and books myself. Loads of fun.
When I got home my oldest was telling me how he wished there were more hot dog cookies and I mentioned to him how I blogged about the cookies and that I knew the day would come when he would be too ‘cool’ for them. He didn’t even let me finish, telling me there was no way he’d outgrow them. LOL, it made me smile. But I know I can send them Courtney’s way if he ever does get tired of them…
This entry also made me teary eyed. Lovely… I think I needed to read it. Thanks, Angela. Also. If you ever need to FedEx hot dog cookies to someone… *scribbles address* 😉
Yeah, I’m with Rosemerry!! 🙂
Those are the coolest cookies ever, and I’m dying to make some. 🙂
what no recipe? How did you get the cookies to look like hot dogs? Is it food coloring? Inquiring minds want to know.
those cookies are too cute!!!!
You’re post made me teary eyed. I have 3 small kids under the age of 6 and some days it’s hard to focus on the good stuff when the day is filled with crying, screaming whining and I can’t find my way out of the laundry pile. I’m going to go have a cookie today and have some fun! :0)
Cute post.
Christy