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Ingredients

• ✓ red decorating gel
• cocoa powder
• water
• butter
• white sugar
• white sugar
• all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• egg
• vanilla extract
• confectioners' sugar
• peanut butter
• white chocolate chip
• butter
• chocolate frosting
• white decorating gel

Instructions

1. 1 Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line cups with paper liners.
2. 2 Sift cocoa powder into a large bowl and add 5 tablespoons boiling water. Stir into a thick paste, adding more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed. Add 3/4 cup butter and 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, until batter is smooth.
3. 3 Mix flour and baking powder in a bowl and stir into the batter until well combined. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each 2/3 to the top using an ice cream scoop.
4. 4 Bake in the preheated oven until tops spring back when lightly pressed and a toothpick comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool in muffin tin for a few minutes; transfer to wire rack and cool completely, about 1 hour.
5. 5 Beat confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, 1/4 cup butter, and vanilla extract in a bowl until a thick dough forms. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. 6 Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
7. 7 Remove the peanut butter mixture from the fridge and roll into small balls to make monster eyes. Chill mixture or moisten hands if it starts to stick. Arrange balls on the prepared baking sheet and freeze for 30 minutes.
8. 8 Place white chocolate in top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir continuously, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching, until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes.
9. 9 Remove the eyes from the freezer and individually pick them up with a toothpick. Dip balls into melted chocolate leaving a small circle on one side blank. Twirl the toothpick to remove excess chocolate and put back on the parchment lined baking sheet.
10. 10 Dig out a bit of the peanut butter mixture from each ball where it isn't covered with chocolate to make room for the red decorating gel. Fill the holes with red decorating gel.
11. 11 Frost cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Place 2 peanut butter eyes on top. Draw on a mouth with the white decorating gel.

By MarkSeabourne

Ingredients

• ✓ red decorating gel
• egg white
• confectioners' sugar
• lemon juice
• sugar cookie
• marshmallow
• black decorating gel
• orange decorating gel
• silver nonpareil
• green decorating gel

Instructions

1. 1 Beat egg whites lightly in a large bowl using an electric mixer until frothy. Slowly beat enough confectioners' sugar into egg whites to make icing that will hold shape; blend in lemon juice until desired consistency is reached.
2. 2 Arrange cookies about 1-inch apart on a large sheet of waxed paper. Spread icing onto each cookie, allowing icing to drip over edges to look like melting snow.
3. 3 Grease a microwave-safe plate. Place 1 marshmallow onto plate.
4. 4 Microwave marshmallow until it starts to puff up, 20 to 30 seconds. Immediately place marshmallow on the edge of 1 cookie while the icing is still wet to look like a melted snowman. Repeat with remaining marshmallows and iced cookies.
5. 5 Decorate melted snowmen cookies by piping twig-like arms using black decorating gel on the icing. Make coal eyes and a mouth on the marshmallow using black decorating gel. Make a carrot nose under the coal eyes using orange decorating gel. Make coat buttons by arranging silver nonpareils down the middle of the icing. Make scarves or bow ties using red decorating gel or green decorating gel.
6. 6 Allow cookies to fully dry before removing from waxed paper, at least 1 hour.

By Elizabeth