Delicious Back to School Snack Ideas with Krusteaz Bakery Style Cookie Mixes

I can hand out a bazillion plus one super-fabulous snacks after school, but nothing brings a smile to my son’s face like a home-baked cookie!

As a huge fan of baking, you’ll often find me whipping up a great batch of cookies from scratch, but with back-to-school season in full gear, I don’t always have time for scratch baking or I may find that I don’t have half the ingredients I need in my cupboard.  For these reasons, I love to keep a quality product on hand that’s easy to prep and make but also one that delivers a fresh, homemade bakery experience that, well, let’s face it, we are accustomed to having.  For many years, I’ve relied on Krusteaz to help me out with impromptu baking needs from muffins to breads to pancakes and now, the new Krusteaz Bakery Style Cookie Mixes.

The new delicious flavors of Krusteaz Bakery Style Cookie Mixes taste like the best batch of homemade cookies imaginable.  Though my from-scratch sugar cookies are comparable, the Meyer Lemon and Triple Chocolate Chunk give me a run for my baking expertise! The complete flavor lineup includes:

• Triple Chocolate Chunk
• Meyer Lemon
• Double Peanut Butter
• Brown Sugar Oatmeal
• Oatmeal Scotchie
• Butter Vanilla Sugar

And as if these crazy-good flavors weren’t enough, Krusteaz always encourages bakers to go the extra step with inventive recipes on each package.  (You can find additional recipe inspiration on the website, too: http://www.krusteaz.com/) As we are always craving variety and new tastes, I love discovering the special recipes that help taking cookie baking up a notch.

When we were baking the Krusteaz Bakery Style Oatmeal Scotchie, I loved the idea of the Jolty Scotchies recipe so much, I created my own quick version by simply adding 2 teaspoons of instant coffee to the mix and drizzling with caramel.  Wow!  The result was truly indulgent and a great pairing for a midday snack with a cup o’ Jo.  I plan to make the full Jolty Scotchies recipe for our next book club meeting and I know they will be an instant hit.

I also love that baking Krusteaz Bakery Style Cookie Mixes is so easy that my children can join in and bake them with just a little bit of help from me.  This can really help with after-school multitasking in the kitchen.  While I’m prepping for dinner, they can have fun whipping up an after-school treat or dessert for our evening fun.

Another of our favorite ways to enjoy Krusteaz Bakery Style Cookie Mixes is to create a giant cookie bar.  This speeds up the baking process, delivering a yummy delight lickety-split!  Directions for baking cookie bars are on right on the package.

If you want to amp up the after-school treat fun, bake a package of Krusteaz Bakery Style Butter Vanilla Sugar cookies any time during the day and then set the kids to cutting out shapes with cookie cutters when they arrive home.  After they cut the shapes, they can decorate with frosting and sprinkles to create a custom cookie to enjoy.  It’s a great way to keep little hands busy for a bit, tap into their creativity and involve them fully in enjoying their unique cookie creation!

It’s also a lot easier than rolling out the dough and cutting shapes.  If you prefer, you can also have them help bake the cookie bar and cut and decorate while the batch is still warm. Any way you cut the sugar cookie, it’s going to be a warm, delicious and memorable after-school snack experience!

The biggest challenge with baking Krusteaz Bakery Style Cookie Mixes?  Keeping them from disappearing too quick!  A few seconds into taking photos for this feature, the cookies were under attack… for good reason, they are simply irresistible!

WIN IT! 

Thanks to the fun folks at Krusteaz, one (1) Rural Mom reader will win a Krusteaz Back to School prize pack containing one (1) of each of the six (6) new Krusteaz Bakery Style mixes, an apron, an oven mitt and a lunchbox!

ENTER via the Rafflecopter below:

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