Pumpkin Treats

What You Need:

• 1/2 stick butter
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1 tablespoon canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• Red food coloring
• Yellow gel food coloring
• Green gel food coloring
• Pretzel sticks
• Sandwich bag

What You Do:

1. Have your child cut the butter into small pieces and let them soften at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
2. Add the softened butter into a mixing bowl along with the cream cheese. Have your child mix them together well.
3. Add the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice to the bowl and mix until everything is evenly combined.
4. Mix in four cups of powdered sugar, half a cup at a time.
5. Have your child experiment with some color mixing. Blend in a few drops of red and yellow gel food coloring to make a bright orange dough.
6. Refrigerate the dough for half an hour to an hour.
7. Show your child how to roll a spoonful of orange dough into a ball and place it on a plate. Repeat this until you've used up all of the dough.
8. Mix the remaining powdered sugar with a dash of water and a couple drops of green gel food coloring to make a bright green icing that is as thick as toothpaste.
9. Break off small pieces of pretzel about 1 inch long, and have your child coat them in green icing.
10. Press the pretzels into the top of the orange pumpkin cookies for the stems.
11. Spoon some green icing into a sandwich bag and cut a tiny slit in one corner.
12. Squeeze the bag gently to pipe curly vines around the pumpkin stems.
13. Refrigerate the pumpkin sweets until they're firm, then enjoy!

Baker's note: Margarine, imitation butter spreads, whipped cream cheese and liquid food coloring won't work with this recipe, because they don't create a firm cookie.