Pokeball Cookie Recipe!

How To Make Pokèball Cookies & Cookie Sandwiches!

HELLO ALL, today is another how to/tutorial. This time its a recipe! Having made these for a convention and being told they were very good I figured why not share them? I know the pokè-geeks would love it!
As safety is a concern please ask your parents for help if you aren't allowed to use the stove, otherwise have fun and be careful!

What you will need:
- 1 whoopie pie cookie tin (optional but this is your best bet)
- at least ONE sugar cookie mix I chose betty crocker, chose your own preference
- one bag EACH of red, white and chocolate candy melts

OPTIONAL:
- candy melt melting container
- candy melt squeeze bottles (one for each color, at least three)
- extra candy melt of another color
- chocolate sprinkles/non pareils

                                          

As I have mentioned before, if you can, bargain shop, use coupons, price check, do your research and find the better deal! I obtained most of my supplies in advance at Hobby Lobby/Michaels/Wal-mart
Walmart has candy melts but not the brand I prefer, however they did have most of the baking tools I needed. Hobby lobby and Michaels covered the rest. I recommend using their coupons or watch their sales closely. As I was preparing to bake these for a specific time I knew that getting the ingredients ahead of time was key and that as long as I had them waiting wasn't an issue. However I did bide my time and watch for sales.

Hobby Lobby In-Store Coupon this updates weekly   Michaels In-Store Coupon these also change weekly

                                       

                                         

(Sadly I could not find a picture of the melting bowls, they are easy to find with the rest of the baking tools in the baking craft section of walmart or hobby lobby)

DO NOTE THAT IF YOU WANT TO MAKE THE WHOOPIE PIE PART you can either SPLIT the one batch of cookies,or make two batches of cookies. ALSO if you prefer you can use your OWN sugar cookie dough recipe instead of buying the pre-made versions. Just keep in mind how many cookies you get from your batch and adjust from there. IE the cookie mix I used yields 12 cookies, when you make your own dough it can yield more or less depending on.

Now, I suggested using the Whoopie Pie cookie tin. This is based on personal preference. You CAN use a regular cookie sheet, cookie baking tin or what have you but I HIGHLY recommend that the above be a nonstick pan. I was skeptical of this pan at first yet as I did several batches I found out why this is better.
Its a bit thick for a cookie however if you over bake it - which i did for one batch - its still ok! Its shallow cookie sections allow for quick baking yet keep the inside soft. So if you over bake it causing it to be crispy outside the inside will still be soft! This isn't easily achieved with a regular cookie sheet.

Depending on your batch amount I would say bake all your batches and let them cool. ONE bag of betty crocker sugar cookie mix makes one whole batch if portioned properly.
Once the cookies are cool enough to remove from the pan do so and set them aside on a separate plate to completely cool. Cooling time once removed from the tin to another plate is about 20 minutes to one hour.
I created four batches so it was an ongoing process. You can stick them in a fridge but it can cause cracking.


                                    

(these are the cookies in the tin, on a foil covered pizza pan cooling and then two batches cooling on a cookie tin with a paper towel on the bottom)

THIS is where the optional part comes in. I bought melting bowls and squeeze bottles for this as having used a spoon to try and pour for molds and other things it wasn't going to be easy. Any microwavable bowl for the candy melts works but STAY with the directions DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THE DIRECTIONS!
IE for this brand it says microwave in 30 second spurts, stir as needed in between until its all melted. DO NOT go over 30 seconds.

I used the cardboard melting bowls which made it easier to pour into the squeeze bottles. If the candy melt liquid cools or hardens during use you can remelt with ease.

Once the cookies are cooled now you can start decorating! For me, as this is a pokè ball I knew I would need some guidelines. For me I guessed the middle of the cookie and used a tooth pick to mark the middle line and curve of the center.
First half I did white candy melt and let that cool. That can take up to 40 minutes. It may take this long because if you are still baking the room will be hot from the oven so keep that in mind. With the white part follow the curve of the circle you poked in. You want to fill the circle in.

                                 


Once the first part dries/cools now its the red candy melt. I used vanilla flavored red candy melts, mint flavored white candy melts and dark chocolate mint candy melts.

The second part, the red candy melt was fairly easy. Just follow the line of the white part and keep as close to it as possible so that when done it will be an even match up and not an uneven layer with the white.
 During the whole application process I kept the tip of the squeeze bottle close to the cookie so it looked less like a swirly mess and more cohesive. When the candy comes out of the bottle for this it comes in a thin strip, its great for pouring into a candy mold but for covering a cookie not so much. This part is where you fill in the circle curve with the white candy melts.

                                     



Let the red candy melt part dry, once done here comes the tricky part. The chocolate candy melt is meant as to be the black outline. What I did was draw the thick line meant to separate the red and white, then drew the circle around to that it looked like the button part of the pokèball.

                       

(VIOLA! DONE)

As you can see some of the candy melt dripped down the side, that is fine. its a big cookie its not going to hurt anything. It doesn't have to be perfect unless you want it that way. If the candy melt does drip down the sides while cooling you can use a butter knife to scrape it off. It tastes way better than it looks trust me.


Here is the final optional set of steps if you want to keep going and make the "whoopie pie" part. If you made one batch just for the single cookies that is fine

Here I took one of the cookies meant to be the bottom, turned it over so the flat side is facing up. Pressing down CAREFULLY (gently as this is soft and pressing too hard may break or go all the way through) to make a little concave groove for what comes next.

Then I took ONE animal cracker -  any brand will do, you can use frosted but I would be careful there. Placed the cracker in the groove, if it doesn't fit that it ok, press it down some so it will stick in the cookie.
As you can see I used green candy melt, you can use any color, the green was given a mint flavor. As the picture shows some had green, some had white. You can use the left over candy melts for this.
Cover the animal cracker with just enough candy melt, and add chocolate sprinkles or non pareils.

DO NOTE: The animal cracker and chocolate sprinkle part is optional AND CAN BE SKIPPED. HOWEVER you do need to cover the bottom cookie with candy melt or frosting or something to make it a whoopie pie/cookie sandwich.
I did the animal cracker to give it a little crunch and simulate the whole pokèball experience. HEY YOU ATE THE POKEMON INSIDE! LOL

The rest of the photo is me showing the difference in the white and green filling and how I "bagged and tagged" them. The last part is me putting two cookie sandwiches per bag with a hand written tag showing the price and a cute quote. On the back was a thank you for purchasing and a list of general ingredients for people with food allergies.

There were some left over from the convention, they didn't last long :-) I figure I must be doing very well if these were eaten within two days. (I made four batches total)

It was fun to make and I had some help from my daughter. Depending on how many batches you plan to make it can take half a day or up to a day. For me it took half a day because I had planned for and set aside one day to do this AND keep up household chores.

Thank you for reading and good luck!