Baby Chicks: Barnyard Treats and Reads Series
Spring is here! In honor of this season when new life is in full force, we want to bring you a special series: “Barnyard Treats and Reads.” Each week, we’ll share a creative way that you can transform Nutter Butter cookies (the treats) into one of our favorite barnyard animals! We will also give you suggestions for fun and informative books to share with your children, featuring the same animal as that week’s treat! What could go better together than a tasty treat and a good read?
This week, our barnyard creature is the chick. The adorable, yellow baby chicken is a prominent image during springtime, particularly around Easter. Whether your children or young or old, they will definitely enjoy making and eating these whimsical, chick-inspired Nutter Butter cookies while learning more about chickens, eggs, and chicks!
The Treat: Chick-Inspired Nutter Butter Cookies
To get started, you are going to need white, yellow, and orange melting chocolate, yellow sanding sugar, coconut oil, decorative eyes (also flowers, etc.) and Nutter Butter Cookies. (For the full recipe with instructions, be sure to read all the way to the bottom of this post!)
Using a pan, a double boiler, and ramekins, melt the different colored chocolates. Add just a little bit of coconut oil to each one to help create a smooth consistency. When the chocolate is melted, line up the yellow chocolate, the Nutter Butters, and the yellow sanding sugar.
Use a wand or fork to dip each Nutter Butter cookie into the yellow chocolate until it is completely coated. Make sure to hold the coated cookies over the chocolate-filled bowl so that the excess chocolate drips back into the bowl (not onto your counter tops).
After coating the cookie, immediately place it onto your plate of yellow sanding sugar. Get it good and covered with the sparkly yellow stuff! I love how this step makes the chicks look kind of like their Easter candy counterpart–Peeps!
(Sidenote: This is definitely a great treat to make for Easter, too).
After your chick cookies are covered in the sanding sugar, set them aside on a wire rack to harden and dry. Next, it’s time to get creative!
First, add the candy eyes by dipping a toothpick into the yellow chocolate and dabbing a spot onto each candy eye before sticking it onto the “head” of the chick (you decide which end the head will be.)
Next, fill a piping bag with the melted orange chocolate and do a quick triangle design for the beak of each chick and two small “W” shapes towards the bottom of the body for the feet.
For some of my chick cookies, I also like to create a little cracked shell “hat,” to make it look like they’ve just been born. If you want to do the same, it’s really simple! All you have to do is fill a piping bag with the melted white chocolate and do a quick, jagged-edge design on the top of the head, then smooth it out to fill in. After that, go bananas with whatever extra decoration you’d like to do. As you can see, we had fun with these.
The Reads: Books for All Ages About Chicks, Chickens, and Eggs
Now that you’ve got your chick treats made (and probably eaten a couple), let’s talk about some awesome books you can incorporate into your study of the chick! Here are some of our top suggestions: Click the title of each book to go directly to Amazon.
Bedtime for Chickies
For Age: 1- 4
This padded board book is full of run rhymes and tells about the tough task of getting tired little chicks to sleep– perfect for toddlers!
Let’s Hatch Chicks: Explore the Wonderful World of Chickens and Eggs by Lisa Steele
Age: 4-8
A fun, fictional story that teaches children about the life cycle of a chicken in terms that they will understand!
Chickens Aren’t the Only Ones by Ruth Heller
Age 5 – 8
This is a fantastic book! As a matter of fact, check out the rest of Ruth Heller’s books (click here) because she has wonderful books for young readers. Use the topic of chicks and chickens as a jumping off place to explore all kinds of different oviparous animals with this fun and informative book!
A Kid’s Guide to Keeping Chickens: Best Breeds, Creating a Home, Care and Handling, Outdoor Fun, Crafts and Treats Paperback
Age: 8- Teen
This unique and engaging book will teach kids some fascinating facts about chickens and eggs, from how to create the best chicken habitat to yummy egg recipes.
The Chicken Chick’s Guide to Backyard Chickens: Simple Steps for Healthy, Happy Hens by Kathy Shea Mormino
Ages Older Teen-Adult
We actually used this when we had chickens. It is very thorough and detailed! It is an extremely readable and informative guide to raising chickens. It is perfect for the adult (or teen) who currently raises chickens or is looking for information about how to get started!
We hope you all enjoy this week’s “Barnyard Treats and Reads!” We’d love to know how you enjoyed the Nutter Butter chicks and which book you decided to check out!
- 10 nutter butter cookies
- 1 cup yellow melting chocolates
- ½ cup white melting chocolates
- 1/8th cup orange melting chocolates
- ½ tsp coconut oil
- candy eyes, flowers
- yellow sanding sugar
- Additional Items:
- Ramekins and pan for double boiler set-up
- Piping cones
- Chocolate dipping wand or fork
- Wire cooling rack
- Set up double boiler with shallow pan and ramekins for each color chocolate. Fill with water till half way up side of ramekins *careful not to get water inside them as it will seize the chocolate. Turn heat to medium low.
- Add chocolates and smidge of coconut oil to each, stirring to combine as they melt.<img class=”aligncenter size-full wp-image-97815″ style=”font-family: Georgia, ‘Times New Roman’, ‘Bitstream Charter’, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;”
- Using wand or fork, dip nutter butter cookies in yellow chocolate until thoroughly coated. Hover above dish as chocolate drips off.
- Cover coated cookie in the yellow sanding sugar, and then place it on a wire rack to dry.
- Add eyes by dipping a toothpick into the yellow chocolate and dabbing a spot on the chick for each eye. Quickly add the eyes.
- Pour orange melted chocolate into a piping bag and create a small, triangle-shaped “beak,” on each chick. Add two, small W shapes towards the bottom of the torso part for the feet.
- To make the egg shell hats (optional), pour white melted chocolate into piping bag, work quickly to create the jagged edges or use a knife to spread it on.
- Repeat for adding embellishments, such as flowers.
- Set to dry and harden.
- Store in airtight container. Enjoy!
Wish I had seen this last weekend before Easter. The butter butter chicks are such a cute idea!
Super cute! What a great way to welcome spring.
Super cute!
These are so cute!
These are so adorable
Adorable!! Great idea for some kitchen fun!
Yum! These look delicious!
Super cute!!
How cute!!?
These are adorable. The kids would love them.
I love this idea for my 3 grandchildren! I can’t wait to try this recipe. They want to raise chicks too!
wow! These chicks made out of nutter butter cookies (one of our favorites!) are adorable!
Terrific way to enjoy the warmer weather.
So cute and easy to make.
Thanks
They are really cute and they look easy to make too
This looks like a fun, delicious treat and so easy to make.
These are some great ideas for my grandchildren.