A few weeks ago, I was working on an article for the Pioneer Press re: summer retention activities.  These kinds of articles are always a thrill because they combine my background in education with my new found interests as a mom.  

One of the activities that I wrote about was Family Game Night which really is one of my all time favorite evenings.  To be honest, I can scrabble with the best of them!  As I wrote, I came up with all these wonderful snack ideas that went along with game night such as

• Candyland Parfaits (a rainbow of fruit and m&m’s topped with whipped cream.
• Mini wedding cupcakes for the Game of Life.  
• “Don’t break the Ice” pops 
• And my personal favorite, Jail Bird cupcakes.  

the cupcake recipe came courtesy of an awesome baker and chef from Michigan named Lia Simpson.  Lia sent me this recipe  that I’d love to share with you here!  For more info on Lia, please send me a note and I’ll put you in touch with this talented chef. 

Get Out of Jail Free Shortbread Men

Makes 12-14 cookies

Cookies

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

Striped Frosting

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

Process sugar in a bowl of the food processor for 30 seconds until it is a powdery consistency.  Add the butter, flour and salt and process for about 45 seconds.  Scrape down the bowl with a spatula.  Process again for 15 seconds, until the dough pulls away from sides of bowl and comes together.  Gently knead dough on a lightly floured work surface to bring it together.  Pat dough into a disk, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes to firm up the butter.  Because this dough contains so much butter, if you do not refrigerate first, the dough will basically “melt” while you are working with it.

Preheat the oven to 300°F.  Line the baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.  Roll dough into a ½ inch thick rectangle on a lightly floured surface.  Cut cookies using a 1 inch gingerbread boy cookie cutter.  Bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway through baking time.  Cookies should look slightly dry on top. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Combine chocolate chips and 2 tbsp. of butter in a bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until all of the chocolate is melted.  Transfer the chocolate to a piping bag and pipe lines of chocolate horizontally across the cutout cookies.  Let chocolate set and store in an airtight container.