I know I haven’t spoken all that much about teaching since the school year started, but today I have a little bit of something to share. The fact that it is edible as well is a plus I’m sure!

Although I teach classes of kindergarten through 8th grade, there are always interesting observations to make about each age group. I look forward to hearing what the kindergarteners will tell me every week; I should be writing it all down and put a book together. The kids can be cute, they can say funny things, and the little ones always make me smile. The middle school students are becoming more independent before moving on to high school. I try to remember what it was like to be their age and have made the realization that the memory is quite blurred at this point in my life. What? That’s a harsh reality right there: I was in middle school in the 90s…

Let’s get on to the cupcakes though, shall we? We whipped up a batch for the yearbook staff to pass out to the 5th grade classes. It’s a part of a project we’re working on, and hopefully I’ll be able to share a glimpse of the final results when they come together. But for now: I give you panda cupcakes. They’re a cinch to put together, and the ingredients are a kid crowd pleaser. You can’t go wrong with cake, frosting, Oreos, M&Ms, and Rolo candies, can you? I think not. If you wanted to turn them into mouse cupcakes, you could simply add snips of Twizler pull and peel strands for whiskers and snip a longer piece to stick in the side as a tail…just a thought! Use a box mix to make your cupcakes or create them from scratch (same with the frosting). The kids can even put these together pretty easily. Try them out: they’d be a great little party treat!

What’s your favorite cupcake flavor?

Panda Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes (in your favorite flavor)

White/vanilla frosting

Mini Oreos

Mini M&Ms

Rolo candies

Instructions

1. Evenly frost the top of a cupcake with the white frosting. Separate one mini Oreo cookie into two halves (these will be the ears). Place the cookie pieces filling side down on the top edge of a frosted cupcake, slightly angled upward.

2. Unwrap a Rolo candy and place it on the top of the cupcake, centered between the two ears but toward the bottom edge of the cake. Place two matching mini M&Ms under the ears and centered above the nose to complete the panda’s face.

3. Repeat the decoration process with all of the cupcakes. Serve immediately, or place in the refrigerator to store; enjoy!