It's that time of year again... to give back to our dear feathered friends. This year we took a much loved recipe and gave it a whole new twist...
... bird cookies are great, but bird cookie houses? Now that we absolutely love! (*Note: house size may very. The above template maesures about 6" x 6" x 8-8.5")
So into the big bowl went all the ingredients, except this year we decided to use raspberries instead of blueberries, as well as more flour. Being softer than blueberries the raspberries broke down a bit more and turned the batter the sweetest shade of pink.
We also sprinkled extra bird seed on top and pressed it in to add some more structure as we cut the pieces out.
Once the pieces came out of the oven we assembled them with honey that had been boiled to "hardball" consistency so it worked just like glue. Next up came the fun part, decorating! Our inspiration was a gingerbread house, but candy isn't so great for birds, so we used fresh and dried fruits along with a little bit of peanut butter to hold the apple slices to the roof.
The day we put the house outside was a windy one, so it was hard to catch a bird at the house for long, and by the time we checked on the house a few days later it was almost gone! I guess we'll just have to take that as a compliment.
Bird cookie recipe:
Mix in a bowl by hand until crumbly:
1- 1 1/2 Cup of Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup of Cracked Oats or Regular Oats
1/2 Cup of Butter unsalted
1/2 Tsp of Baking Powder
Add:
2 Eggs
Just drop in the whole egg, shell and all.
Remember to wash your hands when working with raw eggs.
Add:
1 Cup Raspberries
1 Cup of Bird Seed
Knead on a sheet of parchment paper and roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness.
Cut into house shapes (see template above)
Place cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
Bake at 325 approx 15 plus minutes until hard and a nice tinge of golden brown.
Honey:
Boil until its about to burn, stirring constantly. Turn the heat down as low as it can go. Dip the edges of each section of the house into the honey, or use a Popsicle stick to spread the honey on. Press edges together and hold in place until honey has hardened (1-2 minutes).
Decorate with fresh and dried fruit, then... feed the birds!
~ Deb and Jordan
*Last time in Crafts and Imagination: February Round Up
