Oreo Penguins

When our plans to make an Oreo Christmas tree were thwarted, we made Oreo Penguins instead. 

As you can see, they're adorable but far from perfect. A friend once told me that what she loves the most about my blog is that you don't have to have any talent to make the things I share. She immediately blushed and apologized profusely for implying I don't have any talent, but I thought it was hilarious. It's totally true that my projects are not likely to grace the pages of a magazine (except this once!). My projects are doable and rarely require any special skills or expertise. I consider my talent to be thinking up the ideas, figuring out how they're done, and writing clear instructions, rather than the actual execution of the project. Particularly when it comes to edible crafts! So regardless of whether you have any talent or not, go ahead and give these Oreo Penguins a try! Affiliate links below. 

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Oreo Penguins 

Materials:

• White Fudge Oreos
• aluminum foil
• black Candy Melts
• white Candy Melts
• toothpick
• candy eyeballs
• candy-covered sunflower seeds
• cooling rack
• Silpat mat

Steps:

Set the Silpat mat on the table with the cooling rack directly above it. Place 4 White Fudge Oreos on the rack, with enough space between them that you can fit your fingers. Use scissors to cut 4 small squares of aluminum foil. Put them on top of one another and fold them in half vertically. Cut the stack of squares into a half teardrop so that they're vaguely heart-shaped when you unfold them. Separate them and press them onto the Oreos, with the end press down the front. In the photo below, you can see three Oreos with the foil positioned on them, plus one piece of foil that I haven't unfolded yet. 

From another angle, with the fourth Oreo now covered:

Melt about 15 black Candy Melts according to the package directions. Drizzle the melted candy over the tops, trying as best you can to avoid the foil-covered area. 

Let the candy set for just a minute or so, then use the tab of foil at the bottom to lift the foil straight up. If you wait too long, you end up with a rough edge instead of a nice smooth line between white and black. If don't wait long enough, you have to be really careful that the extra candy on the foil doesn't slop onto the white portion. How long it takes the candy to set up depends on your room temperature and humidity, so I can't give you a more accurate guess. 

Transfer the penguins to a plate. If you drizzled aggressively, you may end up with a few penguins that are stuck to the cooling rack. Push up from the bottom of the rack with one hand as you're gently pulling up with the other and it should pop free. If you happen to break one doing this, you have my permission to eat it. None of mine broke, so unfortunately I didn't get to eat one. 

Move the now-empty cooling rack, then peel the dripped candy off the Silpat and put it back into the bowl. Remelt the candy. Set up your next four Oreos and repeat the process of adding the foil, drizzling the candy, and then peeling the foil. 

Continue working, four at a time, until all your Oreos are covered. You may need to add more Candy Melts to the bowl. 

In a separate bowl, melt 3 white wafers. Use a toothpick to dot melted white candy onto the backs of the candy eyeballs, then place them on the penguins. They'll set very quickly, so make sure you put them where you want them and don't try to move them. Add a dab of white candy below the eyes and place a sunflower seed beak there. 

Here are some of the penguins I made. As you can see, they are FAR from perfect.

But they are fun! I learned a lot as I went - what consistency is best for the melted candy, where to position the foil and when to remove it, what happens if you try to dip the penguin in the candy melts instead of drizzling, etc. I figured out what to do as I went. Like anything, the more Oreo Penguins I made, the better they turned out. And for a Scout cookie exchange, these imperfect (yet charming) penguins were perfectly fine.  

And I did eventually get to eat one. Delicious!