Summer Favorites

We had a heat "spell" and I did not bake as I had planned over the past month. Living in Southern California is wonderful, but the summers can be warm and it does not motivate me to cook/bake. Heating the kitchen on a summer day is not appealing, or energy wise with an air conditioner cranking away. But, I am catching up now with a little cool weather and here are a few family favorites.

Hamburger Cookies
There is never a summer barbeque that is not complete without the "Hamburger Cookie". Very simple, but always a crowd pleaser. My children grew up with these annual summer time treats, and their friends would always request them when we had a pool party. 
I made them for the first time (with all the ingredients) the summer before Matt went into kindergarten. He is the inspiration for them and should receive all of the credit. We were playing "chef for the day" one hot summer dayand he was the cook.  (Brian and I were his customers). I remember the day clearly, they were so cute. Matt took a box of vanilla wafers and was cooking them in a large pan. There happened to be a bag of York peppermints nearby, and he opened them adding them to the vanilla wafers. He put them together like a sandwich, and served them on a platter. He created our first family hamburger cookie, we have since added the coconut and sesame seeds. It is such a fond memory of mine. There have been many versions of this cookie that I have seen, but this is my favorite. I keep all of the ingredients on hand and they can be made in less than ten minutes.
                                                                          

                                             

Ingredients:
One box of Vanilla Wafers (use Nabisco, they have the least number for broken cookies and they are just the right size for the mints)
One large bag of York Peppermint Patties (the best because they are thick and are usually perfect coming right out of the wrapper)
Coconut: tinted green with food coloring
Sesame Seeds



Tint the cocount and allow to dry before rolling cookie edges. I always tint a large bag and freeze the leftovers for future use

Vanilla wafers should be smooth with no chips or broken areas and placed face down on a paper towel. I place about 15 in the microwave at a time, be careful not to have them touching. I then place one mint patty on top, directly in the center.

Microwave for a short period of time, I usually microwave 5-10 seconds until the sides of the mint patties shine. Do not do more time, they will explode (I am speaking from experience).

Place another cookie directly on top, flat side down and remove from the microwave.

 Gently roll the sides of the cookie in the prepared coconut, tapping the coconut to secure it to the sides of the cookie. Set aside to ensure that the mints dry.

It is now time to add the sesame seeds for the "bun". In a small bowl, add water, this will be the "glue" to secure the seeds. Dip your finger into the water and place a few drops of water on the top of cookie. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top right away, it will dry almost instantly.

Hamburger cookies, such a fun treat!