The Mischievous Lollipop Bandit

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a mischievous bandit who loved lollipops more than anything else in the world. He would sneak into candy stores and snatch as many lollipops as he could carry, running away as fast as his legs could take him.

One day, the lollipop bandit had an idea. "What if I made lollipop cookies?" he thought to himself. "Then I could have all the lollipops I want, and no one would even know!"

So the lollipop bandit put on his apron and got to work, baking batch after batch of delicious lollipop cookies. He dipped them in all kinds of colorful sprinkles and put them on lollipop sticks to make them look like real lollipops.

But as soon as the cookies were out of the oven, the lollipop bandit couldn't resist taking a bite. And then another. And another. Soon he had eaten all of the lollipop cookies he had made!

The lollipop bandit realized that maybe he wasn't cut out for baking after all. From then on, he stuck to his old ways of stealing lollipops, but he always had a special place in his heart for lollipop cookies.

Lollipop Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Assorted lollipop sticks
• Assorted sprinkles

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Stir in the vanilla extract.
5. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until just combined.
7. Form the dough into small balls and insert a lollipop stick into each one, making sure it's securely in place.
8. Dip each cookie into the sprinkles to coat.
9. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
10. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.