As the fall season starts, the trees begin to change from greens to mimic a colour wheel preparing for winter. As they exchange green colouration for brilliant reds, oranges and yellows that will be taken by the winds to decorate the lawns. For some of the tree’s leaves won’t be the only thing that descends in the fall. The maples will release seeds that drop slowly spinning like helicopter blades. Pine cones, witch hazel, butternut, oak trees will deposit their seeds to the earth to bring upon the next generation of trees. To ensure the acorns, seeds, and nuts spread further than what gravity will allow. Squirrels, being one of many diverse creatures, collect and hide this treasure and forget where they place their booty, as they scamper around and stuff more into their cheeks.

With the world and national events still shaking the normalcy of everyone’s lives, it has made some people a little squirrely.

Eating is a way that many people cope with stress, and when the shelves are empty of food. Sometimes you just need to fuel that animal within you and go back to basics.

Acorn cookies; a snack that can be made with the greatest of ease, are a delicious fall treat.

To begin, you will need Hershey kisses and chocolate chips. Butterscotch substitutes can be used to get a lighter brown. Cake icing or decorating frosting in tan to brown in colour. Use either Nutter Butter cookies or vanilla wafers can be used as the cap.

For the first stage, remove the wrappers from the chocolates and prepare the cake icing. If you choose the frosting or icing then you want to put it into a pastry bag with a small tip, but if you choose melted chocolate then you want to some chocolate chips or butterscotch into a microwave-safe bowl; place the bowl in the microwave for 15-seconds and use a toothpick to stir the melted chocolate and put it back into the microwave in 5-second intervals until fully melted.

Place a small amount of icing, frosting, melted chocolate, or melted butterscotch on to the base of the kiss. Gently press the kiss onto the flat side of the wafer or Nutter Butter cookie forming the acorn’s pericarp. On the opposite side of the cookie place a dab of adhesive and place the chip on the dab.

The adhesive should be fully solidified in about ten to thirty minutes.

Squirrels will allow their acorns to bask in the cool, dark ground before removing them at the end of winter, but you are not a squirrel so you will be baking your acorns into a nice, warm cake.

Another fun autumn treat to make is Acorn Bundt Cake.

Parental guidance is advised for the following steps. You’ll want to preheat the oven to 350 degrees and apply grease and flour to the bundt cake pans.

For one acorn bundt cake, you will need:

½ cup of coconut oil

½ cup of acorn flour

½ cup of rice flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 tsp of ground allspice

3 eggs

½ cup of honey

⅜ cup of applesauce

½ cup of sugar

the oven to 350 degrees and apply grease and flour to the bundt cake pans.

Mix all dry ingredients into one bowl. These are the flours, salt, sugar, spice berries, and baking soda. In a second bowl evenly blend all wet ingredients together. Depending on the temperature the coconut oil will take different levels of thickness; if the coconut oil is solid then while mixing make sure that the chunks are less than a half-inch big. Once both bowls are evenly mixed, combine wet and dry ingredients evenly.

After transferring the batter to a bundt pan, bake for 30-40 minutes. To ensure that the cake is fully baked insert a skewer, serrated butter knife or toothpick into the middle of the cake, if the item is clean when pulled out of the cake then the cake is fully baked. Let the cake cool in their pans for at least 5 minutes before flipping them upside down and onto a plate.

Confectioner’s sugar can be lightly dusted on top of the cake for a little extra sweetness and improved appearance.

Credit to Hershey’s Kitchen, Taste of Home, and Backyard Forager for their recipes that helped inspire this article.