Leprechaun Hat Cookies

I just made these for a St. Patrick's Day celebration at work and my co-workers LOVED them! They raved about them all morning. Don't pass these up because the recipe looks too complicated - it really wasn't that difficult. At first it was taking me a while to make the Tootsie Roll hatbands, but once I figured out my own system for doing it the work went by much faster. Next time I make these it likely won't take me nearly as long (in total, for my first time making these, I spent about three hours on them). Tips: - Add a little over 1/2 tsp. of mint extract to the frosting. - Microwave the Tootsie Rolls two at a time for only a few seconds, making them soft and bendable. I struggled trying to use a knife to cut the strips; when I used kitchen scissors I found it was MUCH easier and faster. - Microwave the frosting in small portions. I used store bought frosting and was afraid it wouldn't spread well since some reviewers here had had issues with it, but I found that if I microwaved only a couple of spoonfuls at once and then immediately poured it over the hats, it spread nicely (only a small amount of touch-ups were necessary). Also, this doesn't have to be as messy as it sounds. I set the cooled hats on aluminum foil and then went to town with the frosting. Really DRENCH the hats in it, then after the frosting has dried you can use a knife to cut around the edges, leaving the mess behind on the foil. Even "wasting" so much frosting like this, I still had enough to cover all of the cookies.

This is the second time I have made these. The first time it took me forever!!! This time it only took me two hours. If you microwave the tootsie rolls one at a time for no more than 2 seconds they roll out much easier.