In trying to come up with a fun trick I could pull on my son this year for April Fool's Day, my mind kept turning to fake food. My husband suggested that no-bake cookies look like meatballs, and the idea for a Fake Meatball Sandwich was born. Your hungry brood will expect a meatball sub with cheese, but what they'll really get is a dessert! It's such a fun recipe. You can have your kids drink out of Peek-A-Boo Cups, and your April Fool's Day will be complete!

Ingredients

• white cake mix
• mini-loaf pan
• strawberry preserves
• 1/8 cup white chocolate, shredded
• 4 cups oatmeal
• ½ cup peanut butter

• ½ cup butter
• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup milk
• 1 ½ cup sugar

Instructions

1.
To make the no-bake cookies, mix the butter, milk, sugar, and cocoa powder together in a sauce pan over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil.
2.
Once the mixture is boiling, let it cook for another minute—stirring constantly.
3.
Turn off the heat and stir in peanut butter and oats.
4.
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto wax paper.
5.
Let cookies cool for a few minutes.
6.
After the cookies have cooled for a few minutes, shape them into balls with your hands. You may have to reshape them more than once while they're cooling, but they will start to hold their shape as they get cooler.

7.
To make the loaves, mix the white cake mix batter according to the package directions.
8.
Pour white cake mix batter into mini loaf pans, filling each pan about 1/3 full.

9.
Bake according to package directions.
10.
Once they are finished baking, remove the mini loaves from their pans by turning them upside down and shaking them gently onto a cooling rack.
11.
Let them cool.

12.
Once they've cooled, cut each loaf horizontally through the middle.
13.
To assemble the sandwiches, pull the loaves apart gently where they are cut, and insert 3 or 4 of the no-bake cookie "meatballs".

14.
Spoon the strawberry sauce over and around the "meatballs" to look like spaghetti sauce. (Strawberry ice cream topping works very well, and you can also use strawberry preserves—just thin them with a little water or fruit juice.)
15.
Shred about 1/8 of a cup of white chocolate with a cheese shredder and sprinkle the shredded white chocolate "cheese" over the "meatballs".
16.
Present your Fake Meatball Sandwich to your family as an April Fool's joke; after you have a good laugh, slice up the subs and serve everyone a piece for a sweet dessert.

Tips

• If you don't have mini loaf pans, use a regular size loaf pan, and slice the loaf shaped cake like bread for your meatball sandwich.