Bite size...

Mini cheese cakes work well....as do mini cupcakes....any recipe or mix you choose.
And I have made mini tarts...make a pastry shell in the mini muffin tins and fill with pudding, lemon curd, strawberry mousse, a banana slice and vanilla pudding etc etc...
Linda C

Thank you Linda...definately some jumping off points.

How about a gingerbread bread pudding? Nice fall flavors there.

Here's a recipe I found on Epicurious, but haven't tried:

gingerbread christmas pudding with orange hard sauce
Bon Appétit : December 2001

recipe photo reviews (17) my notes English Christmas "pudding" is really a dense, moist spiced cake. This gingerbread version is flavored with orange marmalade and topped with a traditional hard sauce  butter and sugar mixed with brandy.

Servings: Makes 8 to 10 servings.

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IngredientsHard Sauce
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons brandy
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
Pudding
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
11/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 large eggs
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup mild-flavored (light) molasses
1 teaspoon grated orange peel

For sauce:
Combine all ingredients in small bowl; stir to blend well. (Can be made 4 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.)
For pudding:
Coat inside and center tube of 6- to 8-cup pudding mold or Bundt cake pan with nonstick spray, then generously with butter. Sift flour and next 6 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then marmalade, molasses and orange peel. Add flour mixture and beat just until blended. Transfer batter to prepared mold. Cover mold tightly with foil.

Place steamer rack in large pot. Place pudding mold on rack. Fill pot with enough water to come halfway up sides of mold. Bring water to boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cover pot and steam pudding until tester inserted near center comes out clean, adding more boiling water as needed to maintain level, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Using oven mitts as aid, remove mold from pot. Uncover and let stand 10 minutes. Cut around top center and sides of pudding to loosen. Turn pudding out onto rack and cool 20 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool completely. Return to mold; cover and chill. Resteam 45 minutes to heat through, then turn out of mold.) Transfer pudding to platter. Cut pudding into wedges; serve with sauce.

AM
The Dinner Chronicles

Terri, I think your idea is great. Bite size is good for the little ones and Kamren would be happy. I wouldn't do anything with nuts. I don't know why, but there seems to be a lot of kids allergic to them these days.

For that age group, I'd make "brownie bites" in them with your favorite brownie recipe, pipe a little blob of cream cheese frosting on top and garnish with 1/4 of a maraschino cherry or a cherry from pie filling.

If you want to do cheesecakes, kids like these because of the chocolate crust but they would probably like brownies better.

TINY CHERRY CHEESECAKES

1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 cup cold butter
2 Tbsp. cold water

Filling:
2 packages (3 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. Milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling

In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar and cocoa: cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Divide and shape into 24 balls. Place a ball in greased miniature muffin cups; press dough evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of each cup.

In a mixing bowl, beat cram cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in milk and vanilla. Add egg; beat on low just until combined. Spoon about 1 tablespoonful into each cup. Bake at 325 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Carefully remove from pans to cool completely. Top with pie filling. Store in the refrigerator. Makes 2 dozen.

AM, the Gingerbread Pudding does sound good. But I don't know that even my kids would try it..So I don't know about 49 others..
But I think I'll c/p that recipe for adults..maybe a treat for in the teachers lounge over the next month.

As far as I know there are no peanut allergies in either class..That iformation is usually shared up front. I volunteeer in the classroom 1.5x a week, and volunteer in the school itself 4 days a week. But on Tuesday, I'll double check about peanut allergies, if so I'll just keep them for my kids to eat. I'll make the other stuff before as to not "cross contaminate".
Ruthanna, I asked him about brownies..and he was sure that he wanted pie and cake. LOL
But that cheesecake recipe sounds good. 'Specially the crust with the cocoa.

Lets see --- 8 year olds, eh? How about Oreos, Choc. and/or vanilla pudding, and gummy worms?

Crush the Oreo cookie part and form in bottom and sides of mini-muffin pan. Bake briefly to set. Make instant pudding(s), fill cooled Oreo shells. Bury a small gummy worm or bug in top of pudding, Top with reserved Oreo crumbs.

Or, you could get or make tiny pie shells and do the same thing.

Sorry no exact recipe.

I make these in full size muffin cups but might be what you're looking for -

OREO COOKIE CHEESECAKES Â makes 16

20 Oreo cookies
16 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
Dash of salt
2 Tbs. flour
3 eggs
¾ cup sour cream
3 Tbs. sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners. Separate 16 cookies in two, leaving the OreoÂs cream filling on each cookie half and placing any half into each cup liner, filling side up. Make crumbs out of the 4 whole cookies and set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer, combine cream cheese, sugar, salt, flour and eggs. Beat for 4 minutes. Place one tablespoon of the mixture on top of each cookie half. Sprinkle the cookie crumbs on top and add the remaining cream cheese mixture on top of the crumbs. Bake for 20 minutes; remove from oven.

Combine the sour cream and sugar. Spread each cake with the mixture. Return to the oven for 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and place remaining cookie halves on top of each cheesecake, filling side down. Cool and then store in the refrigerator. Serve chilled.

I don't have a recipe for you, but considering you are making them for 8 year olds I would go with the brownie bites. :)

Terri, I think you can't go wrong with this simple idea that has saved me a zillion times, especially in situations just like you've described.

1 pkg oreos
1 pkg cream cheese, softened (8 oz)

crush the oreos and mix with the cream cheese, then form balls. I usually drizzle with melted white and semi-sweet chocolate or sometimes dip in chocolate. Other times I roll them in more crushed oreos. Let them cool in the fridge for a few hours and you're good to go.

My 12 yr old just made a batch of these. Simple addiction.

DUDE!!!!! I just came from the store..I knew there was something I was forgetting..Cream Cheese!!!!!!!!!! UGH!
I guess I'll go back tomorrow pick up the cream cheese AND a package of oreos.
Those would definately appeal to my boys..I've seen that recipe before..wonder why I never tried them?? ~smacking forehead! LOL

LOL...put those kids to work!

I picked up vanilla and regular oreos.
I told the guys to LEAVE them alone! LOL I'll make them tommorrow..and bake off some pastry "cups" to put in some puddings for mini pies.

I think that'll cover it. :o)
Thanks ladies..

some mini pumpkin pies.

Now to do the cream cheese cookie balls in two flavors.

Then maybe some chocolate brownie bites.