Cooking During Stolen Moments

Post-Holiday Catch Up

December 30, 2011 By Kate 1 Comment

We are catching our breath after a whirlwind few weeks of Christmas celebrations. We definitely had a wonderful time though and I hope that you all did too!

I know I was a little remiss in my usual posting of Christmas cookie recipes this year. You know what counts as a major fail when you are a food blogger? Packaging up cookies and candies to give away without first making sure you got pictures of each item. I was definitely frustrated when I realized that the 4 other recipes I was so excited to share were never photographed.

Aside from not being able to share those, my Christmas baking experience this year was incredible! My Frigidaire Gallery^® Range with Symmetry™ Double Oven made such a huge difference.

I loved being able to have different types of cookies baking at the same time and at different temperatures. Plus, having 4 cookie sheets going at one time really cut down on the overall time needed to get everything done. I don’t know if I could ever bake cookies again without the double ovens. I love them!

So, now 2011 is coming to a close, which personally, I can hardly believe. It’s been a fantastic year and I have a feeling 2012 will be even better! We’ve had quite a few changes, including some major changes in the kitchen and my cooking methods and habits. I’ve held off on going into details, but I plan to change all that soon.

In the meantime, I’m getting ready to put together a round-up of our favorite recipes from 2011. If there are any that you’ve tried and really loved, please let me know!

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

Full disclosure: I was provided with a brand new Frigidaire Gallery Freestanding Electric Range with Symmetry Double Ovens at no cost to me for participating in the Frigidaire Test Drive campaign. As always, all thoughts and opinions will be entirely my own.

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Coffee Bean Cookies

December 21, 2011 By Kate 3 Comments

My love of coffee is no secret and I’m sure it doesn’t need to be rehashed yet again. So, let’s just say that coffee-flavored cookies are a major win in my mind!

As much as I love the taste of these cookies, I think my favorite thing about them is what an awesome Christmas gift they make. A package of these combined with some coffee or a coffee shop gift card is a perfect gift for any coffee lover in your life. (And they’d even make a great option to leave out for Santa. After all, I’m sure the big guy could use an extra dose of caffeine on such a busy night!)

Coffee Bean Cookies

1 single-serving package Starbucks Via or 1 t. finely ground coffee
2 T. hot milk
3/4 c. butter, softened
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 c. flour

1. Combine coffee and hot milk in a small bowl or cup and stir until dissolved. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese and sugars until fluffy and well-combined, about 3-5 minutes. Add coffee/milk mixture and vanilla; beat an additional minute. Add flour and stir just until combined.

3. Roll a teaspoon of dough into an oval shape, similar to a pecan. (If dough is difficult to handle, refrigerate for about an hour until easier to work with.) Place on a cookie sheet and repeat until done. Using a bamboo skewer, chopstick or other similarly shaped utensil, press into the middle of each oval to form a coffee bean shape.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, until lightly golden brown on the bottom. Cool on a wire rack.

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Pecan & Maple Cookie Logs

December 16, 2011 By Kate Leave a Comment

Every year I have a group of Christmas cookies that are MUST makes because different members of my family count on receiving certain cookies. So when I sit down to plan out what I’ll be baking, I start with those few necessities and then add on with either completely new cookies or cookies that I haven’t made in a few years.

And every year, I end up planning to make way more cookies than what I actually accomplish. This year’s list had an ambitious 17 types of cookies. I’ve made it through 9 of those and it’s not looking too good for the remaining 8. I guess we’ll see how I’m feeling next week to see just how far I get.

These cookies have a flavor that is very similar to my favorite Maple Pecan cookies, but the texture is different. These cookies are richer and resemble a crumbly, shortbread texture. Love that! (By the way, it’s good to see that nothing changes and the my Christmas list making habits were exactly the same in 2009 as they are now, which you’ll notice if you click over to that post. That’s just funny.)

The kids were responsible for these cookies for the most part. They rolled the dough and handled the decorating. They might not look as picture-perfect as I would have wanted, but they taste even more delicious because of all that love that went into them!

Pecan & Maple Logs

For cookies:

1 1/2 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 c. maple syrup
4 c. flour
1 c. ground pecans

1. Beat the butter and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl; beat until creamy. Add eggs and syrup and beat until combined. Slowly add the flour and beat just until it is fully incorporated, being careful not to overmix. Add the pecans and again beat just until combined. If the dough is to messy to work with, you can refrigerate it for a few hours or longer.

2. Using about 1 – 1 1/2 teaspoons of dough at a time, roll into a log shape and place on a cookie sheet. Repeat until done.

3. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until lightly golden-brown on the bottom. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

For Frosting:

2 T. butter
3 T. maple syrup
1 1/4 – 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
Food coloring, if desired

1. Beat the butter and maple syrup together. Slowly add the powdered sugar while continuing to beat until the desired consistency is reached. (Less sugar for spreadable frosting, more sugar for pipe-able frosting.) Add and combine desired food coloring, if using. Decorate cookies.

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