Valentine's Mug Hugger Espresso Shortbread Cookies

I just returned from a trip to Seattle (which I hope to share some details of soon, as there was so much amazing food and beer there!), which means I didn't have much time to think about Valentine's Day until I returned yesterday and got straight to work making a heart-shaped recipe!

I know a lot of people aren't fans of the holiday and are sick of seeing heart-shaped things, but I think they're adorable, and whether you share heart cookies with your significant other, your family, friends, coworkers, or even just treat yourself, I think that making time for love, sharing, and cookies is a good thing!

I originally got the idea for "mug hugger" cookies from Red Path Sugar, and loved that you can hang a cookie on your mug!  And because my mug is usually full of (strong, black) coffee, I decided to make espresso shortbread cookies instead of sugar cookies (also because I love shortbread).  And because it's almost Valentine's Day, I had to dip them in chocolate and cover them in red and pink sprinkles, of course!  The chocolate actually helps add some sweetness to an otherwise not-so-sweet cookie, so don't skip that step!  You can skip the sprinkles if you really want, but why would you want to?!

In order to make these "mug huggers", you just have to cut a little slot in the cookie, preferably as soon as it comes out of the oven while it's still soft, then hook it onto your mug!  To be perfectly honest, these cookies might not stay on your mug too long; mine tended to fall off every few minutes as I was taking photos, which often resulted in broken cookies.  You can easily forget the mug hugger part and just make these as regular cookies if you want, which will be just as good, but if you serve someone their morning (or afternoon) coffee with one of these guys attached, you're sure to brighten their day!

Heart-Shaped Espresso Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread recipe adapted from Fine Cooking

I got around 1 dozen cookies with a 3” heart-shaped cookie cutter; I’d recommend using a 2” cutter instead, which would result in around 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

~1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Red/pink sprinkles, if desired

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (using paddle attachment) on medium speed until combined, about 1-2 minutes.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, espresso powder, and salt.  With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients on low speed, scraping the bowl frequently, until just incorporated.  Add the vanilla and mix until just incorporated again, and the dough has just started to come together.  Don’t overmix.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick.  Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out shapes, rerolling the dough until it is all used up.  I used about a 3” cookie cutter which is a bit big for a mug; I’d recommend using a smaller cookie cutter if possible.  Arrange the cookies carefully on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and refrigerate the baking sheet until dough is chilled, at least 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325°F.

Bake the cookies in preheated oven for about 18-20 minutes, until golden on bottom.  Remove from oven, and if you want to make these "mug hugger" cookies, now is the point where you would cut little slits into the cookies so they can hang on a mug.  If you do this before the cookies bake, they will puff up over the cut-out, and if you wait until they have cooled, the cookies will break when you try to cut them.  While they are still soft from the oven, use a sharp knife to cut a slit in the edge of a cookie just long and wide enough for it to fit over a mug (see pictures for an idea).  Let cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Transfer to a small container and dip the edges of each cookie in the chocolate.  Try to only dip the top half of the cookies and keep the chocolate layer thin so it won't end up overpowering the cookie.  Immediately sprinkle the chocolate covered portion with sprinkles, if using.  Set cookies back on parchment paper until chocolate is set, about 2 hours.  Then keep covered in a container.

*Note: I did try to cut some cookies into mug huggers after they had cooled; many broke, but if I cut only a tiny bit at a time and was very gentle, I could cut out a slot just big enough so the cookie could fit on a mug.  In the pictures, the cookie in front was cut out right from the oven and the cookie in behind was cut after it had cooled.

Caramel Latte Cheesecake Squares for my 2nd Blogiversary (+ a Giveaway!)

It’s my second blogiversary!  Well, technically it was yesterday, but due to a minor disaster with my planned dessert and my subsequent freak out, I’m celebrating a day late.

I spent a long time trying to choose the perfect dessert for a two year anniversary/birthday.  I wanted something cupcake-like because I feel like cupcakes are worthy of a celebration, but I had a hard time thinking of a recipe idea considering I’m actually not the biggest cupcake fan.  So when I remembered these raspberry swirl cheesecake cupcakes based on a Martha Stewart recipe I thought I’d found the perfect solution; mini cheesecakes baked in a cupcake pan – perfect!

I decided to use a chocolate crust and a cherry swirl instead of raspberry, so I went out and spent a lot of money on cream cheese (cream cheese is expensive here – almost $4.50 each if you can’t get it on sale) and cherries, and went to work making my little cheesecakes Tuesday night.

They looked beautiful coming out of the oven, but when I took them out of the fridge Wednesday morning, I discovered that they were still mushy with an almost pudding-like texture (see picture below). I’m not quite sure what went wrong, but I suspect it may have had to do with the fact that I was making these late at night and somehow got it in my head that halving a recipe for 32 cheesecakes meant I should make 12. Don’t judge!

I was so sad to not only have wasted my time and money, but that I wouldn’t have a dessert ready for my blogiversary. I considered just skipping the celebration because I’ve been super busy with school this week anyway, but I thought about it and realized that if there’s one thing that the last two years of blogging have taught me, it’s that things won’t always go as planned, but instead of giving up or getting upset, you just have to keep moving forward and things will often turn out just as well if not better (and you usually learn something along the way too).

If I gave up every time a recipe didn’t work out the first time; if I worried too much about losing readers every time I was too busy to share a post one week; if I cried every time an anonymous person left me a mean comment; if I criticized myself every time I compared myself to bigger and prettier blogs; then I would have quit a long time ago.

The truth is I love my little space I’ve built on the internet, I love having a motivation to try new things in the kitchen every week, I love the warm and friendly comments I receive from my amazing readers, and any of the failures and criticisms I’ve experienced along the way have all helped me to learn and grow.

So I picked myself up and went for a new dessert. Still cheesecake-themed, but using a recipe I know works as a base this time, and going with new flavours that I know I love - caramel and coffee!

These creamy cheesecake bars have a standard graham cracker crust, but with toffee bits melted over the crust and sprinkled on top of the cheesecake, espresso mixed into the cheesecake, and a drizzle of caramel sauce overtop, giving them a lovely caramel latte flavour.  I'm so, so glad I pushed forward and made these because they may be one of my new favourite cheesecake bars!

And what goes better with caramel latte cheesecake than a caramel latte or frappuccino – or any of your other favourite Starbucks drinks! To celebrate my blogiversary and give back to my loyal readers in a small way, I’m giving away a $30 gift card to one of my favourite places in the world, Starbucks!

I’m trying something new with this giveaway and using Rafflecopter, which many of you are likely familiar with, in an attempt to make things easier on all of us. Just use the widget below to enter and let me know if you have any problems - Canada or US entries only please.  The giveaway will close Monday July 29th, 2013, at midnight EST and I'll contact the winner soon after that, so be sure to use a valid email address/Facebook account. The e-gift card will be sent by email, so please make sure you have a working email account and access to a printer if you win!
(the rafflecopter will load immediately below this sentence; if you have a slow internet connection like the ridiculously slow one at my office today, just wait for it to appear!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks for celebrating with me and for reading this blog – I truly appreciate all of you!

Oh and by the way, it's also my twin sister Genevieve's blogiversary at Vanilla & Spice today!  If you haven't checked out her blog before (it's full of healthy vegetarian recipes), be sure to stop by and say hi!

Caramel Latte Cheesecake Squares

Adapted from Food & Drink and these cheesecake bars

Makes one 8x8 pan; 16-20 squares depending on how you slice them

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup toffee bits

For the Cheesecake:

16 oz (2 bricks) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon instant espresso

1/4 cup toffee bits

For the Caramel Sauce:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving a few inches of foil draping over the sides of the pan (which will help with removal later).

Make the crust: Whisk together the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, flour, and salt in a medium bowl.  Pour the melted butter over the mixture, and stir together with a fork until all crumbs are moistened.  Transfer the mixture into the prepared pan and press evenly to form the crust.  Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, until crust is beginning to brown.  Remove from oven then pour the 1/2 cup of toffee bits in an even layer over top, pressing down lightly. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool for about 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare cheesecake filling.  In a large bowl or bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the two sugars until well combined, about 1 minute.  Beat in eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each egg into the mixture. Beat in sour cream until just combined.  Mix the vanilla extract and instant espresso together in a small bowl, then add to cheesecake mixture and mix until combined.

Pour cheesecake mixture over cooled crust, then sprinkle 1/4 cup toffee bits evenly on top (I used a bit more to fill in some gaps).  Place in middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until edges are set but the middle jiggles slightly (as a whole) when you shake the pan.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.  Transfer to a refrigerator (I don’t cover mine) to cool completely, for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.

Meanwhile, prepare caramel sauce by adding the butter and brown sugar to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly thickened. Slowly stir in the milk and continue to simmer until thickened slightly. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.  Transfer to a small container and set aside until cheesecake has cooled to room temperature.  Drizzle caramel sauce over the cheesecake (I transferred mine to a small ziplock bag and snipped off the corner to drizzle with more accuracy) before refrigerating it (you could also do this step the next day after it has  been refrigerated).  *If you already have storebought caramel sauce at home and wish to use it instead, that would work fine too - I didn't have any so it was easier for me to just make some, which only takes about 5 minutes.

Slice cheesecake into bars.  Keep refrigerated.

Coffee Toffee Banana Bread

Has anyone else been thinking that it’s already July 12th, which means it’s almost halfway through July, which means summer is halfway over already?! I swear summer JUST started (which is practically true considering the weather we had in June), so I'm freaking out that it’s going by way too fast! I think I’ve only managed to make it to the farmer’s market once so far, I’ve hardly made any summer recipes (especially with berries – and I completely missed strawberry season somehow), I’ve only gone to the beach once, and stores are already starting to clear out their summer clothes before I’ve had the chance to look at them! I think I say this every year, but slow down, summer!

With that being said, I’ll try to make the rest of this post short so I can finish my work then make an effort to get outside for a bit this afternoon to enjoy the sunshine :) Our city has a classic car show today where all the classic cars gather in the park for display, then drive down the streets of downtown and park on the sides of the road, so when you walk downtown it feels like you’ve been transported to the 50’s.  Not the most exciting event for someone who doesn’t appreciate cars (like me), but I’m still looking forward to doing something summery!

This banana bread has a subtle coffee taste along with a subtle toffee taste that not only give it a rhyming name, but make it a little more special than regular banana bread. The original recipe included 1/2 cup of melted butter and all white flour, so to lighten it up a bit I increased the amount of banana and used 1/4 cup of olive oil instead of the butter, and replaced half the flour with whole wheat. I also used dark brown sugar instead of regular sugar, and added cinnamon and instant espresso to boost the flavour. The result is a moist banana bread with a fun flavour twist that goes perfectly with your morning coffee!

Hope you all have a great weekend and do something to enjoy summer!

Coffee Toffee Banana Bread

Adapted from LCBO’s Food and Drink Magazine, Early Summer 2012 issue

Makes one 9x5-inch loaf

Ingredients:

3 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1-1/4 cup)

1/2 cup brewed strong coffee

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon instant espresso

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons toffee bits (such as Skor or Heath bits, found in stores with the chocolate chips), divided

1/4 cup chopped banana chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with non-stick spray.

Mix banana and coffee in a small bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and instant espresso.

In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil and brown sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add the vanilla extract and the banana-coffee mixture and stir until combined.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon or a spatula until just incorporated.  Fold in 1/2 cup toffee bits. 

Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan and bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven, sprinkle the top of the loaf with the remaining toffee bits and banana chips, then return to oven for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  *Don't worry about getting all the banana chips on top of the loaf if they don't all fit; you don't want to weigh down the top of the loaf too much to make sure it bakes evenly inside.*  Let stand in pan 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely, then slice.

Caramel Latte Pancakes

Tomorrow is one of my favourite holidays of the year: Pancake Tuesday!

I don't know if other people celebrate the day (also known as Shrove Tuesday) the same way that my family does, but for my whole life, Pancake Tuesday has meant that we get to eat a giant stack of pancakes for dinner! The pancake selection in our family has grown over the years so that we now have a selection of four types of pancakes on Pancake Tuesday (plain, blueberry, chocolate chip, and either apple or banana). But because I love to experiment, I usually end up making something a little fancier and different for myself around this time of year.

This year, I decided to try something I've never tried or even heard of before: caramel latte pancakes. The idea came from these amazing looking cappuccino pancakes with mocha syrup that I recently saw on The Pastry Affair. I loved the idea of cappuccino pancakes, but since my favourite Starbucks drink is a caramel macchiato (or, in the summer time, a caramel frappuccino), I decided to try to copy the flavour of that drink with these pancakes.

I adapted the pancake recipe from The Pastry Affair by adding in some vanilla and cinnamon and increasing the sugar a bit to balance out the bitterness of the coffee. Then I decided to top the pancakes with whipped cream and an easy caramel sauce.

I was really hoping that these would turn out as good as I imagined they'd be in my head, and as you can probably tell from the pictures, they certainly did not disappoint! The pancakes had a nice coffee flavour that wasn't overwhelming, but was definitely noticeable. When the warm caramel sauce was drizzled over the whipped cream, it all melted down the sides of the pancakes so that every bite ended up with some whipped cream foam and sweet caramel sauce. It was heavenly!

These definitely reminded me of a warm caramel macchiato from Starbucks. They were so good that I made them twice over this past long weekend, though they definitely aren't the type of breakfast I would eat on a regular basis as they're not exactly a healthy way to start the day. But if you're a coffee lover and want to make something extra special to celebrate Pancake Tuesday or any other day, you've got to try these!

Update: If you're looking for more pancake recipes, I've pinned over 60 pancakes from other blogs on Pinterest, so check out my board for lots of ideas!

Caramel Latte Pancakes

Inspired by Starbucks’ caramel macchiato; Coffee pancakes adapted from The Pastry Affair; Caramel syrup adapted from Po’ Man Meals

Makes about 10 pancakes

Ingredients:

For the Pancakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1-1/2 to 2 tablespoons instant espresso or coffee (depending on how strong of a coffee flavour you’d like)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter, cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the Caramel Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For Topping:

Light whipped cream

Directions:

Make the Caramel Sauce:

Add the butter and brown sugar to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly thickened. Slowly stir in the milk and continue to simmer until thickened slightly. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Make the Pancakes:

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, coffee, cinnamon, salt, sugar) in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients (egg, milk, butter, vanilla) in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until incorporated.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly butter the pan, and once hot, add pancake batter by the 1/4 cup full (use a small spatula or spoon to spread the batter into a circle if it's too thick). Cook for a couple of minutes until bubbles start to form on the top, then flip and cook for another minute or so, until golden brown on both sides.

Assemble the Dish:

Quickly reheat caramel sauce until it is warm and pourable. Stack pancakes on a plate. Top with whipped cream and drizzle a spoonful of caramel sauce on top. Serve immediately.