Midweek Maple

Hmm that’s kinda catchy.  Maybe it should be a weekly thing.  Only problem is having delicious treats on hand that like to jump into my mouth.  Case in point: Yesterday I baked sugar cookies with maple buttercream frosting for Mr. BKL to bring to his work pot luck.  I only ate two actual cookies (and they turned out small this time…just a lil guy!) but I did my fair share of “testing” the frosting and “scraping” the bowls.  That’s the reward for all the hard work, right?  I was thinking of Angela baking her treats everyday and decided I would have to garner up a lot more self control to be a full time baker. 

Here are the cookies in question…

I know I have mentioned how much Mr. BKL loves maple flavored anything.  He choose these cookies I went along with it. I know not everyone likes maple, but you can’t win ‘em all, right?  Another “problem” I have been having lately is having an abundance of extra something when baking – this time it was the maple frosting and felt bad tossing it out.  I asked for ideas from the maple lover for what to do in this precarious situation.  His answer: “Make donuts for it.”  Ahhh yes.  Because that would be better.

For the sugar cookies:
from Made by Melissa

-1 cup butter, softened (I used salted)
-1 cup sugar
-1 large egg
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-2 3/4 cups flour
-2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 375. In a small bowl stir together the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
In mixing bowl beat butter until soft and smooth. Add in sugar and beat to combine. Add egg and vanilla and beat until just combined. Add flour mixture. Beat until just combined and dough is smooth. Turn out to floured work surface and roll to 1/3 thickness. Use cookie cutter to cut desired shapes. (I just rolled into balls – no cookie cutters this time).  Place cookies on baking sheets and bake for 6-9 minutes until beginning to brown on bottom and around edges.

For the maple buttercream:
adapted from Epicurious

-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
-4 cups powdered sugar
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/3 cup whole milk
-1 teaspoon maple extract

In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, salt, milk, and vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy.

(This turns out a little soft, and after reading the reviews next time I will cut the sugar and milk.  Or just the milk, but it may be too sweet.  If there is such a thing.)

Also to be filed in the can’t win ‘em all category…my dinner last night.  One could say that it would not be a crowd pleaser.  But I liked it, so isn’t that all that matters?  This was inspired by using ingredients that had to be used or tossed.  (And I hate throwing out good food).



In the mix:
-Amylu Andouille Chicken Sausage, Garbanzo beans, Granny Smith apple
What I did:
-cooked sausages in simmering water until tender.  Cooked chopped apples and drained beans over medium heat until apples were starting to get tender (I have done this before and honey crisp apples work much better I just had a Granny on hand this time).  While those were cooking I sliced the sausages, then added them back into the same pan and tossed to mix the flavors.

The result was a pleasantly surprising mix of flavor and texture. I only added a drizzle of agave syrup to my bowl, but it probably wasn’t needed. This was definitely one of those bowls that got inquisitive looks from my loving husband.