Back on the Maple

So... it's been a couple of years since we've last posted... and we're thankful to our faithful three followers for waiting so patiently for our next blog post. We've experienced some life changes, some new adventures, some new "hellos" and some sad "goodbyes"; but the one thing that remains the same: is our friendship and our love for all things maple and butter.

We've thought things through since our last post and decided that the pseudonyms "Mr. Crumbs" and "Ms. Butters" aren't really working for us anymore. They don't let you know more than that one really likes bread and the other really likes butter. So, it's time for a change and since so much has happened over the last two years, we thought we'd start with introductions of who we really are.

Céline, a.k.a. "Ms. Butters" has a major addiction to anything sweet, but is choosey with only indulging in homemade VS. store bought. (Unless it's a nice bakery, or a really good chocolate shop, or really cheap Halloween candy, or... she just may have a sweet tooth!). Céline is also the proud mama of healthy little girl with her mama's sweet tooth (we were both really worried during Céline's pregnancy - she couldn't stomach anything sweet! Phew, glad that's over with!).

Paul, a.k.a. "Mr. Crumbs" is definitely a lover of anything bready: bread, muffins, cookies, bread! He has no problem eating store bought or homemade; anything goes.

With that over with, we can get to the important stuff: the food! As many of you (or three of you) know, Céline and I love the LCBO's food and drink magazines. And apparently Maple flavoured things, as most of the recipes we test out tend to have maple somewhere in them. And since it's the end of November our thoughts went to Christmas baking. Which, to us means COOKIES!!!

To restart our renewed blog, we're doing a double-whammy post and are testing two recipes: Peppermint Spritz Sticks and Double-Double Maple Walnut Cookies (which we then realized once we starting mixing, that we were out of walnuts... pecans it is!). 

Peppermint Spritz Sticks:

We were really hopeful for these. They were really cute and super easy to make. How can anything be bad when it looks so professional, being piped onto parchment paper with the fancy tips. Well, we were wrong. They're taste like a cookie that freshens your breath as you chew. Maybe we added too much peppermint extract, or maybe they just aren't our type of cookie. Céline was out of vegetable shortening and we improvised with lard - keeping it old school. But we're pretty sure that that wouldn't make them any better. The one thing that we like was that they weren't too sweet and this recipe could be easily modified. Paul thinks that instead of using peppermint extract; use vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom could make them a little better.

Out of five, we'd give this recipe a two. Sorry Food & Drink, recipe fail. But our second recipe, Double-Double Maple Walnut (or Pecan) Cookies turned out MUCH better.

Double-Double Maple Walnut Cookies:

We mixed these up first, as they had to chill in the fridge for an hour. Or, if you're Céline, the freezer for 20 minutes.  It does use quite a bit of maple syrup and at point one of us quoted "I'm dripping maple syrup".  We must admit, these are pretty tasty and look pretty too.  Perfect for a cookie exchange!  I give this recipe a solid 4 stars but that might be because I love the maple icing so much.  Paul also give the recipe 4 stars.   Good job redeeming yourself Food and Drink.