Football Coffee Cookies

Football Cookies

February: Super Bowl

We sometimes host a small and simple Super Bowl Sunday social with our neighbors and watch the big football game at our home. Highlander grills the burgers, our neighbors bring fried chicken wings and beer and Islander prepares the snacks, sides and desserts.

Football-shaped cookies are a thematic dessert that can be easily made ahead of time so we can concentrate on getting the main foods ready and then focus on our friends and the game. Although a chocolate cookie recipe is often used to make the football cookies, we baked a fragrant and flavorful coffee cookie instead.

Support your favorite school or professional team and make football coffee cookies as tailgating treats or game day desserts during football season, especially for Super Bowl Sunday.

Recipe

(Adapted from Southern Living: Incredible Cookies)

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup butter, softened
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons coffee liqueur (Kahlua)
  • 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup white chocolate, melted

Directions

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter with the sugar. Set aside. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend well. In a cup, mix the coffee liqueur, instant coffee granules and vanilla extract.

Football Cookies

Blend coffee flavoring into the dough. Mix well and shape into a smooth ball. Refrigerate the dough for 10 minutes. Place flattened dough between two sheets of waxed paper. Roll no thicker than ¼ inches. Cut with football-shaped cookie cutter, re-rolling dough scraps as necessary.

Football Cookies

Place onto lightly greased cookie sheets about an inch apart.  Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and let stand on the baking sheet for five more minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and harden.

Football Cookies

Melt the white chocolate and place in a piping bag with a round tip. Draw the football stitching on the cooled cookies. Allow to dry completely. Yield: Approximately 14-16 football cookies.

Football Cookies

Notes

  • For an alternative to melted white chocolate, use tube icing, such as Wilton or Betty Crocker brands. Some of the ready-made frostings do not dry completely so avoid stacking the football cookies or the stitching design will stick to each other.
  • For crisper wafers, roll the dough into 1/8-inch thickness and bake for 7-10 minutes.
  • For a chocolate football cookie, use this recipe here.

Abokado at Condensada

(Avocado with Condensed Milk)

Avocado with Condensed Milk

February: National Avocado Month

Islander’s family had a big, shady avocado tree in the back yard of their Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, home. Sometimes there would be an abundance of avocados that her parents would give them away to friends and neighbors or make a super simple delicious dessert or drink with condensed milk to cool off during a hot Hawaiian day. While most people might use avocados in guacamole, salads and other savory dishes, her family (and the Filipinos, Vietnamese and Indonesians) treats avocado as a sweet ingredient (after all, it is a fruit). Although this recipe can be blended into a smoothie or shake, Islander prefers her abokado at condensada a little chunky. Try this rich and creamy tasty treat during National Avocado Month.

Recipe

(From Mommy)

Ingredients

  • 1 ripe avocado
  • ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk (may use low fat or fat free)

Directions

Peel, slice and cut up the avocado into chunks. Put in a glass bowl. Gently mix with the condensed milk. Place in a dessert dish. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to blend. Serve chilled.

Avocado with Condensed Milk

Another option is to put the avocado chunks, 1/3 – ½ cup of the condensed milk, ¾ cup of milk and a cup of ice cubes in a blender to make a smoothie. Consume abokado at condensada before the fruit turns brown.

Notes

  • Islander remembers the avocado green bowls and cups that her parents had when that color was fashionable in the 1970s!
  • Adore avocados? Then refer to our recipe posts for Guacamole and Chicken St. John.
  • Some Asian mothers would feed their underweight babies with a similar sweetened avocado dish to help fatten them up. Avocados are nutritious and rich with vitamins and minerals. 
  • Mahalo (thanks) to Pat and Phyllis S. for the avocado for this recipe.

Paprikás Csirke

(Hungarian Paprika Chicken)

Paprika Chicken

January 18: Feast Day of St. Margaret of Hungary

With a large European population in the Chicago suburbs and Northwestern Indiana, there were several interesting international grocery stores where Islander and her Ukrainian friend, Olga W., would often go together to shop for sweets, snacks and spices. Islander bought Hungarian paprika to replace the blander one in her pantry and it made a difference to the dish she cooked by boosting the flavor and color of paprika chicken (also known as chicken paprikash).

Paprika chicken (paprikás csirke) is a popular Hungarian stew. This is a nice recipe to make in observance of the feast days of Hungarian saints, beginning with St. Margaret in January. Jó étvágyat!

 Recipe

(Adapted from Squidoo)

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds of chicken (drumsticks, thighs, etc.)
  • ½ cup flour
  • ¼ cup (½ stick) butter
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
  • 1-2 cups water (enough to cover the chicken)
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • parsley, chopped (optional garnish)
  • hot cooked pasta noodles or rice

Directions

Dredge the chicken in the flour. Shake off excess flour and set aside. In a large pan, melt the butter over low heat. Raise the heat and sauté the onions until translucent. Use a slotted spoon to remove the onions from the pan. Keep warm.

Paprika Chicken

In the same pan, brown the chicken, turning to cook all sides. Return the onions to the pan. Pour water over the chicken. Sprinkle salt, pepper and paprika. Lower the heat, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for an hour or until the chicken is tender. Check seasonings and sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper to taste.

Paprika Chicken

When cooked, remove the chicken, leaving the sauce in the pan. Add the sour cream and stir constantly until smooth (do not allow to curdle). Place the thickened sauce in a plate and add the chicken on top. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve over hot cooked pasta noodles or rice.

Paprika Chicken

Notes

  • Some calendars list the feast day of St. Margaret of Hungary on January 19 and 26.