Chocolate Peppermint Chip Cookies

Posted on December 19, 2009 by Veronica

I absolutely do not have time to be posting this, but I absolutely can not wait another year to do it so I’m squeezing it in for your benefit (don’t you feel special?), and also to participate in the Christmas recipe roundup for All Through The Year Cheer.

Every winter, these Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips make an appearance on the baking aisle by the chocolate chips. Until last year, I ignored them because I’d never seen a recipe that used them and I’m not a huge mint enthusiast except when it comes to Girl Scout Thin Mints. After last Christmas, however, they were deeply discounted and, being unable to resist a bargain, I decided to buy a few bags and come up with some recipes for them.

*Note: despite the name, the baking chips are not crunchy like peppermint candy, but more like the consistency of white chocolate chips with tiny little pieces of peppermint candy in them…thus the “crunch” in the name.

Lucky for me, the first recipe I tried ending up tasting just like my cherished Thin Mints, except very soft and buttery with a homemade taste. The red flecks peeking through the dark chocolate gives them a festive appearance, and peppermint is probably the flavor most associated with Christmas, and it’s even better when paired with chocolate!

If you see the chips on sale after Christmas, stock up on them so you can make these cookies throughout the year. (I actually used year-old chips on this batch of cookies and they tasted perfect, so you can even stock up a year in advance in preparation for next Christmas!) They may have a festive look, but the taste is classic and can be enjoyed in any season.

Chocolate Peppermint Chip Cookies
If you can not find dark cocoa powder, regular may be substituted.

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt
1 (12-oz) bag Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugars together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, a few minut

es. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Add the vanilla and mix well. Sift in the flour, cocoa, baking soda & salt and mix just until combined. Mix in the mint & chocolate chips last.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 6 minutes (10-12 for larger cookies), or until just starting to set around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet (sitting atop a cooling rack) for sev

eral minutes before removing to the cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Once cool, store the cookies in an airtight container. If you’re making them in advance, they freeze well for months on end. My method for freezing cookies is putting them in rows inside a gallon-sized Ziploc bag and sticking them in the freezer until needed.

*You can use regular chocolate chips if you will be making larger cookies with a tablespoon like those pictured first. I usually make them small, the size of thin mints, like in the pictures below.

Recipe & photos by Veronica Miller

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Posted in Cookies and tagged chip, chocolate, Cookies, peppermint. Bookmark the permalink.

Easy Chicken & Dumplings

Posted on December 16, 2009 by Veronica

This recipe’s every ingredient is a shortcut, which makes the prep super simple and it turns out one heck of a delicious meal. Perfect for the holiday season when you’re too busy shopping, signing Christmas cards, and working 12 hour shifts at the post office (or is that just me?) to fret over dinner.

Easy Chicken & Dumplings

1 purchased rotisserie chicken*
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can full of milk
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 container of 5 biscuits

Shred the chicken and stir up with the soup, milk & vegetables in a large pot. Heat through until piping hot, then tear the biscuits into chunks and place on top. Cover and cook 15 minutes or until biscuits are cooked. Keep your heat on medium to keep the bottom from scorching since you won’t be able to stir it once the biscuits are on top.

*You can, of course, cook your own chicken (2 lbs. will do) if you have the time.

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Posted in Main Dishes and tagged chicken, dumplings, easy. Bookmark the permalink.

Chipotle Honey Roasted Peanuts

Posted on December 6, 2009 by Veronica

These sweet, salty, spicy & smoky nuts are a personal favorite of mine. I have made them many times for parties and as gifts and they are always a huge hit. I’m currently making batches to include in Christmas gift baskets because there are so many cookies & sweets being given this time of year, and something with savory notes can be a relief from the monotony.

And I should add that a friend I shared this recipe with insists that it must be tried with almonds and walnuts as well. She says, “they are just amazing!”

Chipotle Honey Roasted Peanuts

from allrecipes.com

1/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle chile powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used table salt)
1 pound skinless peanuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Stir together the sugar, chipotle powder, chili powder, and garlic powder in a small bowl; set aside.

Stir together the butter, honey, and kosher salt in a large saucepan over medium heat until the butter has melted, and the mixture is bubbly. Stir in the peanuts until well coated, then pour out into a 9×13 inch baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven until the nuts are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Stir the mixture 2 or 3 times to ensure even cooking. Once done, scrape the peanuts into a large metal bowl, and sprinkle with the spice mixture. Toss the peanuts to evenly coat with the spice mixture. Allow the peanuts to cool to room temperature, tossing every few minutes so the nuts do not stick together.

*Veronica’s notes: I use unsalted roasted peanuts, which initially caused me a bit of worry as I thought they’d be over-roasted after baking for 30 minutes, but nope, they were just perfect. I have also used salted, roasted nuts and omitted the salt from the recipe. If you’re giving them as a gift, here’s an idea on how to package it–just buy a jar or plastic container of nuts, save it, and put the nuts back in when they’re done (wait till they cool). The coating bulks their size so you’ll have plenty left over for yourself. :) Then just rip off the old label and make your own custom label. A cellophanE bag with a festive bow would make an attractive presentation as well, and you could get 2-3 bags out of each recipe, depending on the size of your bag.

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Posted in My Favorites, Snacks & Appetizers and tagged chipotle, honey roasted, peanuts. Bookmark the permalink.

Soft Caramels

Posted on December 4, 2009 by Veronica

Something has come over me. For the past two days, I haven’t been able to sleep until two in the morning and during the day, I’ve been so tired that it literally feels like my eyes are going to fall out of their sockets.

The reason? Caramels. Cararmels have turned me into a zombie woman. They’ve completely taken over my life and I can get no rest!

Two days ago I got the brilliant idea to finally give homemade caramels a go. I was pleasantly surprised at how simple they were to prepare. They weren’t, however, easy to remove from the pan, and so I stayed up until two in the morning scraping each square from the pan and wrapping them in waxed paper. And eating every other one.

I have to say, store-bought caramels can’t hold a candle to homemade. Homemade is soft, gooey, buttery, caramelly deliciousness. They are so delicious that I couldn’t resist making another batch the following day. After all, I made the first batch for gifts and now I needed more for an upcoming Christmas party. (Not for myself…of course not.) And besides, I needed to figure out a way to keep the caramels from sticking to the pan and what better way than trial and error?

So I made a second batch, lining the pan with waxed paper and spraying it with oil. And I stayed up until two in the morning the second day in a row, scraping each piece off the waxed paper, then dipping them in chocolate (because party caramels should be pretty and irresistable).

And they were. Irresistable. I ate every other one. Again.

Obviously I also encountered a problem with photography as well. I absolutely could not stop shooting photos of these beautiful things. After shooting picture after picture, I eventually ran to the garage and got out Christmas decorations (I’ve been too busy making caramels to decorate with them yet) to use for props. All told, I took well over 100 pictures of them. I’m not even kidding. Then it took me almost an hour to narrow down the ones I wanted to keep to the myriad I’m posting here.

And now it’s nearly one in the morning, and what am I doing? Staying up so I can tell everyone about these fabulous things. Like I said, they’ve taken over my life. And I suppose I’ve happily relinquished control!

As for the problem with the caramel sticking to the pan, I now know you have to very generous with the butter. I should have consulted my friend, Teri, before I made the caramels, since I knew she makes them every year at this time. Ah well, now I have an excuse to make another batch. You know, just to see if it works.

Soft Caramels

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 pound brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk

Put all the ingredients in a large saucepan (my 3-quart was the perfect size–don’t go any smaller) and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and continue to boil, stirring constantly, for ten minutes. Set the timer as soon as it begins to bubble and take the pan off as soon as it goes off. Pour caramel into a buttered 9×13 pan and let cool completely before cutting & wrapping in squares of waxed paper.

Tips for success

*If you have a candy thermometer, it wouldn’t hurt to attach it to the pan to make sure the caramel is at 245 degrees F when you remove it from the heat. My first batch was actually at 240 when I removed it and it still turned out fine, but my second batch reached 245 in nine minutes so I removed it early and it was the same texture as the first batch.

*You can stir in a teaspoon of vanilla after you remove the pan from the heat. I did this the second time but didn’t notice an improvement in flavor. It seemed just as good without the vanilla, so I didn’t include it in the ingredient list.

*When you pour the caramel into the buttered pan, there will be some that clings to the bottom and sides. Don’t scrape this out on top of the pan of caramel like I did on my first batch. Have a small buttered bowl on hand and scrape it into that. This caramel will be harder than the other caramel, because it remained in contact with the heat longer. If you scrape it out, you will have a hard piece among the soft and when you try to cut it, the softer caramel will squish out and it won’t be pretty and perfect. This caramel is totally edible, just a little more chewy, so you can snack on it while rolling your evenly-textured caramels into waxed paper.

*On both batches, I put salted, roasted peanuts on half of the pan. The salty/sweet combo is yummy and kind of reminds me of a PayDay. And when you dip the pieces in chocolate, it’s kind of like a Snickers. Except it’s way better than either because it’s homemade! If you want to add nuts to the whole batch, you can stir them in after removing the pan from the heat. If you only want half the batch with nuts or want two or more types of nuts, dump the caramel into the pan and then sprinkle the nuts over the top. The first batch I tried putting the nuts on half of the bottom and pouring the caramel over, but the nuts got all pushed around and then tons of air bubbles kept rising up and I had to keep popping them so that the surface didn’t look all funkalicious.

*If you’d like to dip the caramels in chocolate, you can either melt chocolate almond bark, an equal amount of chocolate chips with almond bark (this makes the color darker & it tastes better while still setting up nicely) or you can melt chocolate with some shaved paraffin wax. (This makes the chocolate shiny & makes it set up really nicely. You can find it on the baking aisle.) I melted 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I think milk chocolate would be even better!) with 1/8 of a block of finely shaved paraffin in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until everything was melted and smooth and shiny. Dip the caramels with a fork, tap off the excess and slide them onto a sheet of waxed paper to set. I ground a bit of sea salt over the plain caramels while the chocolate was still wet because I like salted caramels and it did have a nice flavor. For a prettier presentation, I would use flaky sea salt (also on the baking aisle).

*I encourage you to dip at least half the caramels in chocolate. I didn’t think caramel could get any better after I made it from scratch. And then I dipped it. And dipped some more!

63 Comments

Posted in Candy, My Favorites and tagged candy, caramels, christmas, easy, food gifts, holidays, soft. Bookmark the permalink.

LAURA DON’T READ THIS BLOG!

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Veronica

When my friend, Laura, an Oreo-cookie fanatic, saw my picture of these Oreo truffles, she told me, “Please, please don’t give me the recipe. They’d be my new Rolo crack.”

Rolo Turtles (aka “Rolo crack” among certain circles) is so delicious that it is absolutely irresistable and has caused weight gain in those who were foolish enough to make it, including Laura herself (the one who gave us the big idea in the first place)!

Hence the blog title. Yes, I’m well aware that it will most likely not deter her, but I can’t be held responsible–I did my best. After all, I couldn’t deprive my other friends of this recipe for her benefit. (Sorry, Laura!)
Now, onto the truffles!

The middles of these truffles are black, soft, and taste just like an Oreo cookie. If you have a food processor, they’re a snap to prepare. In fact, they’re the easiest truffles I’ve ever dipped in chocolate, because I didn’t have to refrigerate them first (they don’t melt when dipped in warm chocolate), which means the chocolate cooled much slower and I didn’t have to keep zapping it in the microwave. None of the filling melted off into the chocolate when I dunked them, and the chocolate slid off the truffles effortlessly, making a perfect, smooth, thin coating. I really deplore dipping truffles and usually just roll them in cocoa, but if I must dip, I would love it if the job were this easy every time.

Whip up a batch and take them to your next party or package them up as a gift–I guarantee they’ll be a hit!

Oreo Truffles

1 package (1 lb. 2 oz) Oreo cookies
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
6 squares chocolate almond bark
1 square white almond bark (optional)

*It is OK to eat several of the cookies before you crush them. If you use the whole package, you will be left with over a cup of extra crushed cookies once you’re done making the truffles.

Put the cookies in the bowl of your food processor and process until very finely crushed. Measure out 3 cups of the crumbs and put them in a mixing bowl. Set the remaining crumbs aside for later. Add the cream cheese and mush it all up with your hands until it is a soft dough and is uniform in texture.

Form the mixture into balls, rolling until smooth, and place on a plate. Set a long piece of wax paper on a work surface, such as your counter.

Melt the chocolate almond bark according to package directions and dip each truffle in the chocolate with a fork. Tap the excess chocolate off and use a second fork to push the coated truffle onto the waxed paper. Sprinkle cookie crumbs onto the chocolate while it is still wet. Continue until all the truffles are coated, leaving half uncovered if you wish.

If you choose, you can melt the white almond bark and, using a fork or pastry bag, drizzle it over the truffles without crumbs on top.

Mine were OK at room temp for several days, but to be safe, I’d recommend storing them in the fridge if you aren’t going to serve them within 24 hours.

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Posted in Candy and tagged oreo, truffles. Bookmark the permalink.

Emerald Soup

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Veronica

*Updated 1/16/13: since I’m no longer in touch with the lady that gave me this recipe, I can be totally honest and tell you this was awful and please don’t make it! LOL! I blogged this on MySpace before I cared about the quality of recipes I shared (for the record, I only blog the best ones now) and transferred it here when I started my blog. I can’t bear to delete it so I just want to warn you that you shouldn’t make it!*

With both Thanksgiving dinners (we have one for each side of our family) and all the leftovers out of the way, I’m a little tired of heavy foods and was craving something light and healthy. Since Dennis is out of town for the week, I can cook whatever I want (“whee” for that but “boo” to him being gone) and I immediately thought of this soup, whose title and ingredients had caught my attention when my friend, Rhonda, first posted it on her MySpace blog.

It is creamy & flavorful and I love the delightful color. And the best part is that it’s so healthy that I felt totally justified in pairing it with a light & airy sweet dinner roll (or three)….slathered with butter. :)

Emerald Soup

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 TBSP. butter
1 TBSP. olive oil
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth*
2 cups packed fresh spinach leaves or half of a 10 oz pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed
2 medium potatoes. peeled and chopped (2 cups)
2 cups broccoli florets or one 10 oz. pkg. frozen cut broccoli, thawed and well-drained
1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1 tsp. dry mustard
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash of bottled hot pepper sauce (optional)
1 & 1/2 cups milk (I used 3/4 cup)

*Chicken broth will work but I stuck with vegetable to keep this dish vegetarian.

In a saucepan, cook onion and garlic in hot butter and olive oil over medium-high heat 4 to 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in broth, spinach, potatoes, broccoli, oregano, mustard, salt, nutmeg and hot pepper sauce. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover; simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are very tender. Cool slightly.

Use an immersion blender to blend the soup, or transfer it to a blender or food-processor bowl. Cover; blend or process until smooth. (Warning: leave the middle part out of the blender so steam can escape, otherwise the lid will explode off once you start blending and boiling hot soup will go everywhere!) Return to pan. Stir in milk. Heat through. Serve with croutons, if desired.

Makes 4 side dish servings (or you could double up to make it a meal in itself).

Recipe courtesy of Rhonda C.

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Posted in Lighter Fare, Soups & Stews, Vegetarian & Vegan and tagged brocolli, emerald soup, spinach. Bookmark the permalink.

Triple Chocolate Caramel Corn

Posted on December 2, 2009 by Veronica

In the middle of packing Dennis up to go on a business trip this last Saturday, I realized I’d forgotten a friend’s birthday and had to come up with something quick to give her when I saw her at church the next day.

This is what I made, and between me and Dennis shoving handfuls in our mouths while it cooled, she’s darn lucky she got any of it!

Triple Chocolate Caramel Corn

Slightly Adapted from Red’s Ultimate Chocolate Caramel Popcorn

½ cup popcorn kernels, popped (I use an air popper)
1 (12-oz) container salted mixed nuts
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (3 oz) dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup (3 oz) milk chocolate chips
½ cup (3 oz) white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Divide the popcorn between two very large bowls and pour half the mixed nuts over each bowl of popcorn.

Stirring constantly, bring butter, brown sugar, salt & corn syrup to a boil over medium heat. As soon as it starts to bubble around the edges, set the timer for five minutes and continue stirring while it boils. After five minutes, remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Mixture will get foamy.

Pour half over each bowl of popcorn and stir it all up, working quickly before the caramel starts to harden. If you have someone to stir the second bowl, that helps but is not necessary. Stir well to get the popcorn and nuts evenly coated.

Place in large roaster pan and stir again, then and bake for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

While it is baking, cover two cookie sheets with waxed paper. Once the popcorn is done, remove from oven, give it another stir, and spread in an even layer over the cookie sheets.

Melt the chocolates in three separate bowls by microwaving for 30 seconds, stirring, and continuing in intervals until it is smooth. Be careful not to overheat the chocolate or it will seize and be ruined. Drizzle each variety of chocolate evenly over the popcorn with a spoon or by pouring it in a thin stream from the bowl.

Place the cookie sheets in the fridge and Allow the chocolate to set before breaking into pieces and packaging in airtight container(s).

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Posted in Candy and tagged caramel corn, triple chocolate. Bookmark the permalink.

Baked Pasta with Spinach & Sausage

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Veronica

So much for meatless Mondays! I was so excited about trying this recipe that I totally forgot that Monday is supposed to be our meatless day. I wonder how hard it will be to convince Dennis that this means two meatless days next week to make up for it?

We both really enjoyed this and it’s fairly simple. I liked it so much, in fact, I’m thinking about trying it with mushrooms in place of the meat next Monday!

Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage

from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pound rigatoni (I used whole wheat rotini)
10 ounces frozen baby spinach, thawed and drained well (I used a pound)
12 ounces precooked smoked chicken (or turkey) sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick (I used 3 links of spicy Italian sausage, cooked on the grill)
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, 4 ounces cut into 1/2-inch cubes and 4 ounces shredded
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic. Cook for another minute.

Stir in tomatoes, oregano and basil; simmer for 8-10 minutes. Add cream; cook until warmed through, about 5 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pasta in the boiling water until al dente, according to package instructions. (If using fresh spinach, add it to the pot of boiling pasta right at the end and cook until wilted.) Drain, and return contents to pot.

Add tomato sauce, sausage, spinach and cubed mozzarella to the pot; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Scoop pasta into lightly greased 9X13-inch pan (or divide evenly between two 8X8-inch pans). Top with grated mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake until browned and edges are crisp, 20 to 30 minutes.

*Freezable Meal: Prepare recipe right up until the baking step and then cover with a double layer of aluminum foil. Freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days. To bake, increase baking time to 1 to 1 1/4 hours. If baking from frozen, bake covered for 1 hour and 15 minutes, uncover and bake 30 minutes longer. Makes a heaping full 9X13 pan.

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Posted in Italian, Pasta and tagged baked pasta, sausage, spinach. Bookmark the permalink.

Easy Apple Cider Doughnuts

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Veronica

Am I the only one who thinks things like apple cider & pumpkin pie are fall treats and aren’t meant to be enjoyed after Thanksgiving? Kind of like wearing white after labor day, it shouldn’t be done? I’m sort of hoping I am the only one who thinks this way, because otherwise this wonderful recipe won’t be tried in time and will be long forgotten when fall rolls around next year.

If you have the ingredients on hand, I urge you to make these before the official fall eating season has turned to Christmas eating (for me, that means the apple cider and pumpkin are replaced by egg nog and chocolate…lots of chocolate). They are simple so you could even serve them on Thanksgiving morning without over-taxing yourself. And the sugar buzz will get your long day of cooking off to a nice start.

Easy Apple Cider Doughnuts

recipe courtesy of Marina C.

1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmet
1 cup apple cider
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
2 cups baking mix (such as Bisquick–I used some generic stuff)

Preheat oil in deep fryer to 375 degrees F. (I just filled a skillet half full of oil and heated it. Be sure to check the temperature with a candy thermometer.)

Beat egg, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cider and vanilla together. Add flour and baking mix.

On floured surface, knead dough several times and roll to 1/2-inch thick. Cut with donut cutter (I used a large & tiny biscuit cutter, or you could use a glass & a pop cap or use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke a hole). Drop into hot oil & cook until golden brown, turn, and cook the other side until golden brown. Keep the candy thermometer in the oil and adjust the heat on the burner as necessary to keep the temperature steady. You don’t want to let the oil get too hot or it will burn the doughnuts before they have a chance to cook in the middle. Don’t forget to cook those donut holes as well! Waste not…)

Drain on paper towels. Frost or roll in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. I mixed 1 cup sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon for the coating.

Serves 18-24

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Posted in Breakfast and tagged apple cider, doughnuts, easy. Bookmark the permalink.

How to Quickly Defrost Meat & Bring Eggs to Room Temperature

Posted on November 21, 2009 by Veronica

You’d think with the amount of time I spend in the kitchen, I’d have planned ahead for every meal and would always have my meat defrosted when it was time to cook dinner or have my eggs at room temperature when it was time to bake bread or cake.

This is rarely the case.

Since I don’t have much foresight, I’ve developed a simple method for achieving these things quickly without cooking the meat or eggs in the slightest.

I should preface the meat tip with an explanation of my aversion to microwave defrosting. Perhaps you have had better luck with it, but I’ve found that I usually end up partially cooking the meat in order to get it thawed all the way through and for some reason, cooking the meat in the microwave in defrost mode makes it taste a little funky. Am I alone in this opinion? In any case, I want to cook it with the spices/sauce/vegetables/etc. for whatever dish I’m preparing, not naked and lonely.

OK, so to quickly defrost meat, simply fill a bowl with extremely hot tap water, seal the meat in a Ziploc bag and plop it in. Change the water when it becomes tepid and feel the meat to check temperature. It usually takes 10 minutes-1/2 hour, depending on the amount and the thickness. For chicken breasts, I put each one in an individual bag rather than a large Ziploc bag because they will stick together and that slows the defrosting. I do the same with fish fillets. I haven’t yet tried this with hamburger or sausage but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.

As you may or may not know, eggs should be at room temperature when using them in bread & scratch cake recipes–the former to keep from inhibiting the yeast action (cold=bad in bread language), and the latter for better structure in the cake. You can quickly bring eggs to room temperature with the exact same method as I use for defrosting meat. Crack your eggs into a sandwich bag (putting all of them in one bag is OK), seal it, and plop it into a bowl of hot tap water. It will only take about 5 minutes or less, depending on how many eggs are in your bag. You can also put the uncracked eggs in a bowl of hot tap water, but it will take much longer to bring them to room temperature and there’s no way to tell for sure if they’re warm until you crack them. In the bag, you can feel them through the plastic.