Bakergirl

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream.

2013-06-10T20:26:00.000-07:00

Things I have to tell you:

These are the first cupcakes I've baked since last July.

These are the first homemade vanilla cupcakes I've ever made.

These are the first vanilla cupcakes I've ever loved.

This is exactly what I imagine my wedding cake will taste like (just let a girl dream!).

More things in life need peanut butter cup centers.

Peanut butter + vanilla = dreams.

And these three words: PEANUT BUTTER BUTTERCREAM.

I've moved on from golden brown butter specks to black vanilla bean specks... because I've just decided: vanilla beans are the new brown butter.

Have you ever baked with vanilla beans before? It's such an easy way to infuse your baking with an extra rich vanilla flavor that you just can't get from teaspoons of vanilla extract... and since spontaneously ordering a handful of bourbon Madagascar vanilla beans from Beanilla last month (... because who wants to spend over $6 for one bean at the store?), I've become completely obsessed with all things vanilla.

These vanilla cupcakes are perfectly soft, light, and spiked with vanilla beans... like fat, fluffy vanilla bean-infused wedding cake cupcakes.

They almost taste like they're baked from a box mix. Except, you know... better.

Because I stuffed peanut butter cups inside!

They baked up into soft, molten chocolate-y peanut butter centers.

They were nearly baked into my favorite chocolate cupcakes... because the only thing better than peanut butter and chocolate is peanut butter, chocolate, and more chocolate, right? Who knew that white vanilla cake and peanut butter were just as much a match made in heaven as chocolate and peanut butter?

It's simple and subtle and just as rich... if not more: the vanilla cake makes the peanut butter and chocolate flavors really pop.

Do we have to bake peanut butter cups inside? Always, of course, but I baked a few without the extra shot of chocolate and peanut butter... because sometimes a simple, classy cupcake is just the way to go.

You could even put an Oreo in there... or a scoop of chocolate ganache.

Could we just bake these vanilla bean cupcakes, slice them in half, and turn them into a strawberry shortcake situation? I think you just figured out summer living.

And then, because let me just live life, I topped them with thick, rich soft serve-looking swirls of peanut butter buttercream. If you've never had peanut butter frosting, I'm 100% sure you've never lived. I'd never even imagined it until four days ago, when I stood in my tiny apartment kitchen shame-eating it off a spoon.

This frosting is almost exactly the same as my go-to vanilla buttercream recipe... except, you know, for the 1/2 cup scoop of creamy peanut butter.

Would it be wrong to be put peanut butter buttercream on top a red velvet cupcake? Because it's all I can think about today.

This is one perfect cupcake and I can't even deal.

This summer, let's get into vanilla beans, turn cupcakes into shortcakes, and fall in love with peanut butter + vanilla. Let's also eat four of these for dinner with a glass of wine... because yeah, been there/done that/just a normal day.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream

Printable Recipe

Cupcakes

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
2 egg whites
1/4 cup sour cream (or vanilla yogurt)
3/4 cup milk
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Seeds scraped from 1/2 a split vanilla bean
12-15 peanut butter cups

Peanut Butter Frosting

3/4 cups butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 - 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (or milk)
4-5 cups powdered sugar

Prep. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners and set aside.

Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Melt. Melt the butter in the microwave in a large bowl. Stir in the sugar until combined. Stir in the egg whites, sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract.

So... what do I do with this vanilla bean? Using a sharp knife, cut one vanilla bean in half length-wise, from top to butter. Set aside one half for later (store in an airtight container). Use a knife or spoon to gently scrape all the black seeds from the other half into your butter mixture (it'll look like wet black sand). Be sure to break up any clumps with your spoon or spatula.

What if I don't have vanilla beans? No big deal. You can substitute the vanilla bean with 1 teaspoon vanilla powder or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 3/4 teaspoon ground vanilla beans or 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract.

Make your cupcake batter. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until smooth and no lumps remain.

Scoop. Fill cupcake liners halfway with batter (tip: use a cookie scoop!). Place a peanut butter cup in the center of each, then place another scoop of cupcake batter over the top to cover the peanut butter cup completely.

Bake. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake tests clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frost. To make the frosting, combine softened butter, shortening, peanut butter, and vanilla extract in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth. Add in four cups of powdered sugar. Add 1/4 cup of the whipping cream, mix until combined well, then beat on high speed until fluffy. Continue adding the remaining powdered sugar and whipping cream until the frosting is the consistency you want... then frost your cupcakes!

Makes 12-15 cupcakes.

Source: Cupcake recipe adapted from The Cupcake Project. Peanut butter frosting from Love From the Oven.

Brown Butter & Everything Ever.

2013-06-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I am absolutely in love with/cannot stop talking about/am totally obsessed with brown butter. What's so special about those golden specks of butter and why bother taking the time to "brown" it?

I'll totally make you a list... because I'm in Lake Tahoe! And you just can't bake anything when you're staring at snow-covered mountains, cabins in the woods, and fruity rum drinks all day.

❤ It adds a rich, nutty hazelnut flavor (and beautiful golden specks) to your baking that'll make you instantly fall in love. I mean, in French, brown butter is known as beurre noisette... it literally means "hazelnut butter"!

❤ It's that extra something special that turns those cookies or cinnamon rolls into the best thing you've ever baked.

❤ It complements and adds depth of flavor... which is a fancy way of saying it pairs perfectly with all those flavors you love: cinnamon, oatmeal, brown sugar, caramel, chocolate, pumpkin, bananas. In my experience, brown butter is some kind of baking magic that makes those flavors pop.

❤ It's versatile. Put it everything ever! Cupcakes, cookies, frostings, cakes. Can we put it in banana bread? Yes. Drizzle it on our popcorn? Do it. Our coffee creamer? It's already a thing.

❤ The best part: it's easy. It's one extra step... that only takes about eight minutes.

I browned butter for the first time last summer... and since then I've posted fourteen recipes full of those golden specks. Brown butter for days!

I'm ready to jump into some new and exciting things this summer (summer just seems like a good time for that!)... but in the meantime, here's every brown butter recipe ever.

How to Brown Butter // ... this just seems like a good place to start. A how-to situation just for you. P.S. it's easier than you think.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies // my favorite go-to chocolate chip cookie... and the perfect base for M&M cookies.

Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Icing // Three things: this is my first (and favorite) bundt cake I ever made, it's never too early for pumpkin cake, & brown butter icing is unlike any icing ever. It also belongs in your life.

Brown butter toffee & macadamia nut chocolate chip cookies // These cookies were inspired by dreams of Hawaii and eating nothing but chocolate-and-toffee-covered macadamia nuts. Cookies inspired by real life living? It doesn't get any better than that!

Brown butter snickerdoodles // For a girl who hasn't fallen head-over-heels in love with snickerdoodles yet, let me just tell you: these are the best cookies I have ever made. They taste like hazelnuts and cinnamon rolls and rich, sugary snickerdoodles, all with crispy edges and buttery soft centers. It's true love.

Brown butter berry cheesecake muffins // Cakey brown butter vanilla muffins + fresh raspberries and blueberries + a scoop of cheesecake + brown sugar-cinnamon streusel = all things that belong in your life.

Brown butter white chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies // The most irresistable oatmeal cookies I have ever tasted. Sprinkled with sugar and sea salt, bursting with that dark brown sugar and brown butter flavor, and studded with huge chunks of rich white chocolate... no chocolate chips or raisins here!

Brown butter oatmeal M&M cookies // It's summertime. Let's bake colorful cookies with ice cream scoops.

Brown butter-peanut butter truffle chocolate chip cookies // These were one of the first brown butter cookies I ever made... and to be honest, brown butter doesn't really add anything extra or rich to the flavor of peanut butter. It's a nutty flavor on nutty butter situation. But the swirls of peanut butter truffle in these cookies? I can't even deal/I would put it in everything if I could.

Pretzel-crusted brown butter bourbon blondies // Boozy blondies full of chocolate, white chocolate, bourbon, and brown butter... all baked onto a sugary pretzel crust. Just look at that cookie math!

Brown butter, brown sugar chocolate chip shortcakes // Fat cakey shortcakes studded with mini chocolate chips, sprinkled with brown sugar, and baked with brown butter. Strawberries + whipped cream totally optional.

Buttermilk banana bundt cake with brown butter icing // The best thing about bundt cakes? You can totally pass them off as a breakfast thing. The best about this bundt cake? The brown butter icing. It pairs perfectly with the soft buttermilk banana cake. You have to try it.

Brown butter oatmeal s'mores cookie cups with graham cracker frosting // The only thing better than brown butter and oatmeal is brown butter and oatmeal with s'mores sprinkled on top.

Brown butter bourbon chocolate chip cookies // Three things I love about these chocolate chip cookies: the brown butter, the bourbon, and the giants discs of baking chocolate. This is one unforgettable chocolate chip cookie.

May Obsessions.

2013-05-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

Making homemade cinnamon rolls with my dad.

Every trip home always results in baking some new buttery, sugary carb with my dad, whether it's pink-glazed old-fashioned cake doughnuts or homemade banana monkey bread muffins. This time, it was giant cinnamon rolls made from homemade yeasty dough with specks of nutmeg wrapped around a ribbon of butter, sugar, and cinnamon. I mean... does it get better than that?

Just look at how thick and fluffy they are!

Breaking teaspoons.

Maybe this week I dropped my favorite heart-shaped teaspoon down the sink... and then accidently turned on the garbage disposal. Maybe pink plastic shrapnel flew everywhere. Maybe I blamed it on my boyfriend. With me? Totally possible.

Maybe I made it up to myself by ordering a new set of teaspoons... and these colorful flower-shaped teaspoons + an adorable new coffee cup I'm absolutely obsessed with.

The Mortal Instruments.

Between the movie coming out this summer and spending hours lost in each book, I am completely obsessed. These are the best books I've read since Harry Potter... and I'm only on the third one!

My summer Pinterest board.

Because it's here! Let's get inspired and eat s'mores.

This new canvas print I could just stare at all day.

I found this super-pink print at Target and it's had a permanent spot on my desk ever since.

Counting the days down til The Originals.

A spin-off of The Vampire Diaries? In New Orleans? Totally focused on The Originals? I can't handle it. I need this/more Klaus in my life as soon as possible.

Great Gatsby fashion.

I have fallen in love. Because yes... I finally saw The Great Gatsby and am now convinced more than ever that I was born into the wrong era. The dresses! The glitter! The music! The Leo! My life is in desperate need of more sparkle and champagne.

And this shirt. No big deal.

Happy end of May! What were you into this month?

Triple Chocolate Chip Cake Batter Cookies { + Snowcaps!}.

2013-05-28T21:31:00.001-07:00

I keep telling myself I'm going to start living this life right. In the moment. Totally inspired. Doing what I love. Chasing the day with a cinnamon roll in each hand and a pocketful of sunshine.

I'm still thinking about pumpkin spice muffins, peppermint dreams, and pink heart-shaped sugar cookies. Somehow life has gotten away from me. Wasn't it just January? No way it's already summertime. Didn't I just blow out the candles on my birthday king's cake?

Real life is a whole lot less sun-filled pockets. It's work. Work like... heaps of laundry, paying our phone bills, saying I'm going to go to the gym, five AM wake-up calls, and running out of coffee creamer, always. You know. Really real life.

Oh man. I'm 26... and my life has already become a list of things I'll get to someday.

Can I tell you my favorite part of the day? It's the twenty-five minute scenic, lazy, coffee-fueled/still-waking-up drive to work... where I spend every blissful moment daydreaming up an alternate life/what I would do if I didn't have to work that day. I would spend hours lost in a book, curled up in the corner of some coffee shop with an endless fountain of sugary iced coffee. I would work out. That's real. Let's definitely do that.

I would go on a nature walk. I would buy a plane ticket to Paris.. or explore a corner of town (let there be bakeries!). I would finally see The Great Gatsby. I would I would bake cookies with cake mix and three kinds of chocolate chips. Or something sugary baked in a mini loaf pan. Maybe I'd figure out how to bake madeleines... and then dip them in chocolate because live life.

Can we cross some things off together? Let's grow and learn and adventure a little this summer.

There's so much living to be done in this world. Let's take back our lives and start living them.

And let it all start with that lavender manicure I've been daydreaming about.

And doughnuts.... there just needs to be doughnuts.

Let's stop making lists and pinboards and daydreams and just jump into it already.

Let's also jump into triple chocolate chip cookies... because these fluffy chocolate clouds are made of dreams.

Dreams, Snowcaps, and chocolate cake batter. I can't even.

Light and fluffy as chocolate cake and as chewy and rich as a triple chocolate chip cookie. They taste like a cakier version of my triple fudge Oreo crunch cookies.

Because cake mix!

For the triple chips I used white chocolate chips + Snowcaps + milk chocolate Hershey's baking melts. I used those chocolate discs to make the perfect, chocolatey layers in my brown butter bourbon chocolate chip cookies... and I am completely obsessed.

Just look at those cakey centers! I love all the sprinkles that end up in the dough. It's so festive and makes me want to celebrate... well, anything.

A tip: 1/2 cup of Snowcaps = 1 (3.1 ounce) box. Maybe if I'd known this I wouldn't have so many movie theater candy boxes lying around...

I totally would.

Live life: put Snowcaps in your cookies, see The Great Gatsby, and hold me accountable! Let's make this summer count.

Triple Chocolate Cake Batter Cookies {With Snowcaps!}

Printable Recipe

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups chocolate boxed cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Super Moist Triple Chocolate Fudge)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used Hershey's Milk Chocolate Baking Melts)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup Snowcaps candy (1 3.1 ounce box)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, chocolate cake mix, cocoa, and baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar until creamy. Mix in the eggs one at a time and the vanilla extract.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and Snowcaps.

Chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Scoop chilled dough into rounded tablespoons using a cookie scoop and place on a lightly greased or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Keep remaining dough in the refrigerator until ready to bake with. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. The centers will still appear soft, but the cookies will set as they cool.

Allow cookies to cool on baking mat for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Source: Cake batter chocolate chip cookies + triple fudge Oreo crunch cookies.

Brown Butter White Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies.

2013-05-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

Two things.

1. It's time to fall in love {again} with oatmeal cookies.

2. This is my last post involving brown butter. I have a new love... and it's coming soon.

Something about summer makes me crave oatmeal cookies. I know it's still spring, but I've already baked with marshmallow Peeps and pastel-colored chocolates so I feel like it's time we just jump right into this summer thing. I'm looking ahead to hours of True Blood, hot days in flow, short dresses, grilled pizzas, baked sugar cookie peaches, and just about as many kettlecorn dinners/strawberry margaritas as I can get away with. Starting... now.

And oatmeal cookies. Because I may have finally found the perfect one.

These are the best oatmeal cookies I have ever made because they're so unlike traditional oatmeal cookies. No flat cookies, chocolate chips, or raisins here. Just crispy edges, thick, chewy centers, that rich brown butter flavor, extra-large chunks of sweet, melty white chocolate, and a sprinkle of sugary salt.

For these cookies I shattered two Ghiradelli white chocolate baking bars into perfect, fat cookie-baking chunks. Real chunks of white chocolate are just infinitely better than vanilla-flavored chips... and so is breaking chocolate against your countertop on a particularly stressful day.

Puppies help too.

I talked about brown butter + dark brown sugar + oatmeal when I made s'mores oatmeal cookie cups... and it definitely involved the words "a meant-to-be situation." And it truly is. The nutty brown butter gives the oatmeal a deep, rich flavor... like toffee and caramel and butter and buttermilk pancakes. All together. All in your cookie.

Real quick: let's talk about sugar.

Have you ever had a salted caramel mocha from Starbucks? It's a fall thing. They sprinkle crunchy-sweet turbinado sugar and chunky bits of sea salt on top of their caramel and whipped cream. It's perfect and it's dreamy and this is that. On a cookie.

Just sprinkle it on! The salt helps balance the sweetness from the rich white chocolate and the sugar adds a light, sweet crunch to an otherwise soft, chewy cookie.

Sugar + salt. Just another simple thing that makes these cookies absolutely irresistible/something to fall in love with.

And... brown butter: it's a wrap! Now is the time for new things (and an oatmeal cookie or two). Let's make it happen.

Brown Butter White Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

Printable Recipe

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup dark brown sugar

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

8 ounces white chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons granulated or coarse sugar + 1 tablespoon sea salt for sprinkling

Prep. Line two baking sheets with a baking mat or spray with baking spray; set aside. In a small bowl, mix together the 2 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon sea salt for sprinkling on your cookies.

Brown. First, brown the butter by melting it in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly. The butter will begin to bubble and (after about 7-8 minutes) will foam and then quickly after, turn a golden brown with amber specks (for more information on how to brown butter click here). Immediately remove from heat and pour into a small bowl. Place in the refrigerator until cool to the touch.

Mix. In a large bowl, whisk the oats, flour, baking soda and salt together.

In the bowl of a stand mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cooled brown butter and vanilla extract on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the granulated sugar and dark brown sugar and beat until combined.

Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in the eggs one at a time. Gradually add the oat mixture. Stir in the white chocolate chunks.

Bake. Scoop dough 2 tablespoons at a time onto prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar-salt mixture, then bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking. Cookies should be golden around the edges, but appear under-done in the centers (they'll set as they cool).

Remove from oven and let cookies cool 2 minutes on sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Source: Barely adapted from Shauna Sever's Salted Vanilla Chip Oatmeal Cookies, as found in her book Pure Vanilla.

Peeps Rice Krispie Treats {...or how I accidentally browned butter.}

2013-04-25T14:35:00.001-07:00

Real quick. Before I head off down the coast for a spring weekend vacation (and, let's just all be honest, to avoid packing) I need to tell you a few things.

Like how I am not ashamed to be posting a Peeps recipe twenty-five days after Easter. I'm just not.

Like how the only thing my boyfriend ever wants me to bake him is Rice Krispie treats. A bundt cake? He is just not impressed. Oh there's bourbon in these chocolate chip cookies? I mean... I love you. But could you just melt some marshmallows and cereal?

Or how between Instagram, counting marshmallows, and catching up this season of the Vampire Diaries (what is even happening with this show?!?) it's definitely and totally possible to accidentally brown butter.

Yes. It happened. It's real. I accidentally browned butter.

But honestly... I can't think of anything wrong with brown butter Rice Krispy treats. So I'm just going to own it. Like it was all on purpose.

Okay. So sometimes baking is simple. Sometimes it's not even baking at all... it's just melting bright, colorful, sugary marshmallows and stirring in crispy cereal. That could totally be a thing, right?

This is a melt, bake, and eat situation. It's the perfect way to live like it's spring, while getting ready for easy, no-oven summer baking.

A tip: I was impatient and chose not to let the Peeps get fully melty. I wanted marshmallow-y chunks of Peeps and it was fully a good decision.

I mean, what else was I going to put in these crispy bars? Bourbon? Stop it.

Another tip: one ounce of Rice Krispies cereal = one cup. So you don't have to google it in the cereal aisle. Don't be like me.

Peeps Rice Krispie Treats

Printable Recipe

3 tablespoons butter
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
35 (7 sleeves) assorted colors of Peeps (I used pink, purple, blue, & yellow)

Prep. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with baking spray.

Melt. Melt butter in a large pot over low heat. Add Peeps, keeping each different color in it's own section in the pot. Do not stir. Remove from heat once Peeps have melted (about 8-10 minutes).

Mix. Add the Rice Krispies cereal and stir to combine until well-coated. Pour into prepared baking dish and press down evenly.

Eat. Allow to cool completely, then cut into squares and serve.

Source: Serious Eats.

Brown Butter Bourbon Chocolate Chip Cookies.

2013-04-12T22:05:00.001-07:00

Alternate titles...

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER. Seriously... Put These In Your Life.

How to Bake Perfect {Bakery-Style} Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I Solemnly Swear There Is No Brown Butter In These Cookies. Except There Is.

These Are Totally Just An Excuse to Put Booze in My Cookies.

All the above/this is the only chocolate chip cookie recipe that you'll ever need. Ever.

Every chocolate chip cookie I've made has been leading up to to this moment of perfection: the brown butter from ~~every recipe ever~~ my one true love and ex-current go-to chocolate chip cookie dough, the splash of bourbon from these boozy pretzel-bottom blonde brownies, and the absolute must-add of cinnamon from my lazy-day chocolate chip cookies. Lazy day cookies are real. Because there's days when you want to brown butter... and there's days when you just want a cookie like five minutes ago.

Bakery-style: your cookie. I can't think of any other way to describe it. They're the irresistible cookies you find and fall in love with at the corner bakery. Maybe you like your cookies cakey or stuffed with Oreos or thin and crispy. That's okay. Be you.

Everyone has their own idea of what makes the perfect chocolate chip cookie... and this is mine. Perfectly-scooped-shaped, over-sized, thick and chewy, buttery-soft with just-crispy edges, and bursting with chocolate. Everything you could ever want from a chocolate chip cookie... and from life.

(Also: baking with an ice cream scoop is just a bonus.)

There's bakery-style cookies... and there's these cookies: cookies that immediately inspire you to open a bakery just so you can live life right and share these thick, fudgy, buttery, chewy, sugary-rich, chocolate chip dreams with the world.

Here's how these happened/I need a bigger baking mat.

Perfectly-scooped-shaped & over-sized: In my crazy baker's brain, I always want my cookies to look like perfect scoops of ice cream... which is why I always, always use a cookie scoop when I'm baking instead of hand-rolling my dough.

But for these, I wanted a for real, in-your-face, xxl cookie. Remember those brown butter oatmeal M&M cookies? Seriously with the brown butter! Well, I took a tip from baking those... and scooped these using an ice cream scoop.

Now that's a cookie.

Thick and chewy: It's all about the flour and sugar. Cake flour gives these cookies their thickness and baking with more brown sugar than white sugar makes them chewy for days, with just the right balance of perfectly crisp edge and super soft centers. For these, I even used part dark brown sugar and part golden brown sugar. I love baking with dark brown sugar... it gives these cookies a deep, rich flavor that pairs perfectly with the brown butter, cinnamon, and bourbon.

If you look close enough... you can see the flecks of golden brown butter. I will never not be obsessed.

Buttery-soft & crispy edges: Brown butter + chilling the dough.

Fact: I had absolutely no intention of chilling this dough. But real life happened and 48+ hours later I finally had a minute. Can a girl just get a minute to bake some cookies? I mean really.

I didn't know this. I should've... but I'm impatient, especially if chocolate chip dreams are involved. Chilling the dough gives cookies perfect crispy edges and a soft, chewy middle. So. You know. Do that.

On the P.S. Another secret? Take the cookies out of the oven when they just begin to turn golden brown around the edges. They'll look doughy and underbaked... but trust, some kind of baking magic will transform them into the perfect cookie. Don't wait until they look "done."

11 minutes was my jam with these cookies.

Bursting with chocolate: I've heard of chocolate feves before... flat, round chocolate discs that are nearly impossible to find. These baking melts just might be the next best thing.

I used Hershey's semi-sweet baking melts (although those milk chocolate melts would work just fine too). And oh my goodness. Biting into these cookies was like slicing into this zebra bundt cake: just strata of chocolate! The discs melt into layers, giving every bite more chocolate and cookie.

And sometimes... there's just molten chocolate centers.

(Oh and then because I could, I threw in a handful of fat chocolate chips. Because I mean, we're already baking with bourbon. So really there's no limits here.)

P.S. Bourbon. I wrote about baking with bourbon here. It's a situation you're going to want to find yourself in. Basically, the alcohol bakes away, leaving these cookies with a slight, dark caramel-vanilla flavor.

Bourbon. Because live life.

Also: sometimes perfect cookie stacks fall over. That's real. Just go with it.

Brown Butter Bourbon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Recipe

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/4 cup (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, browned
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (I used 1 cup light brown sugar + 1/2 cup dark brown sugar)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons bourbon
2 egg, at room temperature
10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used a 9.5 ounce bag of Hershey's semi-sweet baking melts + .5 ounces regular semi-sweet chocolate chips)

First, brown the butter by melting it in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly. The butter will begin to bubble and foam and then quickly after, turn a golden brown with amber specks in the butter (for more information on browning butter click here). Immediately remove from heat and pour browned butter into a small bowl and place in the refrigerator until cool to the touch.

In a large bowl whisk together the cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

When butter is cooled, cream together with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth and creamy. Mix in the vanilla extract, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Finally, mix in the bourbon. Because do it.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days. Don't skip this step! Because we're browning the butter (turning it into a liquid) instead of creaming it, it's necessary to chill the dough to prevent the cookies from spreading and baking up flat, thin, and crispy. Chilling is mandatory if you want thick, chewy chocolate chip cookies. (I actually chilled this dough for 3 days because real life was happening. They baked up perfectly.)

When the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat baking sheet. Scoop dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon (golfball-sized) balls (I used an ice cream scoop). Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 24 large cookies.

Source: Adapted from The Cozy Little Kitchen.

Peanut Butter Rolo Blondies w/ White Chocolate Chevron.

2013-03-29T11:51:00.003-07:00

Peanut butter blondies + pastel Easter Egg stripes. I mean... really. Could Friday get any better?

It could. Because Rolos!

So far 2013 has been about combining my favorite flavors into something else entirely... and in totally unexpected ways. Brown butter and bourbon. Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and s'mores. Oreos and white chocolate raspberry. I literally get inspired (and make it through my work day) by thinking of two things I love and dreaming up ways to smash them together.

Like peanut butter and caramel and white chocolate M&Ms.

I knew about chocolate and peanut butter. Seriously... trust. And I knew about peanut butter and marshmallows (obsessed/in love). Peanut butter and spoons is also a true thing to appreciate. But peanut butter and caramel? Get into this immediately/where have I been living!

Like oatmeal and brown butter, bourbon and chocolate, these two rich, honey-sweet flavors complement each other in an even sweeter, richer, meant-to-be flavor.

The best part about these blondies? They're a buttery, sugary-sweet blank canvas for all kinds of cookie doughs, flavors, and add-ins. Chocolate chip cookie dough, sugar cookies, all-chocolate cookies, or fudgy brownie batter mixed with chocolate chips, nuts, candy bars, crushed cookies (Thin Mints! Oreos!) M&Ms, or marshmallows. The oven's the limit.

For these, I went with a peanut butter blondie batter and Rolo candies (you could also use Hershey's caramel kisses). These peanut butter cookie bars start with a simple peanut butter cookie dough base that's pressed into a pan for quick baking. They bake up extra-thick, soft, and chewy, studded with bursting pops of bite-size chocolate caramel chunks and couldn't be any easier to throw together.

Also: let's discuss how those pops of bursting caramel could easily be miniature peanut butter cups.

Next: the chevron stripes. We're going to need some some Easter egg colors!

I used pastel-colored white chocolate (Easter seasonal) M&Ms. For these stripes (and to make sure I had enough of each color), I needed three bags.

You could also use regular M&Ms, dark chocolate M&Ms, or Reese's Pieces. Mix up the colors for the holidays! Red, white, and blue chevron stripes in July or orange, yellow, and white candy corn stripes in October are simple ways to make any cookie bar instantly impressive. Or look like an Easter egg.

First things first: get organized. Separate your colors. The Type-A in me loved this step a little too much.

Then gently press the M&Ms (with the "m" facing down) into the cookie dough in a chevron stripe. You can use a knife to trace stripes into the cookie dough to guide you, but we're just making blondies here! It doesn't have to be perfect.

It all starts with three triangles. Easy. We're doing this.

Keep adding triangles facing in alternate directions...

Take your time. Totally stop to eat some Rolos. It's a necessary thing.

And... done. Fifteen minutes later.

And that's it. They're ready to bake!

These peanut butter cookie bars stuffed with chocolate, gooey caramel, bright pops of colors, and crispy white chocolate Easter egg stripes are all I'm thinking about this Friday... and how quickly I can bake these bars again (... and what new things I can smash into them) for Easter Sunday. Trust me... after making these chevron stripes you will feel like you can do anything. Look what you did with just M&Ms! You totally just made candy art.

Happy Easter!

Peanut Butter Rolo Blondies w/ White Chocolate Chevron

Printable Recipe

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Rolo candies (whole or chopped)
White chocolate M&Ms (for these stripes, I needed 3 bags)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with baking spray and set aside.

Melt the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the creamy peanut butter until smooth and combined. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

When the peanut butter is cool to the touch, stir in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Pour into the flour mixture and stir until combined. Fold in the Rolo candies, either whole or halved (I used a combination of both... the whole Rolos had a bigger burst of caramel which I loved, but the smaller chunks made it easier to press the M&M candies on top of the dough.)

Transfer batter to prepared baking dish and spread evenly. To make the chevron design, separate your M&Ms into each color you want to use. Make sure you have enough!

Gently press M&Ms into the cookie dough ("m" side facing down) in chevron stripes (you could also trace lines in the cookie dough with the tip of a knife to help guide you). It doesn't have to be perfect!

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden and the edges are slightly browned. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Source: Cookie bars from Two Peas & Their Pod.

Brown Butter Oatmeal S'mores Cookie Cups w/ Graham Cracker Frosting.

2013-03-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

These cookie cups combine just about everything I love: s'mores, brown butter, swirls of frosting, crushed graham crackers, all things cupcake-shaped, bite-size marshmallows (that taste like Lucky Charms!), and all the flavors of my favorite soft, chewy, love-inspiring chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

No... really. Love-inspiring. Because this is a s'mores/cupcake twist (go with it!) on the "I Want to Marry You" cookies. You know... just one of the best cookies I've ever made. Totally not a big deal/put them in your life already!

Basically: we're combining oatmeal cookies, s'mores, and cupcakes today. We're making cookie cups!

Cookie cups = thick, chewy cookies pretending to be cupcakes. They're totally a thing.

Reasons to bake these oatmeal cookie cups immediately...

❤ Brown butter. Obviously. See the golden specks? That nutty, caramel flavor pairs perfectly with the oatmeal, cinnamon, chocolate chips, and crushed graham crackers in an unbelievable way. It's a meant-to-be situation.

❤ I know. It's hard to get excited about an oatmeal cookie when there's brownie-swirled mint chip cookies and cake batter cookies and in the world, but these aren't just oatmeal cookies baked up in a muffin pan, pretending to be lazy day cupcakes. They're also packed with s'mores flavor.

❤ Chocolate. White chocolate chips and semisweet chocolate chips, because I'm indecisive, and mini chocolate chips sprinkled on top because... well, because they're cute.

❤ Crushed graham crackers. I replaced 1/2 cup of the oatmeal that would normally go into these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with 1/2 cup of finely crushed graham crackers (in s'mores math, that's just 4 sheets of grahams). Oh man. This was such a good decision. I'd had my doubts about combining oatmeal cookies with s'mores, but not anymore.

Next stop: actually smashing an oatmeal cookie between two graham crackers, a square of chocolate, and a perfectly burnt marshmallow. Try and stop me.

❤ Still not done! Have you tried these teeny, tiny marshmallow bits yet?

They taste exactly like Lucky Charms. And these sugary, vanilla bite-size morsels are both baked into these cookies and sprinkled on top. Because... do it. They're like marshmallow sprinkles... and I love everything about those words.

❤ Nothing could be easier than pressing fat scoops of cookie dough into a muffin pan.

❤ And look how thick they bake up!

❤ Graham cracker cream cheese frosting. Sugary, cream cheese frosting + crushed graham crackers. I can't even.

Honestly, this is probably the only bulletpoint I needed on this list of reasons to bake these. Of everything that went into these cookies, as adorable as I thought the mini marshmallows and chocolate bits looked sprinkled on top, this frosting got the biggest reaction from my cookie-tester.

... and then I was told in no uncertain terms that it needed to immediately be put on top some kind of chocolate cake.

❤ And finally... two-bite cookie cupcakes are just infinitely cuter than regular scooped-and-baked cookies. Fact.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal S'mores Cookie Cups

Printable Recipe

Cookies
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, browned and cooled
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup crushed graham crackers (about 4 sheets of crackers)
1/2 cup vanilla Jet Puffed Mallow Bits
1 cup chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup semisweet chips & 1/2 cup white chocolate chips)

Graham Cracker Frosting
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups crushed finely crushed graham crackers
Mini chocolate chips & Jet Puffed Mallow Bits for sprinkling

First, brown the butter by melting it in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly until golden brown (for more information on browning butter click here). Pour browned butter into a small bowl and place in the refrigerator until cooled.

When butter is cooled, place in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together with the sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat until smooth and fully incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, oats, and crushed graham crackers. Add all at once to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until just combined.

Stir in the marshmallow bits and chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. Chill dough for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously spray a regular-sized muffin pan with baking spray. Scoop two heaping tablespoons of cookie dough into each muffin cup and gently press down (cups should be filled about 2/3 of the way).

Bake for 15 minutes, until edges begin to turn golden. The cookie centers will appear under-done and gooey, but will set as they cool. Remove from oven and immediately run a knife around the edges so they'll be easier to remove when cool. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, beat the softened butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar. Mix in the vanilla extract, then beat at high speed until the desired consistency (Too thick? Add a tablespoon at a time of milk. Not thick enough? Add 1/4 cup more of powdered sugar. Too sweet? Add a pinch more of salt.) Fold in the crushed graham crackers.

Scoop frosting into a ziploc bag, snip off the end, and pipe frosting swirls on top of the cups (I used a Wilton #1M piping tipe). Sprinkle with marshmallow bits and mini chocolate chips.

Keep cookie cups refrigerated.

Makes 16 cookie cups.

Source: Cookie cups a Bakergirl original recipe. Graham cracker frosting from The Cupcake Project.

Zebra Bundt Cake.

2013-03-06T08:43:00.002-08:00

Gingerdoodles, "I Want to Marry You" cookies, zebra bundt cake. All things I've baked now entirely because of their name.

This soft, fudgy, chocolate-swirled cake is my first attempt at baking a "zebra" cake... a stunning, intricate, black and white striped pound cake with thin, zig-zagging ribbons of vanilla and chocolate. At least... it's supposed to be thinly striped, but I have no patience with when it comes to spoonfuls of cake batter. Don't be like me.

See the three thin wavy stripes of chocolate?

Perfect zebra stripes. The rest... dense, slightly-sweet, extra-chocolatey marbled cake covered in thick chocolate ganache. Real life: things don't always turn out how you want them to, but if means marble cake slices and baking more bundts, embrace it!

My favorite part of this cake? Cutting into it. Those swirls! I mean, let's just rename this post How to Make Cake and Impress People. Honestly.

This cake is a little different than other bundt cakes I've made because it uses 3 cups of cake flour, making it bake up so thick, dense, and soft, with just the right amount of moist and tender crumb. We're making pound cake!

And it all begins with a floured bundt pan and vanilla cake batter... batter that looks like pancake batter and smells like birthday cake. Off to a good start.

2 cups of the vanilla batter is scooped into a second bowl and whisked together with cocoa, sugar, and water. It's like chocolate art!

And that's it. That's your chocolate layer.

Next, the stripes.

The stripes are made by alternately spooning chocolate and vanilla cake batter one over the other into the center of each. Start with a scoop of vanilla, then spoon a scoop of chocolate batter directly into the center of the vanilla. Allow each layer to spread a little on it's own and alternate back and forth. The best method I found was using two separate scoops: an ice cream scoop for the vanilla batter and a small cookie scoop for the chocolate batter (or a separate ice cream scoop for each).

Can I break down the mistakes I made?

The ice cream scoop creates uniform, round scoops, making the layers even. Using two scoops keeps everything separate. Trust me. See how my vanilla layers have lighter swirls of chocolate in them and the chocolate scoops have vanilla? I used one scoop... and it got real messy and real marbled real fast.

Second, I used a spoon. The three uniform zebra stripes above were made with an ice cream scoop... the giant chocolate center was made using a spoon. With a spoon you're not getting equal amounts of cake batter and it's difficult to pour it just in the center of the previous layer.

See the difference?

The cake is baked for 50-60 minutes, cooled, and then covered in thick chocolate, fudgy ganache. There's what dreams are made of... and then there's just ganache. I can't even deal.

Another baking tip: leave off the ganache, dust with powdered sugar or leave plain, and just like that... you're 100% getting away with eating cake for breakfast.

This bundt was so simple and easy to bake and a total showstopper, with just the right amount of not-too-sweet vanilla and chocolate stripes and every slice uniquely swirled. And I'm already ready for round 2 of perfecting my zebra striping.

Because yes: chocolate art. It's totally a thing.

Zebra Bundt Cake

Printable Recipe

Cake

3 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar (1/2 cup for the chocolate batter, 2 cups for the vanilla batter)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

6 tablespoons water

1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

Ganache Icing

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate

2/3 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt pan with baking spray and dust with flour.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; set aside.

In a separate medium bowl, place cocoa powder and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and whisk in the water until smooth; set aside.

Place melted butter and the rest of the sugar (2 cups) in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium high until blended, about 1 minute. Add in vanilla and beat until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Once all eggs are added, beat mixture until light and fluffy.

Turn mixer speed down to low and add the flour in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in two additions and mixing until just blended (flour, milk, flour, milk, flour).

Add 2 cups of the vanilla cake batter to the chocolate mixture and stir until blended.

Using an ice cream scoop, pour 2 scoops of vanilla batter into the bundt pan. Using a second scoop, pour a scoop of chocolate batter on top of the vanilla mixer. Allow to spread a little on it's own. Alternate between vanilla and chocolate layers until all batter is used.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until cake tests done in the center. Cool cake on wire rack for 15 minutes, then invert onto rack and allow to cool completely.

When cooled completely, make the glaze. Place chocolate and cream in a pan over low heat and stir until chocolate is melted. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes before pouring over the top of the cake.

Let glaze set, about 30 minutes, then cut and serve.

Source: Bakers Royale.

Oreo-Stuffed White Chocolate Raspberry Kiss Cookies.

2013-03-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

When I think of Valentine's Day and all its romantic flavors (and yeah, we're going there. If it makes you feel better, I still have a candy cane bark I never posted from December.), I don't think of chocolate or red velvet. I don't think of champagne or strawberries or peanut butter cookies stamped with chocolate peanut butter hearts... although yes... I totally made all three of those things happen this year.

I think of these three sugary, knee-weakening words: white chocolate raspberry.

Specifically, are we going on a halfway-fancy date, does it start with fried calamari and rose-colored wine, and will it end with a ~~shared~~ slice of with Oreo crust white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, with chocolate curls and piped swirls of whipped cream.

Rolled in sparkling sugar, stuffed with mini Oreo cookies that bake up cakey-soft for a rich, chocolatey surprise center, and topped with white chocolate raspberry Hugs... I can't even.

These fat, puffy vanilla cookies are are everything I love about Valentine's Day and combine at least four of my favorite things: pink, white chocolate raspberry, crinkly edges (obsessed.), and Oreos.

Now if we could just bake them into a cheesecake.

One of my favorite types of cookies to bake (and eat for dinner) have always been chocolate kiss cookies. There's just something about pressing chocolate candies into thick, puffy, sugar-coated dough balls right out of the oven. Cinnamon cookies, chocolate cookies, peanut butter cookies... it doesn't even matter. I will stick a kiss in it. Those doughy centers, crinkly edges, and just-melted chocolates... stop it. And 100% get in my face.

Everything about these cookies are perfection, starting with the sugary, snow-white cookie dough. The base for these cookies is absolutely irresistible... because here's a secret: it's basically vanilla buttercream. Softened butter, powdered sugar, and extra vanilla are creamed together with an egg into a thick buttercream base. Flour, baking powder, and salt are whisked in, creating a dough that tastes like frosting and bakes up into puffy vanilla sugar clouds.

Just these vanilla butter cookie bottoms alone, without the hidden Oreo surprise inside, are one of the best-tasting things I have ever baked.

And nestled inside these sugar bombs?

A chocolatey, cakey-soft mini Oreo cookie!

I've made Oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookies before but these were even better.

Because raspberry kisses!

Any chocolate-raspberry candy will work if these pink Kisses have disappeared til next February. Why are the best things seasonal? I feel like raspberry kisses could totally be a March thing. Don't you?

There's cookies baked with love and then there's cookies baked with everything you love. I think this might be both. Get into it before everything's green and chocolate-stout-flavored!

Oreo-Stuffed White Chocolate Raspberry Kiss Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/4 cup (2 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (8 ounce) package mini Oreos
Hershey Raspberry Hugs
Granulated sugar, for rolling cookies in

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or line with a Silpat baking mat. Set aside.

Unwrap Hershey kisses and place in a small bowl in the freezer until ready for use. (Make sure there's room in your freezer for a cookie sheet too.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and egg for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat an additional 1-2 minutes, until well combined.

Scoop dough using a teaspoon: place a mini Oreo cookie on top of a teaspoon of cookie dough, then another teaspoon scoop of dough on top. Press dough around the edges until Oreo is completely covered, then gently roll into a ball, roll in granulated sugar, and place on prepared baking sheet 1-inch apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and gently press a frozen Hershey kiss into the center of each cookie, pushing down slightly until edges began to crack. Immediately place cookie sheet in the freezer for 5-10 minutes or until chocolate is set. (Tip: I moved my cookie sheets from the freezer to the refrigerator after five minutes to allow the cookies to cool completely without the Kisses melting).

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Source: Adapted from Recipe Girl.

Brown Butter Berry Cheesecake Muffins.

2013-02-17T22:38:00.002-08:00

There's cake for breakfast and there's cheesecake for breakfast. This is that.

Well. Actually it's both.

Remember when I made banana monkey bread muffins? Tiny, banana bread biscuit balls, rolled in cinnamon and sugar, and drizzled with vanilla icing? Well, those were the last muffins I made... and that was in September.

Of 2012.

Like last year.

Muffins, I need to be honest. I'm just not that into you. The thing is, when I want a muffin, I want one... not twelve... and definitely not twenty-five minutes from now. It's a weakness that shows itself only when I'm waiting in line at Starbucks, being forced to stare at a shiny, bright glass case of bite-sized vanilla bean scones (obsessed and in love) and literally over-the-top blueberry muffins. At no other time of the day, week, or year do muffins ever cross my mind. Ever. Like Taylor Swift never ever.

But let's be honest: they're basically just unfancy, unfrosted cupcakes... and I think we all know how I feel about cake for breakfast. So I've bought a new muffin pan and I'm getting into this thing.

These muffins have a few extra steps to them than baking just regular blueberry muffins. There's three layers that need to be made first before you can get down to the muffin-baking business: (1) the muffin base, (2) a creamy berry cheesecake topping, and (3) a buttery cinnamon-brown sugar streusel. I know. It sounds like way too much work for blueberry muffins... but really, it's just three bowls, three spoons, and a few minutes. Brown butter, sugar, and cinnamon are creamed together, cream cheese, sugar, and berries are whisked together, and a streusel is quickly crumbled together with a fork or fingertips.

After that, it's just a scoop and bake situation. Easy.

And it all starts with these cakey-soft muffin bottoms, full of brown butter, sugar, and cinnamon.

See those brown specks? Those are full of straight love. Love, brown butter, and cinnamon.

With regular blueberry muffins, the fresh berries are folded directly into the muffin batter for optimum berry dispersal. Here, the berries are folded into a creamy cheesecake layer that's scooped right on top of the muffin base. When they bake up, they'll be bursting with pink, sweet raspberries and bright purple blueberries.

And the streusel. Just cold butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour cut together until crumbly and ~~sprinkled~~ heaped over the top of the cheesecake and berries. No big deal. Totally just another day.

Everyone knows the muffin tops are the very best part. The secret to the these tall, gorgerous, brimming-with-cheesecake muffin tops? Fill the liners right to the very top. Most muffin and cupcake recipes call for filling the cups 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full, depending on how tall they'll rise when baking, to prevent them from overflowing over the sides.

But for these, just get in there! Layer that cheesecake and crumble right to the very top for a pillowy, perfectly berry-studded look.

More cheesecake, more berries, more bursting color. Muffin math. It's real.

My favorite are the muffins bursting with fat, pink raspberries. It's a February thing.

At least until July... then it'll be a red, white, and blue thing.

Speaking of which, one of my new year's baking resolutions this year was to bake with more color. Between these bright breakfast cakes and these sprinkled-loaded cookies... 2013 success! And we're still only 49 days into this thing.

Brown Butter Berry Cheesecake Muffins

Printable Recipe

Muffins
1/3 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cheesecake Topping
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup fresh raspberries
3/4 cup fresh blueberries

Streusel
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cold butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.

To make the muffins, first brown the butter by melting in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly until golden brown (more information on how to brown butter here). Pour into a medium mixing bowl and cream together with sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in milk.

Combine flour, baking powder, and cinnamon in a small bowl and slowly add to butter mixture until just combined. Fill muffin cups one-third full.

To make the cheesecake topping, cream together the cream cheese, sugar, and egg until smooth. Gently fold in the fresh raspberries and blueberries. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls on top of the muffin.

To make the streusel, combine flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in cold butter using a fork or pastry cutter until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cupcake comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in pan, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers.

Makes 18 muffins.

Source: Barely adapted from Chef-in-Training.

What to (Last Minute) Bake This Valentine's Day...

2013-02-13T07:24:00.003-08:00

Just a few pink, be-sprinkled, and baked-with-love recipes ~~that I will frantically be baking after work tonight~~ that are perfect for sharing with someone who you love. It's not all chocolate, champagne, and heart-shaped things!

Dark chocolate raspberry banana bread- Sweet banana bread studded with dark chocolate chunks and fat, pink raspberries. Starting Valentines Day right!

"I Want to Marry You" cookies- A one-pot, one-spoon chocolate chip cookie situation stuffed full of cinnamon, oats, white chocolate chips, semisweet chocolate chips... and the promise of spontaneous declarations of love.

Mini chocolate chip cookie sandwiches- Because... pink frosting! Roll the sides of these bite-size chocolate chip cookie sandwiches in some pink and red heart sprinkles and you're in.

Pink-glazed old-fashioned cake doughnuts- Crispy, cakey doughnuts covered in pink vanilla icing and sprinkles. That's love.

Brown butter snickerdoodles- A classic recipe with an extra-special twist. These taste like no other snickerdoodle! Someone in your life deserves brown butter. Be that girlfriend.

Cookie pizzas- Because who wants a giant chocolate chip cookie? Said no boyfriend or husband ever.

Cake batter chocolate chip cookies- What better way to say I love you than festive chocolate chip cookies full of irresistable cake batter flavor and pink and red sprinkles? I can't think of one.

Buttery, soft chocolate chip M&M cookie for one- one giant cookie, a handful of pink, red, and white M&Ms, and... done.

Old-fashioned candy "milkshakes"- I made these last-minute last February 14th and they couldn't have been easier. Ice cream glass, M&Ms, adhesive glue dots (found at Michael's craftstores), pink and white taffy, a cute heart-shaped straw, and ten minutes. People will still be talking about you in July.

The Baked brownie- The only brownie I could ever love. Chewy, rich, crackly-topped, and absolutely decadent.

Chocolate waffles- The chocolate waffles that led to a legendary kiss.

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope it's full of pink sugar, sprinkles, and love!

Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies.

2013-02-06T21:08:00.001-08:00

It's my birthday month and that means... cake, sprinkles, and bourbon.

I'm celebrating these last few days of being 25 by putting cake in my cookies. Because, you know. YOLO.

Or at least... YO25O.

YOLO also means that I can show you how sometimes your camera falls off your tripod... and then your tripod falls over and shatters your favorite cake platter and cookies and sprinkles go absolutely everywhere. That's real.

Also: look at those festive cookie butts!

Cake batter is a baking trend I tried my best all of 2012 to avoid. Not because I judge it (like cake pops) or because everyone everywhere is whisking cake mix into all the things, but because I'm weak... and it makes me want to eat spoonfuls of sprinkles and frosting.

I cracked this weekend halfway through Pitch Perfect and two glasses of sparkling wine. It was one of those rare, much-needed, Friday nights where I had the apartment to myself... which usually means a combination of pajamas, popcorn dinners, wine, me, the couch, a constant stream of Vampire Diaries episodes, glittery nail polish, spontaneous dance parties (I have this new addiction), and spur of the moment, totally uninhibited, just because and just for ME baking.

This is the kind of cookie dough that should be in cookie dough ice cream. In. Love.

These festive cookies baked up thick, buttery, and extra-sweet, with just the perfect balance of chewy chocolate chip cookie and sugary funfetti cake batter flavor. And they're perfect for just about any day. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays.

No, but seriously. Valentine's Day? Pink and red sprinkle hearts. Christmas? Red, white, and green! Boyfriend's birthday? Dinosaur sprinkles. They totally exist. Trust me.

There were so much fun to bake! I'll say it: it was totally all about those sprinkles (and maybe the two glasses of wine...). It was so different baking something just because I wanted to and something that I didn't intend to end up on here.

Unfortunately for you, these cookies need to be in the world; so this is me passing on a recipe gem to you. And they have all the fixings of regular chocolate chip cookies so really you need no excuses... just a handful of white chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips, a perfectly respectable 1/2 cup of rainbow sprinkles, and 1 1/4 cups of the all-purpose flour replaced with the same amount of scoops of yellow cake mix.

Yeah. Good luck not eating that cookie dough by the spoonful.

Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups yellow (or white) boxed cake mix
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup sprinkles

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cake mix, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until creamy. Mix in the egg and vanilla until well-combined.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until just combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips and sprinkles. Be careful not to over-mix!

Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour (to prevent the cookies from spreading too much when baking).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Scoop chilled dough into rounded tablespoons using a cookie scoop and place on a lightly greased or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Keep remaining dough in the refrigerator until ready to bake with it. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes or until edges are slightly brown. The centers will still appear soft, but the cookies will set as they cool.

Allow to cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Source: Sally's Baking Addiction.

Pretzel-Crusted Brown Butter Bourbon Blondies.

2013-02-05T07:10:00.000-08:00

Here's the thing about baking with bourbon: do it.

It's that time. Not bourbon time (although: yes)... February! My birthday month! When all I want to do is bake with miniature bottles of booze and sprinkles.

First up: drunken blondies.

Which may or may not be prove to be ironic.

Baking blondie bars is my top secret, favorite way to skip the whole scoop-roll-bake-waiting game of baking cookies. I totally learned this trick from my mom. It's my way of saying I love you, I want to make things of butter and brown sugar for you...

... but I'm also way too obsessed with watching and rewatching Pitch Perfect right now to stop and roll out balls of cookie dough.

And when I say obsessed, I mean quoting Rebel-Wilson-as-often-as-possible obsessed.

I do, however, have time to spike some cookie bars with booze and brown butter, whisk in some white and dark chocolate chips, and bake it all on top of a buttery crushed pretzel crust. I'll even have a little bit of bourbon left over... which, you know, I'll probably have to taste for quality control.

I could try and convince you all I know a just one thing about bourbon... but I don't. Bourbon, whiskey, rum, anything that's not a margarita immediately in my face on a Friday night or sweet, crisp, pink wine... it's not my thing.

What is my thing? The slight caramel-vanilla flavor that a few tablespoonfuls of bourbon adds to these blondies once the alcohol (unfortunately) cooks off. Just look at that dark amber color!

Out of the oven, these bars smelled like caramelized brown sugar, rich brown butter, spicy, melted dark chocolate, and buttery pretzels. If you've never strategically snuck spoonfuls of booze into your cookie batter, you're basically looking at a so-wrong-it's-right situation. If it's your birthday month, you're looking at living-life-right situation. (Especially if you serve these upside down with a scoop of coffee ice cream and some salted caramel.)

And if you just want an excuse to buy tiny bottles of alcohol for your baking cabinet, then please accept this high-five and invitation to my birthday party.

I'll say it. I think one of us should.

Bourbon just may be the new brown butter.

Pretzel-Crusted Brown Butter Bourbon Blondies

Printable Recipe

Pretzel Crust
2 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter

Blondies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons bourbon
1 cup chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate + 1/2 cup white chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray.

Combine melted butter and crushed pretzels in a medium bowl until moistened. Press into the bottom of prepared baking sheet with the back of a spoon (or your hands) and set aside. If pretzels still seem loose, drizzle a little melted butter over the top or lightly spray with non-stick spray until the crust holds.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Next, brown your butter. Melt butter over medium heat until golden brown and nutty (more information on browning butter here). When butter is browned, remove from heat and pour into a large bowl. Stir in the brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the eggs, vanilla, and bourbon until smooth.

Gradually stir in the flour mixture, mixing until thoroughly combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and pour over prepared pretzel crust. Using the back of a spoon or a rubber spatula, spread cookie batter evenly over crust.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and the center tests clean when poked with a toothpick. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars and serving... with a scoop of coffee ice cream on top, if you feel like living dangerously.

Source: Adapted from Cheryl & Griffith Day's bourbon blondies, as found in The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook.

Buttermilk Banana Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Icing.

2013-01-27T14:04:00.000-08:00

On days where absolutely nothing goes right, I banana bread. There's just something so satisfying about smashing bananas with a fork, beating butter and sugar, and turning it all into cake. Especially a bundt cake... since everyone knows that bundt cakes are just effortlessly-baked cakes which are fancy, circular quick breads which means you just had cake for breakfast.

This sweet, dense, golden brown banana cake was everything I needed last week. If the secret to a perfectly-moist, sweet banana bread is overripe, mostly brown bananas (and a dash of cinnamon and buttermilk), then the secret to an in-your-face stressful week is an apartment that smells like warm, baked banana bread and the satisfaction of making something successful happen all on your own.

... and then pouring icing all over it.

Icing this cake was a challenge. As I was smashing bananas into this cake, I kept thinking... don't do it. Do. Not. Do. It.

Do not brown that butter. Do not even think about browning the butter. Brown butter icing? Stop it. Do something new. Do something with chocolate. Something with... peanut butter. Or rum!

Wait. You're still thinking about it. What are you... DROP THE BUTTER.

Well. There was only one way that was ever really going to go.

I fell in love with rich, nutty-sweet brown butter icing when I made a pumpkin buttermilk cake last fall and knew immediately when I pulled this cinnamon-spiced banana cake out of the oven that it would be that icing I poured all over the top of this thing.

And staring down at that just-moments-ago-glazed-cake makes me realize what a good decision that was... and also crave an iced chocolate cake doughnut like nobody's business. It does look like a giant doughnut, right? Is it just me?

Note: do not write about sugar and cake at 7:16 in the morning.

Note: make giant doughnuts happen.

Another helpful tip? Sift your powdered sugar before whisking in the vanilla and brown butter for your icing. If you're lazy/rushed and desperate for a slice of cake for dinner like me, you'll end up with these unappealing clumps in your icing. Not a big deal... just not very pretty.

This cake was nearly a chocolate chip-banana situation, but since the last two banana breads I baked were extra-sweet and full of chocolate and fresh berries (dark chocolate raspberry banana bread and white chocolate cranberry streusel banana bread), I really just wanted a banana bread so good and plain it could stand alone without all the add-ins.

Except, you know. For the mini chocolate chips I sprinkled on top.

I can't even.

Buttermilk Banana Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Icing

Printable Recipe

Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas)

Icing
1/2 cup butter (confession: I always use salted butter)
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 tablespoons milk
Mini chocolate chips for sprinkling, if desired

Preheat oven to 350°F. Flour and butter a 10-inch bundt pan (or spray with nonstick cooking spray); set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the softened butter and granulated sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated, then add the vanilla.

Using a large spoon, stir in half of the flour mixture until just incorporated. Stir in the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour mixture. Quickly fold in the mashed bananas.

Pour into prepared bundt cake pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and tests done in the center. Allow to cool 15 minutes in pan, then invert onto wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, add the powdered sugar to a medium bowl. Melt butter over medium heat and whisk until it begins to bubble up and foam. Continue to whisk until golden brown (more information on browning butter here). Remove from heat and pour into bowl of powdered sugar. Add milk and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Pour over top of cooled cake and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips, if desired.

Source: Cake barely adapted from Lick the Bowl Good, originally from Southern Cakes. Icing from Amanda's Cooking.

Brown Butter Toffee & Macadamia Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies.

2013-01-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

It's 2013... and I am still baking ~~cookies~~ absolutely everything with brown butter.

I know. Now is the time for new. It's the time to be unexpected and bold, to make changes and lists and resolutions, to really get out there and live differently and adventurously and by the seat of our pants. I think it might also be the time for salads and juicing and getting ourselves to the gym... but let's just pretend no one ever said that.

I mean, be real: let's celebrate the new year with salads! ... said absolutely no one ever.

Personally I think January is more about taking the best bits of 2012 and infusing them into our new year. Like... how I ate my weight in milk chocolate toffee-covered macadamia nuts last fall in Hawaii. How I discovered a favorite new way to bake perfect chocolate chip cookies... and fell in love with a simple fancy way to sass up basically anything: golden, nutty brown butter.

Since 2012 started with triple fudge oreo cruch cookies, I'm of the mind that 2013 should start exactly the same: with loaded-up chocolate chip cookies.

Unrelated: should I be worried that most of my new year's resolutions have to do with butter and brown sugar? Like... bake on the edge, be more adventurous, create new recipes, try new things, figure out vanilla beans, and seriously... bake a pie. No? Okay, good.

There are some new things happening here though! Things like... there are nuts in my chocolate chip cookies. This is definitely an unexpected seat-of-the-pants situation... because the only thing I ever want in my chocolate chip cookies is more chocolate.

Oh hey. There's sea salt on these cookies too. That's totally living bold.

And there's this one new shiny, cherry-red thing in my life. It's totally not a big deal except it is.

In love/obsessed/cannot even deal.

These cookies are also kind of a big deal and start with my go-to chocolate chip cookie base (and one of my personal most-made cookie recipes from last year): brown butter chocolate chunk cookies. They were an instant 2012 favorite... buttery soft, perfectly chewy, extra thick, and full of that rich, nutty brown butter flavor that made them something more than just another chocolate chip cookie.

As if "just another" chocolate chip cookie could ever be a bad thing.

And the rest is just straight cookie math. 3/4 cup of everything within arm's reach went into these cookies. Crushed milk chocolate-covered toffee pieces + dark chocolate chips + chunks of macadamia nuts + a sprinkle of sea salt = the only way to really start the new year.

And... done. We're officially in this 2013 thing. Happy new year (21 days late)!

Brown Butter Toffee & Macadamia Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

3/4 cup crushed toffee pieces (I used Heath milk chocolate toffee bits)

Coarse sea salt for sprinkling on top

Brown 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon butter (more information on browning butter here). Once butter is browned, remove from heat and pour into a bowl to cool slightly.

In a stand mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the other stick of butter with the granulated sugar until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add the slightly cooled brown butter and the brown sugar and mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix until fully incorporated.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add all at once to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips, macadamia nuts, and toffee pieces with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Scoop dough into balls using a small cookie scoop and place 2-inches apart on a lightly greased or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Allow to cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Source: Brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe from the Joy the Baker cookbook.

Top Ten Recipes of 2012.

2012-12-30T23:55:00.001-08:00

2012, you got in there and got it done.

Somehow between moving, starting a new job, un-long distancing my relationship, traveling three times, always, always unpacking, watching and re-watching The Hunger Games, and figuring out just how to be an adult, I somehow found time to brown that butter, bake a whole lot of cookies, and put chocolate chips in basically everything.

It was a good year... and you were there! I know this because all numbers point to you being just as obsessed with brown butter and chocolate as I am. What were you into this year? I'll totally tell you.

10. Cheesecake Cookie Sandwiches Two Ways: Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk & Strawberry Shortcake

This year's go-to chocolate chip cookie sandwiched around a creamy cheesecake filling + the origins of my brown butter obsession. If you haven't put that rich, nutty brown butter flavor in your chocolate chip cookies, then I may have a New Year's resolution for you.

9. Coconut Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies were inspired by my fleeting springtime obsession with mocha coconut coffee. Crunchy, toasted bites of coconut, mini chocolate chips, and a whole lot of coffee flavor.

8. Oreo-Truffle Swirled Chocolate Chip Cookies

Inside my head I'm constantly thinking a whole lot of crazy. Like ... what would Oreo cheesecake taste like swirled into a chocolate chip cookie? These cookies were brought to you by that kind of thinking.

7. Cinnamon Pumpkin Spice Kiss Blossoms

The very best thing I baked this fall and the first thing that'll come out of my oven October 1, 2013: chewy cinnamon cookies rolled in sugar and topped with a pumpkin spice Kiss.

6. No-Bake Coconut Graham Cracker Bars

These no-bake bars are a total picnic/summertime situation. A layer of graham crackers + a sugary coconut pecan pie-like filling + more graham crackers + a cream cheese frosting = the only kind of math I can handle during the summer.

5. Banana Monkey Bread Muffins

These were one of the only muffins I made during 2012... and they're the reason "make more muffins" is on my 2013 baking list. If you love banana bread and you love monkey bread, these muffins are basically the best thing ever... especially warm from the oven and freshly-glazed.

4. I Want To Marry You Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies made in a pot on the stovetop and full of oats, cinnamon, chocolate, and white chocolate chips. I may not have a ring on my finger... but these cookies got me whisked away to Monterey for a romantic weekend of ocean, sand, aquarium dates, one or four margaritas.

3. Triple Fudge Oreo Crunch Cookies

Why are we all so obsessed with Oreos? I have no idea, but this is what last January looked like to me... the first cookies I made 300 miles from home.

2. Chocolate Crinkle Kiss Cookies

I posted these cookies just one month and they're already the second most viewed recipe of 2012. Did you put these in your Christmas? These were the cookies that got me through all of December, through the Christmas shopping, late-night wrapping, and those moments I'm not even ashamed of where I needed a cookie to just plain function.

1. Cakey Lemon Bar "Brownies"

Somedays these cakey lemon bar brownies are all I can think about... and I'm so happy they're your most viewed, most favorite of 2012 too. Thick and dense as a chocolate brownie, covered in a sweet lemon icing, and baked with a crazy good/totally necessary amount of fresh lemon juice and zest? Stop it. This is a "when life gives you lemons" situation I hope 2013 finds myself in.

Did you bake any of these this year? What was your favorite? What would you like to see more of in the coming year? Inspire me!

Brownie-Swirled Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies.

2012-12-20T00:35:00.002-08:00

In the next 48 hours, I will somehow pull it all together. I will work 21 hours, finish Christmas shopping, wrap everything, bake a few last-minute gifts, clean the apartment, do laundry, figure out why there is still a jar of salted caramel in my car, pack everything within reach, and drive 300 miles home for Christmas.

Until then, moments of stress stitched together with moments of pure Christmas magic.

And fat, pillowy chocolate chip cookies stitched together with a fudgy swirl of brownie chunks and a handful of dark and mint chocolate chips.

Because buying wrapping paper is stressful.

And it all starts here.

Dark chocolate and mint chocolate chips that I bought in November with no really intention to bake with. You could easily just use semisweet/dark chocolate chips and spike the cookie dough with peppermint extract if these minty green morsels aren't available to you. December just seems like the appropriate time for spiking cookie dough.

Then these happened.

And by happened I mean... you only need 2 1/2 of these brownies. Yeah. You just made brownie-swirled mint chocolate chip cookies and you have brownies to offer up as last-minute holiday gifts. You are in there and getting it done!

Could we add a few drops of peppermint extract to the brownie mix before baking? I think that could easily become a thing too. I'd definitely leave that out for Santa with the banana bread.

Brownie-Swirled Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Nestle Dark Chocolate + Mint Morsels
2 cups prepared brownies, cut into small cubes (about 2 1/2 large brownies)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand or electric mixture, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla beating until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to butter mixture, along with chocolate chips and brownie chunks, until just combined. The dough will be extra thick!

Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough in large tablespoon-sized balls onto a greased or silpat-lined baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Source: Barely adapted from Picky Palate.

White Chocolate Cranberry Banana Streusel Bread.

2012-12-17T00:42:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when...

You want to bake something wintry and festive.

Something that doesn't require a cookie scoop.

Something cranberry and white chocolate... but in loaf form.

It's what happens when you say, "What should I bake today?" and your boyfriend always, always answers with, "... remember that banana bread?"

I do. I do and I love you.

It's what happens when you know you're about to go into the world to Christmas shop and the only way to get through it requires cake for breakfast.

Basically... this is what happens when you put Christmas in your banana bread.

Strip this banana bread down and it still ranks right up there with just-sugared buttons & bowknots and raspberry almond thumbprints. You know: things that come out of my oven that I absolutely cannot resist... because it's basically banana cake! Thick, dense, and... with a good crumb? Perfectly soft and cakey? Come on. Please don't make me say moist.

Quick! Whisk in some Christmas.

It's kind of like baking pie... only not.

Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. A handful of white chocolate. Fat, juicy cranberries bursting with a tangy-tart-sweetness.

Tangy-tart-sweetness is totally a thing.

And, at the last minute, a buttery cinnamon-brown sugar streusel. Because Merry Christmas to me!

And to you! Because this is the type of quick bread you make for someone you love. I was hesitant at first about ~~skipping cookies to bake banana bread~~ baking cranberries into banana bread. Would it be too much? Too tangy? Too sweet, with the crunchy brown sugar topping and melted chunks of white chocolate?

Bake it and believe! One slice and it was over. This just became a new Christmas/everyday/right now tradition.

... and I don't know what you're doing Christmas Eve, but I am officially that girl leaving Santa slices of banana bread and milk. If there was ever a way to do Christmas right... this would be that.

White Chocolate Cranberry Banana Streusel Bread

Printable Recipe

Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 large bananas)
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup fresh cranberries, tossed in 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Streusel
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

To make streusel, combine all ingredients in a bowl and cut together using a fork or pastry blender.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a large bowl with a wooden spoon), beat the sugar and softened butter until well-combined, about 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the banana, yogurt, and vanilla extract and beat until well-combined.

Stir in the flour mixture until just moist. Do not over-mix! Gently fold in the white chocolate chips and the cranberries tossed in flour.

Pour evenly into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with streusel, then bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.* Cool 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack, then remove to wire rack and allow to cool completely.

*If the edges start to brown before the center is fully baked, carefully place folded strips of foil around the edges of the pan to keep from burning. Occasionally I'll have to place a sheet of foil over the top as well during the last 15 minutes of baking to keep the top from over-browning/burning.

Source: Adapted from my dark chocolate raspberry banana bread, originally from Recipe Boy.

Soft, Chewy White Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Cookies.

2012-12-14T01:08:00.000-08:00

The time is now.

In two weeks time we'll be looking back on two thousand-twelve and making our New Year's resolutions. We'll be picking out glittery dresses, skyscraper heels, getting midnight kisses and/or high-fives, and putting rum and cake vodka in basically everything.

So I hear. I wouldn't know. I'll still be drinking peppermint coffee and eating gingerbread things.

I've been stress-baking my way through December, but it's time to face the facts: Christmas is in eleven days. Eleven. Days. No more I need to Christmas shop... but I think I'll make peppermint bark instead. I spent how much on Amazon? I really should make banana bread. My boyfriend and I can't decide where we'll spend Christmas... and my phone bill just came?

Sounds like a bundt cake situation to me.

Can we just stop? Put down the whisk and just chill?

My favorite Christmas moments aren't the ones I spend stressing about what needs to get done... they're the moments in between the Christmas shopping and present-wrapping. Sticking peanut butter cups in a peanut butter cookie. Driving around with my family with no purpose but hot chocolate and Christmas lights. That moment when there's a new present under the tree and I am 100% certain it's for me. Finding the perfect gift for someone. Hiding new ornaments on the tree while watching The Holiday so no one knows it's December 14th and I'm still buying cupcake and/or elephant shaped ornaments.

I think we should just skip New Years resolutions this year and make Christmas resolutions instead. Like... slow down, breathe, enjoy the season. Sing more carols. Watch The Santa Clause. Spend an afternoon hidden in a coffee shop with a half-finished good book and a stack of Christmas cards. Let's do all that instead.

Wait. Work is calling? They want what?

Nope. Gingerbread cookies with white chocolate chips. I can't even deal.

Soft, Chewy White Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 package white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening, brown sugar, egg, and molasses until smooth and creamy.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves until combined. Add to molasses mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in white chocolate chips.

Scoop onto an ungreased baking sheet at least 2 inches apart using a cookie scoop (or roll in tablespoon-sized balls) and bake for 10-11 minutes, until lightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool for at least three minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Source: Barely adapted from Hanging On by a Needle and Thread.

Cheesecake-Filled Gingerbread Bundt Cake.

2012-12-09T22:57:00.001-08:00

It's two thousand and twelve and I have just discovered the bundt pan.

I've also discovered a few other things. Like... gingerbread is a situation I like finding myself in.

Adding cheesecake is bold. Do it.

Sometimes cake for breakfast is totally a necessary thing. Is it cake if there's no buttercream though? One could argue that it's just a round, cake-y quick bread.

One could argue that every morning for a week.

I've learned that baking gingerbread will make it all about Christmas, all of it, for 40-50 minutes. It's basically baking Christmas spirit.

And on that note: let's discuss how deeply I wish I still believed in Santa.

Maybe it's being an indepedent young lady, living life with a career and a pretty permanent boyfriend and her first ever apartment. Is decorating your own Christmas tree and baking your own Christmas cookies being an adult? I think it might be.

Is reminding yourself to slow down, get off Amazon (you've ordered enough already!), keep calm, eat some gingerbread, and maybe do some laundry what being an adult is all about?

It totally is. And if it's not, don't tell me.

Maybe it's recently finding out I have to change my Christmas plans, from being with family to driving 300 miles back in the opposite direction on Christmas Eve so I can spend Christmas day working. Maybe it's that. That sudden realization definitely ended with an angry white peach margarita Saturday night.

I wish Christmas magic was still as effortless as believing in Santa. I wish that kind of wonder was something I woke up with. But I've learned that, as an adult, Christmas magic is kind of a thing you have to make for yourself. It's a real thing, don't get me wrong, but it's kind of like fitting into your jeans at the end of December. It's not going to happen unless you believe it will... and then get out there in the world and make it happen.

So I make peppermint bark at midnight. I let my boyfriend whisk me away for night of Christmas shopping, eating respectable amounts of deep-dish pizza, and seeing Rise of the Guardians... even though there's at least ~~a hundred~~ five other things I should be doing. I very stealthily fill out Christmas cards at work. I call home. Often. Most importantly... I try and put that magic into somebody else's life.

Sometimes that magic comes in the form of spicy gingerbread cake stuffed with a creamy, sugary cheesecake center. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it happens for breakfast.

Bundt cakes are way too easy. It's a mix-and-pour situation. And cheesecake centers? Stop it. I can totally make this happen. I'm not always patient and I'm not always as kind as I should be... but I can definitely can bake you a cake and tell you you look nice today.

And you do, really. You totally deserve cake.

This is real Christmas magic. Make it happen!

Cheesecake-Filled Gingerbread Bundt Cake

Printable Recipe

Filling
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg

Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup molasses
Powdered sugar, for dusting over finished cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter (or spray with a nonstick baking spray) and flour a bundt pan.

To make the filling, beat together the softened cream cheese, sugar, flour, and egg, until well combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and ginger.

In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, oil, and molasses until well combined. Whisk into larger bowl with flour mixture until just combined and no clumps of flour remain.

Pour 1/3 of the cake mixture into the bundt pan, using the a rubber spatula to evenly spray to edges.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop cheesecake mixture on top of the gingerbead mixture, being careful to keep it in the center and not spread it to the edges. You want it to be a surprise baked inside your cake!

Pour the rest of the gingerbread mixture over the cheesecake, again using a spatula to gently and evenly spread it.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Place wire rack on top of bundt pan and inverse to remove cake. Allow to cool completely.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Source: Group Recipes, originally from Taste of Home.

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles.

2012-12-05T22:21:00.000-08:00

I think if my boyfriend had to make a list of all the things he didn't like about me, "not making the same cookies twice" would be somewhere near the top. For me, baking is kind of like reading. I love it, but unless it's mind-blowing, can't-put-it-down, literary perfection... I'm not going to read it again. I'm just not.

Chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, sugar cookies, snickerdoodles... these are the classics. I'll bake them maybe once or twice a year. They're good, but nothing I crave... except, every so often, when the mood strikes and I'll set aside a rainy afternoon to revisit them.

Like Twilight. Or anything really by Nicholas Sparks.

Most of my reading falls into the "that looks new and exciting." It's how I stumbled into The Hunger Games and, my new love: anything Stephanie Plum. It's a much-needed jolt from my predictable daily life.

Like banana bread with chocolate or cookies baked in pizza pans.

Then there's the Harry Potters and the Pride and Prejudices. The books I can't stop thinking about. Whenever I close the last page of whatever I'm reading, I run right back to thinking about them. I want them in my life again as soon as possible.

Basically these brown butter snickerdoodles fall right into that category.

Snickerdoodles just might be my least favorite cookie, but these. THESE.

They're crispy thin, yet have these sugary, chewy centers I can't explain... except I just did. Between the brown butter and that sultry dark brown sugar, they taste like a cross between snickerdoodles and gingerbread.

Basically I ate every last one of these cookies like it was my job... including the ones I froze for "cookie trays." I did that and I am not ashamed. They are the Pride and Prejudice of Christmas cookies and, if I may be so bold, I'd just like to drop this truth here and now: brown butter in snickerdoodles = Mr. Darcy to every girl ever. Mind-blowing. Can't put it down. Perfect.

I think you know.

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

Printable Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt (I used regular vanilla yogurt)

For rolling cookies in: 1/2 cup granulated sugar + 3 tablespoons cinnamon

Place butter in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk constantly until butter foams up and turns golden brown (more info on browning butter here). Immediately pour into a small bowl and allow to cool for several minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

With an electric mixture, beat the cooled brown butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until smooth. Add the dry ingredients slowly until just combined.

Chill dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick baking spray. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar with 3 tablespoons cinnamon.

Roll dough into 1 1/2-tablespoon balls. Roll in cinnamon-sugar, place on baking sheet 2-inches apart, and flatten slightly.

Bake for 8-11 minutes or until cookies begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Bake longer if you like crispier cookies. Cool cookies for two minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Source: Ambitious Kitchen, featured on Tasty Kitchen.

Chocolate Crinkle Kiss Cookies.

2012-11-27T23:12:00.001-08:00

These chocolate crinkle kiss cookies are brought to you by a wish for a simple, slowed-down Christmas.

... they're also brought to you by a Black Friday shopping hangover I may or may not have and the unfortunate realization that at 2 AM while everyone is heading straight for the BluRay players and 60-inch flatscreens, I am the girl in the Christmas aisle, loading up her cart with vanilla extract, cookie cutters, and Hershey kisses.

I'm also the girl who waited 35 minutes for a peppermint frappuccino, but that's neither here nor there.

When it comes to Christmas baking, the first think I think about is thumbprint cookies. I don't care if those thumbprints are on top of peanut butter cookies, gingerbread cookies, filled with raspberry jam, or stuffed with peanut butter cups. Let's just be honest:

There's something so incredibly satisfying about stabbing chocolate candy into the center of a hot, cakey cookie.

Chocolate crinkles are to Christmas what pumpkin cupcakes are to fall: something I say I'm going to bake every year, but never do because "everyone bakes that."

You guys. I think everyone is on to something.

Also I was also really proud that I was able to stack three of these cookies. It was like baking Jenga.

These cookies truly taste like brownies... brownies rolled in powdered sugar, with crispy edges and dense, chewy, centers.

Anddddd basically you need to stick a Hershey kiss on top. Because that's what you do at Christmastime.

My favorite were the Hershey Hugs. White chocolate is a weakness I just don't understand.

The peppermint kisses were extra bright and festive.

The cherry cordial kisses tasted like cherry brownie bombs.

But stop. Can we please just talk about the mint truffle kisses?

These kisses were everything.

I urge you to invite them to spend Christmas with you.

This is a Christmas I can understand. Baking cookies that taste like brownies and sticking minty chocolate in it? Yes.

BluRay players and coffee shops at 3 AM? Seriously. Slow down.

Chocolate Crinkle Kiss Cookies

Printable Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Assorted Hershey Kisses (for these I used Hershey Hugs, mint truffle, cherry cordial, & peppermint kisses)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture, until just combined. Place plastic wrap over bowl and refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile unwrap Hershey kisses, place in a small bowl, and freeze until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray with baking spray; set aside. Place powdered sugar in a small bowl; set aside.

Scoop dough into 1/2 tablespoon balls, roll in powdered sugar, and place on baking sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes, until cookies crackle and no longer look raw (they'll start to look cakey).

Remove from oven. Immediately press a frozen kiss into each cookie, then place cookie sheet into the freezer just until chocolate is set and no longer shiny. Remove from freezer and allow to cool completely.

Source: Barely adapted from Recipe Girl.

My favorite things to bake at Christmastime...

2012-11-24T21:37:00.000-08:00

It's that time. You know... where life starts to look a little bit like this.

Baking cookies will always be my favorite part of December, more than twinkle lights, candy canes, mistletoe, and Christmas trees. For one, let's be real: they're full of butter and cinnamon and sugar and chocolate.

But more than that, it's about making memories.

Like... I'll always remember my family getting together to make cut-out sugar cookies with vanilla buttercream, how we had no idea the chocolate chip peanut meltaways would make a hundred & twenty cookies, or how the first cookies we make every year (right after Thanksgiving) are raspberry almond shortbread thumbprint cookies... because we absolutely cannot wait one more day.

How gingerdoodles came out by being way too lazy to bake two batches of cookies: my mom's favorite (gingersnaps) and my dad's favorite (snickerdoodles).

... or how everytime we make peanut butter cup treats and peanut butter blossoms I somehow end up with the task of unwrapping all the chocolate kisses and peanut butter cups.

Sometimes you just need to bake for yourself... like when these fluffernutter chocolate gobs went down.

I remember baking a plate of Mexican wedding cakes in high school for a Christmas party... and eating every last one with my best friend before class ever started.

Or delivering cookie trays to the elderly in our church a few years back, full of peanut butter reindeer cookies, cinnamon sugar cookies, salt river bars, and gingerbread cookie sandwiches and getting totally unsolicited, important life advice in return: go to college, you're much too pretty to work, and get married already.

Last Christmas my mom taught me how to make her homemade English toffee... because apparently my almond cracker candy just wasn't the same thing.

... and my dad taught me how to make brown sugar shortbread and Scottish shortbread cookie wedges because he felt they were important life skills.

Inspire me. What are you baking this holiday season?