Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

[wprm-recipe-jump]

*This post contains affiliate links. Please read disclosure to learn more

I love cookies! They are so easy and simple to make and everyone loves to eat them. Especially these brown butter chocolate chip cookies.

I wanted to have some cookies to munch on the other day, some good old chocolate chip cookies. But I wanted it to be a little different than the typical cookie you normally see. So I made the butter into browned  butter to add in a little extra flavor to these brown butter chocolate chip cookies. And now they are my new favorite. They are so crispy and delicious and I don't think I could go back to any other chocolate chip cookie.

Change it up!

Have some fun with these cookies. Brown butter goes well with all kinds of flavor profiles. Instead of chocolate chips, you can use butterscotch chips. Or you can get really creative and add in toffee pieces and some pecans, with a little bit of cinnamon to make a fun spiced cookie.

Now these cookies are also on the crisp side. If you want them to be a little less crisp, then take out 1/2 a cup of sugar. Don't take out all of the sugar, just a little to get a more tender, softer cookie. 

Products I recommend.

Above are some products that I personally use and recommend for this recipe and to have for everyday use. One of my favorite things that I have many of are the BlueQ oven mitts. They aren't just really funny and a great statement piece for your kitchen, but they are great quality too! 

__________________________________________________________________________

brown butter chocolate chip cookies

these crispy chocolate chip cookies are made with brown butter for extra nutty flavor

• 3 sticks of butter (browned)
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 bag chocolate chips

1. place the butter into a small saucepan and place over medium-high heat. let the butter simmer until it starts to turn a dark brown and has a nutty aroma to it. transfer to a bowl and let cool until solid, but at room temp before using.
2. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. line a sheet pan with parchment paper. place the brown butter and the sugar into a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, and cream until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. scrape the sides of the bowl and add in the vanilla and eggs and mix until incorporated. place the flour, salt, and baking soda in another bowl and whisk together. gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. add in the chocolate chips. scoop the cookies out on the sheet pan and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

White Chocolate Cake with Cranberry Buttercream

[wprm-recipe-jump]

 *Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. To learn more, please go here.

Merry Christmas everyone! This white chocolate cranberry cake is filled with lots of white chocolate, a hint of nutmeg to give it a little spice, and a tart cranberry buttercream. The combination of flavors makes one drool worthy cake for the holiday.

Change it up!

There are a few ways that you can change up this cake. One thing you could do is that instead of adding the cooked cranberries into the buttercream, you could use it as a filling instead. Just keep the buttercream a plain vanilla and make a small dam when stacking the cake and fill it up with the cooked cranberries.

Or you can make whatever filling or buttercream you want! It's a simple white chocolate cake. No need to add in the nutmeg, that's optional. Just make your favorite buttercream and even add in a fun fruit filling! Anything really goes with white chocolate so the possibilities are endless.

Other white chocolate desserts.

White chocolate ice cream with roasted strawberries

White chocolate cut out cookies

Peppermint white chocolate cake

Products I recommend.

Above are some products that I personally use and recommend for this recipe and to have for everyday use. My absolute favorite is the BlueQ oven mitts. I have a collection of them and I love them! They are great quality and it’s nice to have a kitchen item with a sense of humor.

_____________________________________________________________________

white chocolate cake with cranberry buttercream

this white chocolate cake has a hint of nutmeg for a lovely added flavor and is lightly frosted with a tart cranberry buttercream

cake

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cup milk
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 cup white chocolate (melted)

buttercream

• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 4 oz egg whites
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 sticks unsalted butter (room temp)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

ganache

• 3 tbsp heavy cream
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips

cake

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. spray and line three 6-inch cake pans. in a small microwavable bowl, melt the white chocolate in 15 second bursts and set aside. in a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg and mix together. in another bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, vanilla, milk and orange zest. add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together until fully combined. add in the white chocolate and mix until incorporated. divide the batter evenly among the cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. let cool 10 minutes and then carefully remove from the cake pans to continue cooling. wrap in cling wrap until ready to use.

buttercream

1. in a small pot, combine the cranberries, sugar and water and bring to a small boil. cook until the cranberries are soft and the mixture starts to thicken, about 10 minutes. remove from the heat and let cool. once cool put the mixture into a food processor and puree until smooth. if there are some small chunks then don't worry about it.
2. in the bowl of an electric mixer combine the egg whites and the sugar and place over a pot of boiling water. whisk together until the sugar dissolves. once the sugar is dissolved, place on the mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whip on high until a meringue forms and the bottom of the bowl is no longer hot. slowly add in the butter and continue whipping until the mixture comes together and doesn't look curdled. add in the vanilla and cranberries and mix until just combined.

ganache

1. place both ingredients in a small microwaveable bowl and microwave for about 30-45 seconds. mix together until it comes together. spoon on top of the chilled cake to form a drip down the sides of the cake.

White Chocolate Cut Out Cookies

*This post contains affiliate links. Please read disclosure to learn more.

Somehow I seem to just find an idea pop right into my head at a random time. That's what happened with these white chocolate cut out cookies. I had gotten the idea to do something with unicorns from this cute print I found. These adorable unicorn designs on Pinterest by Heather Ross. Super cute right?

Usually I come up with the design before the flavor of one of my creations. It can be a little hard coming up with a flavor profile, so sometimes I take inspiration from the design itself. Colors or the character that is in the design can bring a lot of inspiration. When I think of unicorns, I think of sugar and sparkles. What's more sweet than white chocolate?

Cookie process

Making a cut out cookie with white chocolate was interesting. I wanted it to taste just like white chocolate but I also didn't want them to turn into a hard rock. The recipe did turn out just right and tasty, although the end result is a little crinkly so it resembles more of a classic sugar cookie. I think that with these cookies you could easily just do a drop cookie right when the batter is made; even roll the cookie in some sugar too. If you want to make them into shapes, just wrap the dough and chill it for about an hour in the fridge before rolling.

Make it fun!

I decorated these cookies with a simple buttercream (salt added to cut the sweetness) and topped it with a thin piece of fondant. If you like the idea of decorating them the same way but hate fondant, i'd suggest trying modeling chocolate instead. You can either buy modeling chocolate or use candy melts and make your own. It's super easy to find a recipe for it too!

To decorate the cookies I used my projector to paint the unicorns on them. They turned out scrumptiously cute and taste like sugar cookies to me but with a hint of white chocolate. Soft on the inside and the edges have a slight crunch to it from the white chocolate getting caramelized in the oven.

Products I recommend.

Above are some products that I personally use and recommend for this recipe and to have for everyday use. My absolute favorite is the BlueQ oven mitts. I have a collection of them and I love them! They are great quality and it’s nice to have a kitchen item with a sense of humor.

________________________________________________________________________

white chocolate cookies

these white chocolate cookies are sweet and delicious and what's more fun than cutting your cookies out into cute shapes?

• 2 sticks softened butter
• 12 oz white chocolate (melted)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1. melt the white chocolate in the microwave for 15 second bursts, stirring each time in between. in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, white chocolate, and sugar until smooth. scrape the sides of the bowl. add in the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until incorporated. add in the salt, baking powder, and the flour gradually until fully mixed. divide the dough in half and wrap in cling wrap. chill for at least an hour.
2. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. dust your counter and rolling pin with flour or powdered sugar. roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. place onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. let cool.
3. you can eat as is or decorate with some simple buttercream!

Banana Pecan Mini Loaf Cakes with Caramel

[wprm-recipe-jump]

It's almost Christmas! That means lot's of shopping for gifts and Christmas baking too. I find it hard sometimes to come up with a gift idea for some people. You never have any idea on what to get them! Why not just bake them something? I mean it is a holiday where people are making a crap ton of cookies and other baked goods; and we all know that your family isn't going to actually eat all of them. So why not give some of it as a gift? Like these caramel pecan banana mini loaf cakes?

I was in Michael's one day, which is totally a bad thing because I will literally buy everything that I don't own or need. Especially since they always have really good coupons. ALL. THE. TIME! So I was browsing and walking along the baking aisles when I came across some super cute and very reasonably priced mini loaf pans. So I had to buy them and came up with these cute banana loaf cakes to use as cute little gifts!

Change it up!

Instead of using pecans you could use walnuts or even almonds! It's also super easy to replace the spices and use your own spice mix instead too. For the glaze, whiskey is completely optional. You can completely omit the whiskey and keep it family friendly.

Other banana flavored treats!

Banana cupcakes with chocolate buttercream

Banana curry ice cream

Chunky monkey blondies

________________________________________________________________________

banana pecan mini loaf cakes

these mini loaf cakes are packed with flavor. spices, pecans, and a caramel whiskey glaze to top it off.

cake

• 2 ripe bananas (mashed)
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup caramel pieces
• 1/2 cup coconut chips (optional)

whiskey glaze

• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp whiskey

cake

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. in a small bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, vanilla, oil, and milk and mix together. in a large bowl combine the sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice and whisk together. slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry whisking together until fully incorporated. fold in the pecans, caramel pieces, and coconut chips. divide evenly among the mini loaf pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. let cool.

whiskey glaze

1. combine all of the ingredients in a small pot and place over medium high heat. bring to a boil, whisking once every minute or so until it starts to thicken. this takes about 10-15 minutes. once it thickens, take off of the heat and whisk. drizzle over the cakes while the glaze is still warm before it starts to harden and becomes unusable.