Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy holidays!

 
























































Tis the Christmas season and I'm loving it as always. Aside from being busy and a lot going on in the past month - I left my job of 7 years and started my new full time counseling career on Monday!, passed my NCE counseling exam on Friday, and have been finishing up my last semester of grad school and applying for my licensure - I am super excited for Christmas! I always love shopping for presents for my loved ones... it's the best part!

And holiday cookies, of course!

This month we're taking a break from the Secret Recipe Club and some of us are participating in a Cookie Carnival. It's all about the cookies, baby!

 








 
I was assigned to Julie's blog, The Texan New Yorker. I've never been to Texas OR New York, so cool! We sound like we have something in common because she used to be a picky eater like me but has expanded her horizons and now enjoys all kinds of foods like I do! She had some tasty cookie recipes to choose from, but brown butter. That's all I gotta say. Brown butter. 

What better way to make a classic chocolate chip cookie even tastier? Add brown butter, that's how. You already know how I like to add brown butter to desserts. So I had to go with her Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies. 

I actually did heaping tablespoons on one batch and they came out thicker and more cake-like. On the second batch I used tablespoons and flattened the dough and they came out crunchier and thinner obviously. PJ preferred the thick cake-like ones, but I also like the crunchy thin ones. Point is, they're good either way. 

 
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
from The Texan New Yorker

• 1 cup (2 sticks) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter; 1 stick needs to be at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 and 1/s teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon molasses
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 and 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

To brown the butter, melt 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon butter in a medium, silver-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Once completely melted, the butter will foam, froth, and make a crackling noise. This is the water cooking out. Swirl the pan gently and occasionally during this process. Once the water is cooked out, the butter will begin browning. This happens quickly, so do not walk away or attempt to muti-task here. Once the solids reach a rich, chestnut color, remove the butter from the heat and immediately pour it into a separate container. Scrape all the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. It should smell rich and nutty with no traces of anything burned. Let the butter cool a bit. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the remaining 1 stick softened butter with the granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the vanilla extract and molasses; beat until incorporated. Once the brown butter has cooled somewhat, pour it into the creamed butter mixture, along with the brown sugar. Cream about 2 minutes until well incorporated. Add the egg and egg yolk, and beat for 1 more minute.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture, all at once, to the butter mixture and beat on low speed just until the flour is incorporated. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375 F. Line 2 baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and space about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.

Bake cookies 12 to 14 minutes until lightly browned on the outside, but still soft and tender in the center. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes on the baking sheets. Then transfer the cookies to cooling racks. Eat warm or at room temperature.

Printable Recipe

An InLinkz Link-up

Check back next month when we'll be back to our usual Secret Recipe Club posts  :)


Linking up here. 



Peace, and bacon grease!

Irish Butter Shortbread

One more St. Patty's Day goodie for your festivities tomorrow.
























These are simple, buttery crisp shortbreads. They practically melt in your mouth. They aren't your most flavorful cookie, but I liked em! I've always been a shortbread kinda girl.

What can I say, I love butter.

























And it only takes 3 ingredients to make: Irish butter (I used Kerrygold), sugar, and flour. I found some Irish butter at my local grocery story in the fancy cheese section, but you may have to go to a specialty store... I hope not though! The 3 ingredients kinda tricked me into thinking these would be so easy to make. They weren't, for me at least. I busted out my Kitchenaid mixer for the first time ever to make the dough! Then used my new rolling pin to flatten out the dough. I think next time I'll try chilling the dough before rolling it because it kept sticking to the rolling pin, even with some flour dusting. With time, I'll learn to perfect making and rolling dough.

Someone said these should be the same color going in as coming out of the oven. Mine were definitely more golden brown, so maybe try cooking them for less than the 30 minutes and check on their doneness. I just cooked mine the whole 30 minutes, but still thought they turned out good even with their golden brown crispness. 

 























Irish Butter Shortbread
from Rachel Gaffney 

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Irish unsalted butter, softened (you can sit it out at room temp for 15 minutes)
• 1/4 cup + 1/2 tablespoon sugar, divided
• 1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. With the mixer on low, slowly add flour. Continue mixing until dough comes together to form a ball. 

Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface; roll out dough to about 1/8 or 1/4-inch thickness, dusting rolling pin with flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Using a 2 1/2-inch round fluted cutter, cut out dough. Transfer to prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart. Gather up any scraps, gently re-roll, and repeat cutting process. Take care not to overwork dough.

Transfer baking sheet to oven and bake until shortbread just begins to turn golden, about 30 minutes but you may want to check on it after 20 minutes or so. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Shortbread may be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
  
Printable Recipe

Oh, and if you're looking for a fluted cutter, I bought a biscuit cutter at Sur La Table, my favorite store in the world. Mine was more like 2.5 inches wide, and I made half the recipe. The original recipe yields about 3 dozen, so half the recipe is about 18 cookies but I got more like 15 or 16 cookies. The recipe below reflects the amount I made, but double the ingredient amounts to yield about 3 dozen if you want more.

What you guys doing for St. Patty's Day? Getting your drink on? I'm actually happy it's on a Sunday, it really concerned me to see people at the bars at 7 AM on weekdays the past couple years. Did they seriously take off work? And who drinks at 7 AM? 

That should only be allowed on weekends :)

Happy St. Patty's Day, peeps!

I'll be watching my man GEORGES ST. PIERRE whoop up on Nick Diaz tonight. That's the highlight of my weekend. OBSESSED!!!!


Peace, and bacon grease!

Eggnog Cookies with Eggnog Glaze

Ho, Ho, Ho... Merrrrrrrrry Christmas eve!

Add this cookie to your Christmas baking repertoire. 

 

















Because eggnog and cookies are so Christmasy. 

 





Eggnog Cookies with Eggnog Glaze
from Your Cup of Cake 

Eggnog Cookies

• 2 and 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg + additional for garnish
• 1 and 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup eggnog
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 egg yolks 

Eggnog Glaze

• 1 and 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons eggnog

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. 

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and 1 teaspoon nutmeg.

In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks. Beat at medium speed with mixer until smooth.

Add the flour mixture and beat at low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.

Spoon onto ungreased cookie sheets or parchment paper, making the dough balls small as they will spread when baking. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.

Bake 15-18 minutes or until the edges barely start to brown.

While cookies are in the oven, make the eggnog glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar with 3 tablespoons eggnog. Glaze cookies warm or cooled.

Printable Recipe

Go love on the special people in your lives!

Maybe make them some of these cookies.

Whatever you do, show them you love them and cherish your time together.

I know I will.

 














Merry Christmas to you all!

Peace, and bacon grease!

April's Secret Recipe Club - S'mores Cookies

It's time for another month of The Secret Recipe Club!

For April I was assigned to Jamie's blog Cookin' with Moxie. As always, there were so many wonderful recipes to choose from, but I settled on her s'mores cookies, because I had the graham crackers and marshmallows to use up from my pb&j s'mores. 

These cookies didn't disappoint. My dumb butt kept putting them back in though for longer than the recipe called for because the marshmallows weren't melting. Then the marshmallows got kinda brown so I took them out, and then the marshmallows ended up being a bit chewy and the cookies a bit crisp but still delicious. Next time I'll put them in for less, maybe the length the recipe actually calls for. I also did not turn mine half way through like Jamie did, so maybe that would also be a good suggestion.

S'mores Cookies 

ever-so-slightly adapted from Cookin' with Moxie

• 3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (I crushed some whole graham crackers up in the food processor)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• about 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 2 Hershey bars, chopped up

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugars until fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla until combined. Add the flour, graham cracker crumbs, salt, and baking soda, and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spray cookie sheets with baking spray or cover with parchment paper. Drop tablespoon-full scoops of the batter onto cookie sheets. Bake for 8 minutes and remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of Hershey bar into each cookie. Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes until fully cooked. Cool cookies on wire rack(s). Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

 
Printable Recipe

I'll definitely be back to try some more of Jamie's tasty recipes!

Linking up here.

Peace, and bacon grease!

December's Secret Recipe Club - Peanut Butter Cookies w/ Peanut Butter Buttercream

Hey yall!

I'm back for another edition of The Secret Recipe Club. Why haven't you joined yet?

For December, I was assigned Katie's delightful blog, Betcha Can't Eat Just One. Man I need to get more on my baking grind like Katie!

Several recipes were calling my name, but when I saw her Peanut Butter Buttercream, I knew it was the one. PJ and I had recently ordered a dozen cupcakes and a few of them had this delicious peanut butter buttercream, so I had to try my hand at it. I decided to make her homemade Peanut Butter Cookies too (minus the bacon) to go along with the buttercream, since I'm not too big on brownies. Genius, I know. And the cookies are supposedly gluten-free so, win-win.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Peanut Butter Buttercream

adapted from Betcha Can't Eat Just One

Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the peanut butter and sugars together for about 2 minutes.  Add the egg and the baking soda.  Mix two minutes more.

Roll into walnut size balls, roll in sugar and flatten with a fork.

Bake 10-12 minutes. 

Let cool 5 minutes on the pan and then transfer to wire racks.

Peanut Butter Buttercream 

• 1/2 cup of softened, unsalted butter,
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter, 
• about 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp heavy cream. 

Beat the butter and peanut butter until it’s well combined.  Add the sugar, pinch of salt, then drizzle in some heavy cream and mix until everything is light and fluffy. Spread buttercream over cookies or make sandwich cookies. 

Printable Recipe

Make a cookie samich!

And don't forget to check out all of the other delectable recipes in the blog hop below:

Peace, and bacon grease!

November's Secret Recipe Club - Nana's Snickerdoodles

That's right, friends. I'm back for another round of The Secret Recipe Club. I just can't get enough of it!

This month I was assigned the lovely blog, Miz Helen's Country Cottage, which I have been a longtime follower of anyway!  I love linking up to Miz Helen's weekly linky, Full Plate Thursday, and seeing how she fills her plate up each week. I was stoked to be able to actually take time to look through every single one of her recipes to pick the perfect one for us. Several caught my attention, but I finally settled on Nana's Snickerdoodles because I love her What's in the Cookie Jar segments, and these homemade cookies seemed perfect for a windy fall night to warm us up.

 

(Not My) Nana's Snickerdoodles

from Miz Helen's Kitchen

• 1 and 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup butter at room temperature
• 2 eggs
• 2 and 3/4 cups sifted flour
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• equal parts cinnamon and sugar

Cream together the sugar, shortening, and butter in a large bowl. Add beaten eggs, one at a time. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients. Mix well. Roll dough into small balls using heaping teaspoons, and then roll the balls in a mixture of one part cinnamon and one part sugar. Place the small balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Do not flatten the dough balls. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Do not over bake, or they will get hard.

Printable Recipe

 

These were some tasty cookies, especially when eaten warm right out of the oven. PJ isn't a huge fan of cinnamon, so he thought they were fine but lacked flavor. I think I may have rolled them in too much cinnamon though, and next time I'd make sure to coat them in more sugar than cinnamon. They also were a bit eggy... I wonder how they would turn out with one egg instead of two. Overall, I was pleased with these cookies and would make them again, trying those changes. Nothing like the smell of cinnamon and some warm cookies to spruce up a fall evening.

As always, it's been fun participating in this month's Secret Recipe Club, and secretly following Miz Helen for the past month, hehe. Feel free to join in for next month! Also, be sure to check out the other awesome recipes in the blog hop below.

*Update: I just thought I'd let you guys know that I've been munching on these cookies for a couple days now, and they are still just as good... maybe even better! I'm beginning to think that maybe I like my cookies at room temp the next day best. They are sooooo good! They seem sweeter now, or maybe I was just crazy then? Either way, they're delicious. I'm off to finish them off now.

Peace, and bacon grease!

Candy Cookies {Week 6 of The 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies and Sweets!}

I'm back for Week 6 of The 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies and Sweets challenge, though a little late I must admit. Usually we all post our recipes on Thursday. But luckily, she leaves the linky open for awhile for people like me to still link up a little late. Thank goodness, cuz I didn't wanna miss a week!

I had some Halloween candy leftover and thought this would be the perfect chance to use some up. So I adapted this recipe using the candy I already had: reeces pieces, heath bars, and butterfingers. Yes, all of that is going into these cookies! Can you say sugar overload?

And it was. Delicious and packed full of sweets. These cookies baked up large and thick, but not too cake-like. We both really liked them! I loved the crunch from the reeces pieces. I really just love reeces pieces anyways. And next time I think I'd add more butterfinger and heath. The bites that I did get that tasted like butterfinger were amazing. I want more of those next time, so I'll definitely add more butterfinger. I used 3 bite-sized butterfingers, chopped into pieces. Next time maybe I'd try 5, just to really get the butterfinger flavor. I've reflected that change in the recipe below. I also baked mine on a silicone baking mat, and they were a little too soft when I took them out after 15 minutes, so I stuck them in just a couple minutes longer. But start with 15 minutes and see how they're looking at that point.

I kinda wish I had more candy leftover to make more.

Maybe I should put those leftover candy sales at Kroger to good use and purchase some more so I can make more cookies like these? Should??? Probably not. But will I? Probably so.

Candy Cookies

adapted from Cookie Madness

* Yields 12 cookies

• 8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup Ghiradelli premium milk chocolate baking chips
• 1/2 cup reeces pieces
• 1/4 cup heath bars
• 5 bite-sized butterfingers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Beat butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Beat in baking soda and salt. Add flour and stir until mixed in.

Stir chocolate chips into the dough. Cut candy bars into small pieces and stir some into the dough, leaving some for decoration.

Scoop spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheet and flatten slightly into mounds. Leave about 3 inches between cookies because they will spread as they bake. Press remaining candy decoratively into cookie mounds. 

Bake 15 minutes or until cookies are almost set. Do not overbake; centers should be slightly soft. Cool on baking sheet for about 7 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Printable Recipe

Don't forget to check out all of the wonderful holiday treats in the blog hop below :)

Peace, and bacon grease!

Happy Belated Halloween... and Owl-O-Ween Cookies!

Happy belated Halloween to you all! Did you dress up in costume or go to any parties? We had our annual Halloween party at work... I dressed up as a Quarter Back and wore my Vick jersey (that's my last name too btw), and blew up a photo of a quarter and pasted it to my back... get it? Quarter back? I thought it was pretty clever, though I didn't win. That's ok, I won 2 years ago  :)

I really wanted to post these cookies the day before Halloween, or on Halloween, but it just didn't happen. I was mucho busy! So here they are, a day late. But make them next year, k?  And really you could still make them now, minus the Halloween vibe, by switching out the candy corn for a different candy that will work as a nose, and regular oreos as eyes instead of the orange ones. Then you've got yourself some good old, regular owl cookies. Either way, they're adorable.

And equally delicious. I thought these cookies would be all about the cuteness, and less about the taste. But I was wrong, because they tasted like sugary heaven. But please be warned, these cookies are capable of inducing sugar comas. 

I didn't want to have to buy almond joy drops, so I worked with what I already had in the pantry. Yay for pre-stocked Halloween candy. So for the eyes, I used brown reeses pieces on some of the cookies, and milk duds on others. I preferred the reeses pieces because the milk duds were pretty large, and weren't as round as I wanted. I also used store-bought peanut butter cookies instead of sugar cookies, because both were right there in front of my face and I just can't pass up a peanut butter cookie. Ever.

Oh, and I just had to copy borrow the creative idea to perch my owls on tree limbs, like Stephanie did. Hey, when I see a fantastic idea, I must roll with it. Her tree shot looks much better than mine, but that's ok. This isn't a contest :)

Owl-O-Ween Cookies

adapted from Cookin' Cowgirl

• Store-bought peanut butter cookies
• Chocolate whipped frosting
• Halloween oreo cookies
• Reeses pieces (brown ones)
• Candy corn

Frost the flat side of the cookie with frosting. Twist oreos apart and place the back side down, cream side up for the large part of the eyes. For the small part of the eyes, put a dab of frosting on the back of a brown reeses pieces, and place in desired spot. Cut the remaining oreo in half and use for eyebrows. Last, put a candy corn where you want the nose. 

Printable Recipe

These are so fun to make! Definitely kid-friendly. Not only are they adorable and delicious, but they are also so easy! No cooking required, unless you prefer to make your own homemade sugar cookie or peanut butter cookie base. Not I... I chose to make this recipe because it required no cooking! Plus it was just too dang cute to pass up, and I just love owls.

And this isn't even what I brought to our Halloween lunch party. I'll have to share that recipe with you soon and very soon....

Hope you all had a very scary Owl-O-Ween :)

Peace, and bacon grease!

*Note: The oreos are small enough to fit on a standard-sized store-bought sugar or peanut butter cookie. No need to search around for gigantic base cookies. I was worried about the oreos fitting on my cookies, but they fit fine.

Linking up here.

Maple Cookies { Week 2 of The 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies and Sweets!}

Yes, yes you read that right. I am posting a recipe for Christmas in the beginning of October. That's cuz I'm playing along in a blog hop called The 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies (and Sweets!), hosted by the lovely Brenda at Meal Planning Magic. Every Thursday for 12 weeks leading up to Christmas, we link up a holiday cookie or dessert recipe. I really want to start baking more so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity, plus I love themed goodies! We're in week 2 of the 12 weeks, I missed the 1st week but it's all good :)


I found this recipe over at Big Flavors From A Tiny Kitchen some time ago, and finally found the perfect opportunity to make them. 

The batter was actually very sticky and hard to manage. Definitely couldn't roll it into balls like Ashley did (dunno what I did wrong!) because it just got stuck all over my hands and would NOT form into a ball. So after I had to wipe all the gunk off and wash my hands, I decided to just scoop the balls by the spoonful onto the greased baking sheet, and then attempt to flatten it with a spoon, again with not very much success as it kept sticking to the spoon. Mess fest! And since I couldn't form balls I also didn't roll it in sugar, so I just sprinkled some granulated sugar on the top of each glob. Next time I'd try chilling the batter first and seeing if that makes it more roll-able.


I thought they turned out pretty good. I wasn't blown away by them, as I didn't think they were sweet enough. Maybe they needed more brown sugar or more sprinkled sugar on top? But then again, I didn't measure out the granulated sugar, I just sprinkled some on top of each cookie before baking. So maybe I needed to sprinkle more on. They also came out to more of a cake-like, blondie-like consistency... maybe because I didn't and couldn't flatten them very much? PJ wasn't too fond of them because he doesn't like thick, super soft cookies that taste more like cake than a cookie. Also, there was a hint of maple flavor but I could definitely up that amount too! 

So for next time, I would up the sugar and maple amount, as well as attempt to flatten them more somehow so that they don't bake so thick but more thin and possibly less cake-like. But I love the idea of it, because I really do love maple flavor. 


I cut the recipe down quite a bit since I didn't need to make 60 cookies! I only made 15 cookies so I pretty much cut all measurements down by 1/4th. Also, the original recipe calls for one egg, so I just tried to add about 1/4th of an egg, which obviously isn't an exact measurement. Maybe this could have possibly contributed to some of the mishaps? But how the heck do you measure out 1/4th of an egg?! I also didn't bother measuring out the granulated sugar because the original recipe called for 1/3 cup and there was no way I was going to try to measure out 1/12 cup lol! Again, that may have been a reason they weren't sweet enough.

Maple Cookies

ever so slightly adapted from Big Flavors From A Tiny Kitchen

*Yields: 15 cookies

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 of an egg
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• granulated sugar, for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg, syrup and vanilla. Mix until well blended. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir into mixture until well blended. Chill the batter for 5 to 10 minutes at least to make it moldable. Shape into 1 inch balls or scoops with a spoon, placing on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and flatten slightly. Sprinkle cookies with granulated sugar.

Bake 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Let cool on a wire rack.

Printable Recipe

Though this recipe is for a Christmas-themed linky, you sure can make these cookies any ole time. They feature maple, so they're also perfect for fall and Thanksgiving as well. 


My blogging friend, Kristen, suggested that I maybe add some kind of frosting. Well that's genius! I've still got some cookies left... maybe I'll find some kind of maple frosting to put on top to make them even sweeter and to bring out more of the maple flavor. Thanks, girl!

You can check out all of the other delicious holiday treats below! And feel free to contact Brenda if you wanna join in on the fun :)

Peace, and bacon grease!