Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have you ever had anything with browned butter?

I've made brown butter brownies, brown butter rice crispy treats, and now, browned butter chocolate chip cookies! Brown butter takes goodies to the next level. Give it a try, you'll be stunned and amazed!

It's easy to brown butter. Melt it in a pan over medium-high heat. It'll bubble, then start to get brown. Scrape up the brown bits, just like deglazing. I do this for about a minute, then turn off the heat. Be sure not to burn it! If those bits turn black, you have to start over. The process takes 5 to 7 minutes total.

Oh, hello melty butter and sugar!!

Fun fact: I made this recipe. I looked at other recipes, said "thanks for the suggestion", and made my own. I'm not even a chemist!


1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and browned
1/2 stick butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
Heaping 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heaping 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Add sugars and salt to mixing bowl, pour browned butter on top. Let cool for a few minutes. Add 1/2 stick room temperature butter. Mix on a medium speed until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, mix until blended. Gradually add baking soda and flour (I did 4 additions) until just added. Fold in chocolate chips. Let rest in refrigerator for at least an hour. Preheat oven to 350. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Cookies should be a light, golden brown on the edges. Let cool for 2-3 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to cooling rack. Yields about 2 dozen.

The result are slightly crisp on the outside, chewy in the middle, slightly salty, nutty, buttery, TASTY cookies. I don't like a ton of chocolate in my chocolate chip cookies, so add as many chips as you like. This dough is a total winner, however. Don't mess with it. I'm telling you!

I have to go eat a cookie,

Cait

Chili and Corn Pudding

I'm not a big fan of chili. So I made some the other day!

You see, I saw this crock pot (or "slow cooker") on sale at Target and bought it. It was even that fancy one in the television advertisements that has the locking lid. Neat! Chili seemed like the quickest, least-creepy recipe to start with. It also gave me an excuse to make corn pudding. Not to mention, manly-men like Jimmy enjoy chili. Everybody wins!

Beware: chili requires extensive use of a can opener. If you aren't comfortable with this device, stay away. Carpal tunnel? Too bad, home spice!

If you're using a slow cooker, be sure to brown your meats before putting them in the mix. Otherwise they'll disintegrate and it'll just be terrible. TERRIBLE! I used a pound of stew beef and a pound of ground beef. I also sauteed my peppers and onions before adding them to the pot. I like to think it made a significant, amazing difference in flavor.

Here's what I used:

1 pound of stew beef
1 pound of ground beef (fat content is your choice, I used 90/10)
1 green pepper (chopped)
1 yellow onion (chopped)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 can green chiles
1 can great northern beans (drained)
1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 12 oz. beer
Splash of chicken stock
A good dose of Sriracha
Garlic powder, chili powder, ground cumin, cayenne, basil, oregano, salt and pepper, to taste.

After browning the meats and a quick sautee of the pepper and onion, add everything to a slow cooker. Don't be shy with the spices! I add tons (except for salt). Set to low, for 4-5 hours, stirring occasionally.

Magically, 4 to 5 hours later. You will have chili.

I also made corn pudding, which is super complicated. I got the recipe from Paula Deen (HI, Y'ALL!). Heaven forgive me, this recipe is obscene. It tastes so good.

I let Jimmy put the cheese on top of the corn nonsense. He put A LOT. I'd recommend a little less, for the sake of...well, your thighs.

Up next, chocolate chip cookies. Warning: they, too, are obscene!

Yaaayy,

Cait

Valentine Treats

The cake I posted yesterday waaassss.....

Red velvet! YUMYUMYUM. This recipe is absolutely perfect; moist, flavorful and a luscious color. The only thing I tweaked was the amount of cocoa, I upped it to two tablespoons. This is the link to the recipe I used. Bakerella's blog is so neat! She makes super adorable little treats. Another treat in this post was inspired by her.

I did, however, use my own recipe for the frosting. It's kind of a cream cheese/buttercream hybrid. Nice and fluffy, a pleasant tang, and easy to work with. I made a very large batch, and had plenty left over. I'd scale the recipe down a little next time. It's always better to have extra frosting, than not enough! Here's what I used...

Two 8 oz. blocks of cream cheese (room temperature, cut into pieces)
Three sticks of butter (room temperature, cut into pieces)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 lbs. confectioners' sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese until well blended and fluffy. Add vanilla, and mix in. Add sugar gradually, letting it all mix in before adding more. Frost cooled cake.

Valentine's Day requires chocolate-covered strawberries, so I made some of those too! I feel like I don't have to explain this...send me an email if you need detailed instructions. Otherwise, melt chocolate, dip, EAT!

The third treat I made were cheesecake bites. Bakerella has cheesecake bites on her site, she goes all out and decorates them and puts them on sticks. They're super nice, but I don't have that kind of patience.

I made a cheesecake with no crust, since I was going to be scooping into it to make "bites" anyway. I find it funny that this is the only cheesecake I've ever made that hasn't cracked...and I dug into it haphazardly with a spoon. Hrmph!

After digging out these bad boys and rolling them into balls, they got a quick roll in crushed graham crackers mixed with a bit of cinnamon and brown sugar. I popped them in the fridge, then topped them with some semi-sweet and white chocolate. Check it out!

So many things to eat!!

Cait

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Tease!

That's all for now! I'm off to dinner with a certain lumberjack-looking fellow. See the inside of the cake tomorrow!

Unless we eat it all. Then I guess you'll just live the rest of your life in suspense and wonderment.

Happy Valentines Day!

Cait