Kayla's Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have always wanted to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. I was tasked with it even more so when I married Chad. Although my favorite cookies are snickerdoodles, Chad's favorites are none other than chocolate chip cookies. For me this posed a problem. I didn't have a good homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe and I had tried multiple ones through the years.

Well, before my bestie moved to Grenada, I had asked if I could get some of her cookie recipes from her. She had always had good cookies; from the banana cookies to her ginger snaps, it was heaven. They were perfect in taste and were always moist, even when she said they were burnt.

I wanted to make some cookies on Saturday and pulled out the little recipe book that she gave me before moving away. Low and behold, she had a chocolate chip cookie recipe in there. I decided to give it a try. I knew there was a high probability that they would be fantastic because they were from Kayla and her cookies, like stated before, were the best.

Boy was I right!

Kayla's Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 Cup butter
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Cup brown sugar
2 Large eggs (I only had medium eggs at the time and still used two. It worked just fine)
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 Cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 Cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (Or just one full regular size bag... I think it is like 16oz or something like that. I can't think off the top of my head.)

Directions:
1: Put both sticks of butter in a medium sized pan and over medium heat melt the butter. Once melted, continue to cook until it turns golden brown. Swirl the pan occasionally if needed so that it browns evenly. Watch it fairly closely, as it can go from brown to burned very quickly. When the color has turned golden, small flecks speckle the butter and it will have a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and poor into a shallow dish (I just put it into the bowl I was going to mix the cookies in, so it took a bit longer to chill, but I didn't have to remove it and waste that dish. All about consolidation of dishes for me!). Chill in the fridge until it becomes solid. You want it to be soft, but melted. If it cools too much, let it come back to room temperature before using.

2: Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (I skipped the parchment paper because I didn't have any and my baking sheets are "non stick".)

3: Once the butter has solidified but is not too hard, beat the brown butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium/high speed until light and creamy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add the vanilla extract.

4: In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients (I added it bit by bit so you don't have a flour cloud) until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix until incorporated.

5: Spoon by the tablespoon onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving 2 inches in-between each cookie. Bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes*. Let cool for 5 minutes on the pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

*Now Kayla had left me a hint at the bottom of the page and I am so glad I read it before I started cooking. Here is the hint:

HINT: I usually whisk the butter while it is browning to make sure I'm watching it closely and to make sure it cooks evenly. I also think I bake for less time, closer to 8 minutes, so keep an eye on the first batch. =]

I loved the whisking idea. It really did make it easier to keep an eye on it so it didn't burn and it cooked evenly so I didn't have to swirl the pan occasionally like it says to in step one.

*I cooked my cookies for 8 minutes like her hint said and when I pulled them out, I already knew that if I cooked them any longer they would burn. I accidentally missed the timer on the last batch (only 3 cookies on a small pan, but still 3 is more than enough to mess up.) and the cookies cooked for closer to 9 minutes. When I pulled them out they had a darker coloring than the rest of the cookies and were much harder, in other words they were almost burned. :( So, definitely try 8 minutes as a cooking time! Of course every oven is different so watch the first batch as you cook them. Under cooking and then needing to put them in again is not nearly as bad as burning them and having no clue how long they really should cook right?

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. We gobbled these up way faster than we should have.

Peach Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake

I just recently had my best friend move on the first of the month. We knew that we needed to get together and do something before that day came and before I had my baby. I got induced on the 24th of June and so I decided to invite Kayla (my friend) over to my place.

When we both lived at Foxwood apartments we would get together and just make food for fun. That is actually what inspired this blog. We used to just be together and eat food and talk. It was the best. So when I told her to come over on the 23rd I knew that we should cook something. 

I was in the mood to do something sweet rather than savory, so was she. So we pulled up *ta da* what else but Pinterest. We found a bunt cake that really appealed to us so we decided to try it.

We had to change a few things due to a lack of a really good strainer and we couldn't find vanilla bean but it still turned out amazing! Hope you try it and love it just as much as we did!

Peach Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake with Peach Soaking Syrup
Makes 10-inch bundt cake, serving 12 to 14

Cake
Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds  (We used vanilla extract instead. We couldn't find any vanilla beans)
1 cup sour cream
1 ½ cups diced fresh peaches

Syrup
Ingredients
⅓ cup fresh peach puree, strained (We took peaches we had diced up and put them in the food processor to make the puree. We would have strained it more if we could have but I didn't have a small enough holed strainer. The small chunks were not bad on the cake in the end.)
⅔ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon orange juice

Method
Place rack in center of oven, and preheat oven to 350. Grease and lightly flour inside of 10 inch bundt pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

Using either a stand mixer (paddle attachment) or a hand mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar and beat at medium-high speed until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating for 30 to 40 seconds after each addition. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Beat in vanilla bean. At low speed, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream. (Add a bit of flour, a bit of sour cream, a bit of flour, a bit of sour cream, a bit of flour.)

Scoop half of batter into pan and spread with spatula. Sprinkle with peaches. Scoop remaining half of batter on top of peaches. Smooth with spatula.

Enjoy!

French Toasted Angel Food Cake

I made this recipe for the fam a little under a month ago. It is very tasty. I made it for my parents, brother, his wife, and their four kids.

Enjoy the most delish thing in the world. It is a delight.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/sponge-cakes/french-toasted-angel-food-cake/

The Chocolate Triple Threat

A woman in my home ward, Debbie May, has the most amazing cake recipe. It is chocolate with chocolate chips and powdered sugar on top. Soooo good I promise. Believe me, I am not a huge cake person, or chocolate person for that matter so this is a big deal that I love this cake. Well for Father's day I decided that I wanted to make it for my papa. He loves this cake way more than I do. I called Debbie and got the recipe from her so I could make it. This cake has now become a signature cake for me. This and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are my deserts that I love to make and eat. They are so moist but don't last that long because you eat it. So, beware. This cake may end up being habit forming/very addicting for ones sweet tooth.

Here is what I am going to call The Chocolate Triple Threat:

1 Devil's Food Cake mix (I use the Betty Crocker or Pillsbury brand. It is has a little more moisture to it.)

1 Large Box of INSTANT Chocolate Pudding 

1 Cup Sour Cream

4 Eggs

1/2 cup Water

1/2 cup Oil

1 tsp Vanilla

1 bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (you can use milk or dark chips too but I prefer semi-sweet.)

Powdered Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, eggs, water, oil, and vanilla together in a large bowl. It is going to be thicker than if you had made just the cake. It will be sticky and stick to itself. Fold in chocolate chips. Put in a greased pan. Then bake for 45-50 minutes. Remember *ovens may vary* haha. For the greased pan: I use a bunt pan. It looks pretty at the end and cooks better. I use Crisco and spread it over the pan then put flower to line it before I put the cake mix in. 

When you use the bunt pan, you can then pop it out after it has had about an hour to cool down. It will still be pretty warm so don't worry. Pop it out on a decorative plate or any type of plate really, and sprinkle the powdered sugar on top. It will add that extra sweetness and makes it look beautiful. 

Enjoy!

Garret Chicken and Sweet Chicken

Lately I have become a much more daring person with food. I love food and love to cook but I am tired of the same old same old with my food. There is one thing that I almost always have. Chicken. So I wanted to come up with some different recipes that were not just lemon pepper or barbecue. I needed something new. 

I was on SPAC during spring term and we had a food night. I wanted to make something but I didn't know what to do. Like I said before, I always have chicken of some sort. So I grabbed one of my friends books called The Flavor Bible. SO GENIUS! It is amazing. It has flavors, spices, other foods, ect that go with any other type of food. I looked up Chicken and it had a ton of things to use with it. I had a few ideas but didn't know how to go about it. I asked my friend Garret what he would want to have, a sweet chicken or a hearty chicken. He picked hearty so I did that. Here is what I did and what is now called Garret Chicken for him picking what I should make. So thanks Garebear!

Chicken

Butter or Oil

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder/Salt (whichever one you prefer really)

Onion Powder/Salt (same as garlic)

Diced or Chopped Tomatoes (however big you want your tomatoes)

Fry chicken (any kind really - I am going to do chicken breast next) in just a regular frying pan with some butter or oil. Putting salt, pepper, garlic, onion, oregano, and parsley on each side of the chicken while it cooks. Once the chicken starts to get a golden color, add the tomatoes and saute them. It is all up to you for how cooked you want the chicken and the tomatoes. Enjoy! I like the chicken alone as well as shredded and put into pasta and Alfredo. 

The next one I made was made today. It was soo good! I did the sweet chicken today.

Chicken

Butter

Brown Sugar

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Vanilla

Honey

Fry the chicken just like in the Garret Chicken, in a pan but this time with only the butter. Right away put in three heaping teaspoons of brown sugar. Mix the sugar and the melting butter around and all over the chicken. After it has been spread, sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg onto the chicken. Let all of this set in for a little to let the flavors seep into the meat. All the while you are flipping the chicken. Put about a tablespoon of  vanilla extract into the mixture and a teaspoon of honey. Mix it all in and cook the chicken until it is all the way cooked. Now enjoy!

It sounds crazy, smells good, and tastes delicious! Don't be scared, just try it out. I promise you will enjoy it.