cookies

Salted Brown Butter Heath Chip Cookies

March 10, 2016 by Asharae 5 Comments

Over the past couple years I have decided that cooking and baking for other people is one of my love languages. There’s something so rewarding about seeing the people you love enjoy something you created for them. It’s worth it just knowing that I can bring a little dose of joy to someone else’s day through what I make in the kitchen.

Our small group friends are some of my favorites to cook and bake for. We’re a random assortment of seven very different couples that have somehow found ourselves gathering once a week to share life, open up about our struggles, and walk with one another through the good and the hard parts of our stories. Some of us have been together as a group for nearly three years, and a few of us go all the way back to our freshman year of college. It’s been pretty extraordinary to see one another through so many seasons of life, and I feel like we’re really just getting started.

One of my favorite recipes to make for our small group is one for chocolate chip cookies that I shared a couple years ago. Everyone loves a good chocolate chip cookie. Tim and I were recently at the grocery store though when he came across these Hershey’s Heath Baking Bits in the baking aisle. One thing was certain – something needed to be done with them. That’s where this recipe comes into play. This is a slight (and debatably more delicious) variation on my go-to recipe for salted brown butter chocolate chip cookies. Both recipes are worth a try! You won’t regret it.

Salted Brown Butter Heath Chip Cookies

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Ingredients

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 ¾ sticks
½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup Heath chips
Kosher salt for garnish

Instructions

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Continue to heat as butter starts to bubble - the bubbling sounds will get louder as the butter heats up. Stir constantly, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan with a spatula as you go. Keep a close eye on it as it will change color quickly. Once the butter turns a nice dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, remove it from the heat. Transfer butter to a heat-proof bowl and let cool. You may place it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to speed up the process.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine flour and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
Once butter is cooled, but not hardened, place in the bowl of a stand mixer, along with both sugars, salt, and vanilla. Using the paddle attachment, mix until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
Add egg and egg yolk and mix until combined.
Mix in flour mixture until just combined.
Stir in chocolate chips and Heath chips with a spoon or spatula.
Scoop 2 Tbs of dough at a time onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You'll need to do at least two separate batches in the oven. Should make about 24 cookies.
Bake for 9-12 minutes, till the edges just start to brown. Remove from oven, sprinkle with additional salt, and let cool a few minutes before removing from the pan.

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Snowball Cookies

December 23, 2014 by Asharae 2 Comments

Merry Christmas y’all! I thought this week called for sharing a classic Christmas recipe (and story). These cookies were an essential part of Christmas when we were growing up. Every year my parents re-tell the story of little me – probably four years old – stuffing one of these cookies into my face and then trying to talk. Instead of any actual words coming out, I got the giggles because, as everyone knows, you can’t talk with a snowball cookie in your mouth. Giggles devolved into four-year-old me drooling powdered sugar dust down my chin and onto my red Christmas dress. It’s one of those classic family get-together stories that gets retold around this time each year.

These cookies are perfect for making with kids – you can have them roll the cookie dough into balls and even roll them in the confectioner’s sugar once they’ve cooled. I always loved getting my hands dirty in the kitchen and helping my mom roll these cuties in powdered sugar – it always meant we got to “taste-test” a few extras while we made them.

This recipe is for a very large batch of cookies – perfect for taking to a cookie exchange, church gathering, or school event. If you’re looking to just share with your family, the recipe can easily be halved. Cookies do not rise at all, so whatever shape you roll them into is the same shape they’ll be when they come out of the oven. I like snowballs that aren’t completely perfect. Be sure to watch them carefully especially at the end of their baking time. Cookies will just barely turn light brown when they’re finished – I always check the bottoms of the cookies to make sure they’re not burning. Roll in powdered sugar twice and they’re ready to enjoy!

Snowball Cookies

Adapted from Betty Crocker

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Ingredients

2 c of Butter softened (4 Sticks)
1 c Confectioner's sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
4.5 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 c roughly chopped pecans or walnuts optional

Instructions

Sift flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, thoroughly mix together butter, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in flour and salt mixture until dough forms. Add in nuts if desired.
Chill dough in the fridge for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Roll into 1 inch balls. Bake on an ungreased baking sheet for 10-12 minutes. Watch cookies carefully as they're quick to burn. Cookies are done when they're just slightly turning light brown - you'll think they need more time. Don't be fooled. Check the bottoms before you leave them in longer to be sure you're not burning them.
Remove from the oven, let cool until you can handle them comfortably, then roll in confectioner's sugar.
Let cool completely, then roll in sugar one more time.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

April 4, 2014 by Asharae 9 Comments

These cookies. You guys. These cookies are so worth the extra little bit of effort it takes to put them together. Brown butter – sounds crazy right? Sounds high maintenance? Or fancy pants? Or some other term you may not prefer to be associated with? Well let’s all just take a moment to get over ourselves and change our minds about this. Browning butter is NOT hard to do. It does give these cookies a little dose of magic though. Learning a little something new to end up with magical cookies? I’d say that’s worth it.

The first time I made these, I started heating the butter and quickly remembered I didn’t actually know how to brown butter. YouTube to the rescue – I pulled up this video and watched it as the butter melted. It’s definitely worth the watch if you’re unfamiliar with browning butter and are going to let that stop you from trying this recipe.

I’ve made these cookies several times now, and I especially love making them for groups – they always get a good response! Sometimes I use semi-sweet chocolate, sometimes milk chocolate, but I always recommend buying the good chocolate chips. We’re a little partial to the Ghiradelli brand because that’s what our little podunk grocery store carries. Just don’t go for the cheapest ones. Your taste buds will thank you later! You could also buy bars of semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate and chop them up if you’re wanting chocolate chunk cookies instead – that’s next on my list to try!

Along with our simple bread recipe, these cookies made it into a styled wedding photo shoot we did a couple months ago! Check out the feature on The Lovely Find!

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Bliss

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Prep Time 40 mins

Cook Time 12 mins

Total Time 52 mins

Servings 24 cookies

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 ¾ sticks
½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon kosher salt for garnish

Instructions

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Continue to heat as butter starts to bubble - the bubbling sounds will get louder as the butter heats up. Stir constantly, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan with a spatula as you go. Keep a close eye on it as it will change color quickly. Once the butter turns a nice dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, remove it from the heat. Transfer butter to a heat-proof bowl and let cool. You may place it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to speed up the process.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine flour and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
Once butter is cooled, but not hardened, place in the bowl of a stand mixer, along with both sugars, salt, and vanilla. Mix until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
Add egg and egg yolk and mix until combined.
Mix in flour mixture until just combined.
Stir in chocolate chips with a spoon or spatula.
Scoop 2 Tbs of dough at a time onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You'll need to do at least two separate batches in the oven. Should make about 24 cookies.
Bake for 9-12 minutes, till the edges just start to brown. [UPDATE: Definitely aim to bake these on the lower end of that timeframe, depending on how big your cookies are and how your particular oven bakes. I usually bake mine 8 minutes, check on them and rotate the pan and only bake them one additional minute. These cookies are divine when removed from the oven when the edges are starting to brown. Letting them cool on the pan for a bit while salting them will ensure they're baked through.] Remove from oven, sprinkle with additional salt, and let cool a few minutes before removing from the pan.