Brown Butter Cookie Butter Truffle Brownies + a C25K Update.

It's been almost thirty days since I last created, thought up, baked, or wrote anything that wasn't these sweet lemon-blueberry cupcakes or dark chocolate-raspberry banana bread. My summer baking dreams have quickly turned into the bittersweet resignation that (for now) I will never be that girl who can balance life, laundry, baking, running, a full-time job, sleeping, True Blood, a boyfriend, and, you know, the really important things: like catching up on a year's worth of Revenge and Once Upon a Time. 

They've also turned into pumpkin daydreams. I'm ready for fall, a change of space, a week in Hawaii, and a moment to breathe. 

What's taken over my summer?

Work. In real-life I work a high-stress, fast-paced, unpredictable job... and now that I've recently been offered a promotion, the stress has tripled. As has, coincidentally enough, my collection of wine glasses.

Running. I started running Couch to 5K in June and have since done Week 1 and 2 twice, Week 3 three times, and am currently starting my third week of Week 4 (week 5 ends with a 20-minute 2 mile run and I don't even want to talk about it yet). I run each week until it's no longer a challenge. To be honest, I thought I would never get where I am today... and I'm only halfway through the program!

I started running every other day three times a week like the program suggests. Just the one minute run made me feel like I would definitely be giving up by Week 2 or 3... but I stuck it out.

Slowly I started adding in extra time at the gym after my run and by Week 3, I was adding in "fun runs." These are my favorite. Where my actual C25K days are something I "have" to do, these are the days where I go to the gym and just run. It started with 5 minute runs and half miles. Now for the first time ever I can run a mile without walking. I bested my high school mile time instantly and today... I ran my fastest mile yet.

I wake up early. I fit it in before work. Instead of being a thing I have to make myself do, it's part of my day, something I look forward to. And I'm noticing changes. I'm happier, less stressed, more confident. After I run, even if it was a challenge to the very last second, I feel like I can do anything the rest of the day.

And no big deal, but I've signed up for a Color Run in October.

But let's get real: you came here for the chocolate, brown butter, and cookie butter truffles.

Has cookie butter made it's way into your life yet? This glass jar of dreams looks like innocent creamy peanut butter... but tastes like gingerbread, snickerdoodles, honey graham crackers, and salted pretzels, all at once, and with tiny crunchy bits of Speculoos cookies in every sugary spoonful. It's something you have to experience.

Another thing to experience? Cookie butter truffles: Creamy Biscoff spread/cookie butter + powdered sugar, rolled into dough balls and chilled. Honestly we could just end this post here, but running makes me dream of all things chocolate... so let's bake these truffles into brownies!

Brown butter brownies alone are the best brownies you could ever dream of... even more so than the Baked brownies I made a few years ago. But these? These were irresistable and over the top, with crisp edges, molten, fudge centers, hidden pockets of cookie butter truffles, and that rich, toffee-caramel, something-extra from the brown butter that just enhances the chocolate flavor. And then, to top it all off, they're studded and sprinkled with semisweet and dark chocolate chunks.   

See how thick and fudgy these are? Almost like squares of chocolate cheesecake.

I really believe cookie butter was meant to be paired with chocolate.

P.S. I baked these brownies before work... and came home to half the pan missing and this note from my boyfriend's friend.

Honestly.

Brown Butter Cookie Butter Truffle Chocolate Chunk Brownies 

Printable Recipe

Cookie Butter Truffles
1/2 cup Biscoff spread (I used Trader Joes creamy Cookie Butter)
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Brownies 
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) salted butter
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (I used a combination of semi-sweet + dark chocolate)
Additonal chocokate chips for sprinkling on top

Prep. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13-inch baking dish with baking spray; set aside.

Make truffles. To make thetruffles, combined cookie butter (or a Biscoff spread) and powdered sugar in a bowl and mix until combined and the consistency of cookie dough. Roll truffles into 3/4-inch balls and place on a wax paper- lined baking sheet. Place in freezer until ready for use.

Brown your butter. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until golden brown (for more information browning butter, see this post). Pour butter into heat-proof bowl and allow to cool slightly.

Mix. Pour cooled brown butter into the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add the sugar and cocoa powder and beat until smooth. Add the salt, water, and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until throughly combined. Add the flour and chocolate chips and mix well. Batter will be very thick!

Bake! Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Press frozen Biscoff truffles into the batter until just poking out. Sprinkle additional chocolate chips over the top of the batter, if desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.

Source: Adapted from Something Swanky. 

Brownie-Swirled Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies.

In the next 48 hours, I will somehow pull it all together. I will work 21 hours, finish Christmas shopping, wrap everything, bake a few last-minute gifts, clean the apartment, do laundry, figure out why there is still a jar of salted caramel in my car, pack everything within reach, and drive 300 miles home for Christmas.

Until then, moments of stress stitched together with moments of pure Christmas magic.

And fat, pillow-y, soft-baked chocolate chip cookies stitched together with fudgy swirls of chocolate brownies and a handful of dark/mint chocolate chips.

Because buying wrapping paper is stressful and nothing is more real than that.

And it all starts here.

Dark chocolate and mint chocolate chips that I bought in November with no real intention of baking with. You could just as easily use a comination of semisweet/dark chocolate and white chocolate chips and spike the cookie dough with peppermint extract if these minty green morsels aren't available to you. December just seems like the appropriate time for spiking cookie dough, if there ever was an appropriate time.

Then these happened.

And by happened I mean... you only need 2 1/2 of these brownies. Yeah. You just made brownie-swirled mint chocolate chip cookies and you have brownies to offer up as last-minute holiday gifts. You are in there and getting it done!

Could we add a few drops of peppermint extract to the brownie mix before baking? I think that could easily become a thing too. I'd definitely leave that out for Santa with the banana bread.

Brownie-Swirled Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Nestle Dark Chocolate + Mint Morsels
2 cups prepared brownies, cut into small cubes (about 2 1/2 large brownies)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand or electric mixture, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla beating until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to butter mixture, along with chocolate chips and brownie chunks, until just combined. The dough will be extra thick!

Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough in large tablespoon-sized balls onto a greased or silpat-lined baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Source: Barely adapted from Picky Palate.

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Banana Bread.

Sometimes you have days where you have to make your own happy.

This is that.

This banana bread was baked on a lazy August morning, with bright, slanted, summer light, creamy raspberry coffee, and my comfiest pajamas.  

It was baked with a fistful of determination and chocolate... determination that for 50-60 minutes I was going to put all the stresses of work, life, and laundry on hold. Just put it all on hold, bake banana bread, drink coffee, and watch as much Pretty Little Liars as possible. 

And chocolate... because this is straight-up cake for breakfast. Cake that genuinely smells like Christmas... if Christmas smelled like bananas, berries, and home. It's a quickbread thing. Banana bread, raisin bread, zucchini bread, lemon bread... they will always, always remind of lazy afternoons at the pool, best friends, summer vacation, and coming home to Mom pulling a fresh-baked loaf out of the oven. It's right up there with grilled cheese, pancakes, and apple pies. You know. Stuff only a mom can make.

Banana bread, right out of the oven, brimming with fresh raspberries and melty chunks of dark chocolate. Would it be weird to eat this with a spoon?

Okay fine. I'll slice it.

Speaking of determination and sugar, this is summer bucket baking times two! Making banana bread meets baking with berries.

Andddd I had kettlecorn for dinner the other night. Summer bucket success!

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Banana Bread

Printable Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 large bananas)
1/3 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips
1 cup halved raspberries, tossed in 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a larger bowl with a wooden spoon), beat the sugar and softened butter until well-combined, about 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the banana, yogurt, and vanilla extract and beat until well-combined. 

Stir in the flour mixture just until moist. Do not overmix! Gently fold in the chocolate chunks and halved raspberries tossed in flour.

Pour evenly into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with a handful of dark chocolate chips and halved raspberries. 

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.* Cool 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely.

*Note: If the edges start to brown before the center is fully baked, carefully place folded strips of foil around the edges of the pan to keep from burning. I had to place a sheet of foil over the top as well during the last 15 minutes of baking to keep the top from over-browning/burning. 

Source: Recipe Boy.