Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

You're probably thinking "chill with the chocolate chip cookie recipes" but I promise you, this one is SO WORTH MAKING! Browning the butter steps up the richness and texture of the cookies completely, and I can tell you just from my various taste taster's feedback (aka boyfriend, friends and parents) that they're the best ones I've made yet. The below recipe is based on Bon Appetit's delicious cookie recipe, but I added and removed an ingredient or two to create a whole lot of classic brown butter chocolate chip cookie goodness.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (I've used both salted and unsalted for this recipe and I liked both equally)

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of brown sugar (I always use light brown sugar, but feel free to use dark)

1/3 cup of granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 cup of milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup of semi-sweet chunks

1. Preheat oven to 375F (also ensure there is a rack set in the center of the oven).
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
3. Place butter in medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until butter melts and begins to foam and then forms brown flecks. Remove pan from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Feel free to pour the butter into a heat safe bowl to allow it to cool fully.
4. Put flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and whisk until mixed. Set bowl aside.
5. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar to cooled butter and mix until fully incorporated.
6. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
7. Add bowl of dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until combined.
8. Add chocolate chips and chunks to batter and then let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes (I threw it in the fridge for 10 minutes during that time but it's not totally necessary). Batter will thicken.
9. Using a large ice cream scoop (this is the one I use - guarantees big cookies but feel free to make them smaller), scoop dough onto baking sheet at least 3 inches apart. 
10. Bake cookies for 10 - 11 minutes until edges are golden brown but center is still lighter in color (the cookies will continue to bake when you place them on the cooling rack).
11. Tap the bottom of the baking sheet lightly against the counter two or three times once you remove it from the oven to create that beautiful cracked top (helps some of the air escape from each cookie)!
12. Place cookies on cooling rack and let them set. Enjoy! 

Brown Sugar Pie

Granulated sugar is great and all, but brown sugar reigns supreme in my eyes and a whole pie based around it is dreamy in my book. I had brown sugar pie (some call it Chess Pie depending on the ingredients) back in high school at a friend's house and I remember thinking there HAD to be something else in it to make it taste like there wasn't just a bowl of brown sugar dumped into a pie shell, but truly, the recipe is just a handful of simple ingredients and the flavor is so good! You can make it without any of the additional add-ins below, but I love the taste of the cinnamon and nutmeg, and they definitely add a dimension to this sugary pie. It made me think of fall (I'm all about summer but I cannot wait for fall) and it was awesome served warm or cold. I would highly recommend a nice scoop of classic vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, but it's not totally necessary ;).

Side Notes: I cheated and used Pillsbury's pre-made refrigerated pie crust, but use whatever crust you prefer! Also, browning the butter in this recipe adds so much rich flavor to this simple recipe!

PS. Could I have side "pie" any more in this post!?! 

1 and 1/4 cup of brown sugar (I use light brown sugar)

1 stick of butter (8 tbsp.) 

1/4 cup of milk

3 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 tablespoon of flour

Dash (about 1/4 teaspoon) of cinnamon and of nutmeg (optional but recommended :))

Dash of salt

1. Heat the oven to 325F.
2. Line a 9 inch pie pan (I use a glass one) with your pie pastry. Feel free to flute, crimp, etc. the edges! Place pie pan on baking sheet just in case the mixture spills over the crust while in the oven (it didn't happen any of the times I've made this, but better to be safe than sorry!).
3. Place butter in medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until butter melts and begins to form brown flecks. Remove pan from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Feel free to pour the butter into a heat safe bowl to allow it to cool fully.
4. Cream together sugar and room temperature butter. Add milk, eggs and vanilla, and mix until combined.
5. Mix in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
6. Pour mixture into pie crust.
7. Bake 50-55 minutes (check on pie after 50 minutes - every oven is different) until pie crust is golden and there is a thin stiff layer formed on top of the pie (reminds me of the top of creme brûlée!). 
8. Let the pie rest for at least 1 hour before placing the pie into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. This will ensure the filling sets, as it will remain quite liquid-y after it's removed from the oven. 
9. Serve warm or cold with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream! Don't panic if the top layer of the pie cracks - that's completely normal. Enjoy! :)

Baked Cake Mix Donuts

Just a few examples of the donuts I've made ALL using cake mix! Red velvet, funfetti, pumpkin, vanilla dipped in cinnamon & sugar, etc.! 

Making baked donuts are shockingly easy, especially when you use cake mix as the base! That's right - ANY cake mix can be used to make these (oohhhh the possibilities). The Wilton 6 Donut Pan is a game-changer and makes it (way too) easy to whip up perfectly made donuts in less than 15 minutes. Baking the donuts is so much better than frying them, and no one ever believes that they're homemade because of how beautiful they turn out every single time. The decorating part of this whole process is the best part in my opinion, and there are SO many ways to pretty them up once they've set and cooled down! I swear by Jennifer Meyering's Cake Mix Donuts recipe and it's the only one I use when I whip these up! I've made these donuts using a handful of different mixes but my favorite batch always ends up being the red velvet donuts. They're fluffy, light, INSANELY good and so so pretty! Which cake mix flavor is your favorite!?

1 (16.25 oz) boxed cake mix

1 large egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup water

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Generously spray your donut pan(s) with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Thoroughly combine dry cake mix, egg, vegetable oil and water.
3. Pour the batter into a large Ziploc bag and cut off a small portion of one corner of the bag. Push the batter down towards the small opening and squeeze the donut mix into the donut pans until donut cavity is halfway full.
4. Bake the donuts for 12 minutes or until completely set. Let the donuts set and cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes and then gently flip the pan over to remove (I usually give the back of the pan a light tap - the donuts should easily fall out).

Optional Toppings: (I love the red velvet donuts plain, but a light glaze and/or any topping is always good!)

• Your favorite store bought and/or homemade icing
• Drizzle of milk chocolate, white chocolate, nutella, caramel, etc.
• Light glaze (topped with cereal, sprinkles, edible glitter, etc.)
• Dipped in butter, cinnamon & sugar

Long Weekend in Brooklyn

First of all, let me just say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who responded to the launch of this blog via Instagram, email, text, etc. Your support and excitement around this really does mean so much and I promise I'm going to attempt to get on some type of posting schedule so that it's not so sporadic!

I can't believe how quickly this long weekend flew by! They always seem to happen that way, but it still surprises me every.single.time. I hope everyone had a wonderful long Memorial Day weekend and spent it with family, friends and lots of delicious food! Alex and I took Friday off to really extend the weekend even further and spent Friday to Sunday in Williamsburg at the most beautiful Airbnb. The apartment we stayed in had a stunning view of the Manhattan skyline, was right around the corner from all of our favorite spots (Emmy Squared, Beehive Oven, Blue Bottle Coffee and Bagelsmith) and was a block or two away from all of the places we knew we wanted to check out. We lucked out so much with how beautiful the weather was the entire weekend, especially considering that the forecast originally called for rain. Least to say, we cannot wait to get back there at another point during the summer!

Brooklyn is our favorite getaway spot because it's so close to Connecticut, but it also feels like an entirely different world. Because we both spend Monday-Friday sitting behind a desk for our jobs, getting outside and walking 10-15 miles per day felt unbelievable. It makes me miss living in a city so much! The natural exercise we got from zipping around to food and drinks felt awesome and our feet were really feeling it by Sunday (#worthit). We ate at all of our favorite spots, visited Smorgasburg on Saturday and discovered some new favorite restaurants and coffee spots! Devocion is hands down my new favorite - their cold brew is the best I've ever had and the location is just beautiful. The decor, the layout and the whole ambiance is positively dreamy! As someone who worked in multiple customer service roles for a handful of years, it goes a long way with me to have a positive customer service experience and both baristas that made our coffees on Saturday and Sunday were so nice. It was the best way to kick off both mornings and I would kill for another one of those iced coffees right about now! 

We had Emmy Squared pizza on Friday and although we had only eaten there once before, we knew we HAD to make a trip back there and round 2 did not disappoint. Alex and I agreed that it was even better than we remembered! The place was packed when we arrived at around 3 pm, but we got seated right away and the service was stellar. We got the Roni Supreme pie (it's a MUST) and the Colony pie, and although the Colony was so delicious, the Roni Supreme will always be #1. The sauce is the best balance of sweet and spicy, and the roni cups are so perfectly crispy. If you haven't eaten at Emmy Squared already, you haaaaave to try it, ASAP.

Saturday was a wonderful blur of Smorgasburg (check out the mozzarella sticks on Instagram if you haven't already), lots of wandering (and running into the sweetest @JulesDenby and her adorable family!), a little bit of shopping and watching the sun set over the Manhattan skyscrapers. Sunday was my 27th birthday and we kicked it off with breakfast at Sweethaus! We had tried their cookies last summer (they're uh-mazing) and after reviewing the breakfast menu, we knew we had to go there at some point before heading home! Everything sounded and looked so delicious. We arrived right after they opened, so the whole place was quiet and we got a little corner seat right by the open windows. Alex ordered the avocado toast and I got the pistachio waffles (I'm obsessed with all things pistachio at the moment) and they were beyond good. I am determined to recreate them at some point soon! 

After wrapping up breakfast, we headed to Devocion for iced coffees and then walked over to Bagelsmith to grab a dozen bagels to bring home with us. Both mine and Alex's parents love a good NY style everything bagel, so those bagels are always our takeaway from any trips to NY! Before gathering our things and bringing our bags to the car, we took a walk down Kent Ave. to East River State Park to take in the views one last time before heading back to CT. While it's always so nice to get home, Alex and I always say that we'd love to live in Brooklyn for at least a year at some point because our time there is always so "reach-for-the-stars, over-the-fence, World Series kind of stuff" (**I want to be your friend if you know where that quote is from**) and leaving is always so hard. It was a dreamy long weekend/birthday trip that was wrapped up perfectly by a family dinner at my parent's house on Sunday night.

Waking up to the sound of my "Work" labeled alarm this morning made me wish teleporting back in time were an option because this past weekend was just THAT good. 

xo