Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

After just one bite everyone will be asking you for the recipe for these chewy brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies! 

So I can't believe that I don't already have a chocolate chip cookie recipe on my blog, well actually I can. I try to avoid making chocolate chip cookies  because they are my kryptonite . I mean who doesn't love a good warm gooey chocolate chip cookie straight from the oven? It is absolutely the greatest thing on earth you can't convince  me otherwise. 

These brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies take chocolate chip cookies to a whole new level. Brown butter has a delicious almost nutty caramel flavour. I really wanted to highlight that flavour, so I used mostly brown sugar in these cookies. The oats add a wonderful chewy texture to these cookies. The hint of cinnamon plays to the nutty flavour of the cookies and makes people stop mid bite to try and figure out what that mystery flavour is. It's not over powering - just enough so that you notice its there.

Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients

1 c butter
1 ½ c brown sugar
½ c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c oatmeal
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
1 ¾  c flour
1 tsp baking powder  
1 tsp baking soda
1 c chocolate chips

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350F. 

In a medium saucepan, over medium to high heat, melt butter. Once melted allow the butter to brown and caramelize in colour (3-4 minutes). Caramelized bits should start to form at the bottom of the pan. Take care not to let the butter burn. Transfer browned butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, be sure to scrape all the browned bits from the pan (they are full of flavour!). Mix on low-medium speed for about 5 minutes to allow butter to cool slightly.

While the butter is cooling, in a large bowl, whisk together, flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.

Mix sugars into the butter until combined. Mixture should resemble wet sand. Mix in eggs one at a time, scraping down the side of the bowl after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Mix in oats until just combined. Stir in flour mixture until just combined.  

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough chill for at least two hours. 

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Drop rounded table spoon of cookie dough onto lined cookie sheet. Space cookies evenly, leaving 1-2 inches between cookies. 

Bake at 350 F for 11-13 mins or until lightly browned on the bottom.

S'more Cupcakes

Nothing says summer quite like a s'more! These chocolate cupcakes are topped with a rich chocolate ganache buttercream, graham cracker crumbs and a toasted meringue frosting

I'm back! Did you miss me? I didn't mean to take such a long break between posting - but I am super excited to share these s'more cupcakes with you! I also have lots of other fun recipes to share with you over the next couple of weeks. I am so excited about all of the the delicious summer berries and stone fruits that are in season right now. But back to the cupcakes.

 After I made this Lemon Rosemary Meringue Cake, my mom surprised me with a kitchen torch! I was super excited...and a tiny bit nervous (have you seen those flames! haha) to try it out. I debated what to make first. But once the weather really started warming up, I knew that I wanted to make a twist on a summer time classic. One of my favourite things about summer is summer nights sitting around a bon fire with friends, roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. Nothing says summer more than s'mores.

These cupcakes are the perfect summer treat - great for a summer bbq, to celebrate the kids being done school or you know, just because. They have all the elements of a s'more - just in cupcake form! The chocolate cupcake base is one of my favourite go to recipes - slightly modified. It is moist and full of chocolate-y flavour. The chocolate ganache frosting is rich, smooth and creamy - I could eat it with a spoon! the crushed graham crackers add texture to the cupcake. The shinning star of these s'more cupcakes however, is the meringue frosting. It is sweet and sticky - just like a marshmallow. It also browns beautifully.  There is no doubt about it - these cupcakes are visually stunning. The combination of the different textures and flavours makes you want to dive right in and of course have s'more! 

S'more Cupcakes

Makes: 2 dozen

Ingredients 

For the Cupcakes

1/2 c hot water 

1/2 c cocoa powder 

2 1/4 c flour 

1 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp salt 

1c butter, cut into cubes

2 c sugar 

4 eggs, at room temperature

1 c sour cream 

For the Frosting

1/2 c chocolate chips 

1/4 c heavy cream 

1/2 c butter, at room temperature 

2 c icing sugar 

1 c crushed graham crackers

For the Meringue

4 egg whites

1 c sugar 

Directions

For the Cupcakes Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake pans with liners. In a small bowl, whisk together hot water, cocoa powder. In another medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

In a small sauce pan, over medium heat combine the butter and sugar. Stir occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved and the butter is melted. Remove from heat and pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. On medium, beat butter & sugar mixture until it begins to thicken and pales in colour (approx. 4-5 mins). You want to ensure the mixture has cooled slightly before adding your eggs. Add eggs one at a time, scrapping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add in cocoa mixture. Mix until incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed, add half the flour, followed by the sour cream, ending with the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until just incorporated.

Divide batter evenly into prepared cupcake liners. Fill liners 1/2-2/3rds of the way full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

For the Frosting  In a small microwave safe bowl, heat the cream for 30-40 seconds or until almost boiling. Pour over chocolate chips and stir until melted, creating a chocolate ganache, set aside. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, over medium to high speed, cream together butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in chocolate ganache until well incorporated.

For the Meringue  Over a double boiler heat together the egg white and sugar for 5 -7 minutes, whisking constantly. Transfer mixture to a clean stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk on high for 5 - 7 minutes or until stiff glossy peaks form.

To Assemble Fill pipping bag fitted with a large round tip (or coupler) with the chocolate ganache frosting. Pipe a boarder around the cupcake and roll in crushed graham crackers. Fill a second pipping bag fitted with a large star tip (Wilton tips 1M or 2D) with the meringue. Pipe meringue into the centre of the cupcake and brown using a kitchen torch.

London Fog Ice Cream

The Earl Grey tea with the hint of vanilla combined with the creaminess of the ice cream makes this London Fog ice cream hard to resist! 

Anyone else excited for the Royal Wedding this weekend? Personally, I cannot wait to see Meghan's dress! I love her style, and she is becoming such a style icon. I'll bet her dress is fabulous and will have an impact on wedding fashion for years to come. In honour of the Royal Wedding,  I made this delicious London Fog ice cream. 

I am a tea person. My shelves are filled with various varieties. From oolongs to matcha, I love them all but I always start my day with a cup of earl grey. I love a London Fog latte. The hint of vanilla with the bergamot in the tea and the creaminess of the milk - delish! One of my favourite little ice cream shops in town makes the most delicious London Fog ice cream and with their made in house cinnamon waffle cones it is heavenly! As soon as I opened my ice cream maker for Christmas, I knew that I wanted to recreate their London Fog ice cream at home. 

Ice cream always takes way longer to make then I expect. I alway forget about the multiple cooling times required to chill the custard and the ice cream. The ice cream bowl for your ice cream maker also has to chill for 12-15 hours! So while the active time for making ice cream isn't much, there is a lot of waiting around and anticipation for the finished product. Let me assure you that its worth it! Since the ice cream bowl for the mixer has to chill overnight, I decided to cold steep my earl grey in the milk overnight to extract the most flavour from the tea. By cold steeping, the tea maintains its flavour and doesn't get bitter over time. The finished ice cream has just enough Earl Grey flavour that you can identify the type of ice cream you are eating but it's not overpowering and the light vanilla flavour comes through as well. 

London Fog Ice Cream

Note: Place your ice cream maker bowl in the freezer the night before you plan to make the ice cream. The ice cream custard requires 4 hours of cooling before churring and an additional four hours in the freezer after its been churrned.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ c milk

• 6 tbsp loose leaf earl grey tea

• 4 large egg yolks

• ⅔ c sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 ½ c heavy cream

Directions:

The night before place your ice cream maker bowl in the freezer to chill. Combine cold milk and earl grey tea leaves. Allow to steep in the fridge overnight. Strain tea leaves before use.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale. The mixture will be a bright yellow at first but should pale with mixing.

In a medium saucepan, over low to medium heat, heat the tea infused milk and vanilla until lightly simmering, remove from heat.  To temper the eggs, ladle about half of the milk mixture into the egg mixture. Whisking constantly to avoid scrambling the eggs. Slowly pour the tempered egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture. Return the mixture to the heat, and stir slowly but consistently until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Stir in cream.  Chill the mixture in the fridge for at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

Once chilled completely, transfer to ice cream maker and churn ice cream according to the directions of your ice cream maker. It should take around 20 minutes to churn your ice cream and will be finished when the ice cream has a soft serve consistency. Once churned, transfer ice cream to a freezer container. Freeze until solid (approx. 4 hours).