Brown Butter Cookie Company- Y.U.M.!

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Cheer up, Old Bean!

Thank you for making the switch!!

Caramel Salted Cookies or what I call "Legal Crack"

These cookies are amazing- I mean they are soooo delicious you'll eat 10 before you even realize what you've done. They are also incredibly easy to make, which is not always a plus, because well- I make them at a drop of a hat! So these cookies are adapted from this recipe at Weight Watchers. I'm pretty sure that the things I changed or adapted didn't affect the caloric values etc.... So I'd say whatever the weight watchers recipe says for nutritional info is probably the same- BUT I don't know this for a fact. So here goes: The recipe in pics (ingredients, measurements and baking instructions below pics). :)

a few of the great ingredients!

the packed brown sugar. I leave about a 1/4 inch of the cup to be filled with the maple sugar.

the maple sugar filling the remaining portion of the cup. This is the way I measure it every time so I don't know the exact measurements for the brown and maple sugar. This, is where I am not a rocket scientist!

creaming the butter, sugars, vanilla and egg.

the finished dough, with the all purpose and whole wheat flours, salt and baking soda. (and my ripened bananas in the background ready for this recipe that I found on Pinterest, that I've been meaning to blog about myself)

YUM!!! The finished cookie with the salt sprinkled on. I have a confession- I ate this cookie before it cooled completely. :) oops!

and now for the ingredients list.

1/2 cup butter- I use salted sweet cream butter- the original calls for unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar- this is where I really vary the recipe. I fill the 1 cup scoop up and pack the brown sugar until there is about 1/4 inch left. Then I pour maple sugar in the remaining 1/4 inch in the cup and lightly pack it down.  Maple sugar is my secret weapon in this recipe. I use Coombs Family farms but I just saw the Trader Joes is carrying it. see photos 2 and 3 for an illustration of what I do.
1 Large egg
1 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla extract- this is also a variation on the original which calls for only 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  I also use homemade brandy vanilla that a friend made for me, so make sure you use a good vanilla, not imitation!
1 Cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt- plus a little extra for sprinkling on the top. Make sure your sea salt is a fine grain, like a table salt consistency
1/2 teaspoon baking soda.

instructions:
pre-heat oven to 400 F
cream butter, sugar, egg and vanilla.
add flours, salt and baking soda.
beat until combined.

On parchment paper lined cookie sheets roll cookie balls the size of large gum balls and place them evenly on the cookie sheets. bake for 7 mins 30 seconds. Honestly, that's how long! I've tried it for 8 mins and while they are still good, they end up being a little crunchier than I personally like- taking them out 30 seconds earlier is perfect. Of course all ovens vary. They will seem like they are not ready to come out but trust me the are, they will be light golden brown around the edges.

Let them sit on the cookie sheets while you ready your cooling racks and get your sea salt for sprinkling ready. Transfer warm cookies to cooling racks and sprinkle a*small* amount of sea salt on the top. The salt will melt slightly on your warm cookie and stick to the cookie when it cools.

Let cool and EAT!!!! YUMMMMMMM!!!!!! (and just maybe share?!?)

Cookie in a Cupcake- livin' the dream

This is a recipe that I found on Pinterest and modified to suit our tastes. It looked too good to ignore!! It's not vegan, it's not completely organic and it's not remotely good for you- but man does it taste good!!! (I apologize for the bad lighting in the photos, my camera broke and I'm having to use my phone (which is nothing fancy and has no flash), and of course I chose to make these at night).

Cookie in a Cupcake

So first things first, I didn't have enough time to make both

the cookie and cake batter from scratch- so I purchased Trader Joe's chocolate cake mix and followed the directions. I did however make the cookie dough from scratch (and frosting for that matter). The only modification that I made on the cookie dough was substituting maple sugar (yes that says sugar and not syrup) for the white refined sugar, cuz I don't keep any in the house and have no plans to use it. It is not a direct 1 to 1 ratio. For every cup of sugar a recipe calls for you substitute 3/4 cup of maple sugar. I did however use the brown sugar that the recipe calls for- I don't feel as bad using that. :)

below is a photo of the finished cookie batter and the bake batter in the cupcake tin.

The first step after you make both batters is to pour the cake batter into the cupcake tin about 2/3rds of the way. Roll cookie dough into a large marble sized ball and drop in the center of the cake batter. Complete this step for all of the cupcakes. In a pre-heated 350 degree oven, place the completed cake/cookie combo. Bake cupcake for 21-23 mins. Your finished, unfrosted cupcake should look like the photo on the right below....

While the cupcakes were baking I made the buttercream frosting. (recipe to follow below-I forgot to take pictures while I was making it so no photos of the frosting process but you can see if on the finished cupcake- which I tinted mint green, just for fun.)

After the cupcakes cooled I put the frosting into a ziplock bag and snipped off the end to make a frosting bag. I piped the frosting in circles on the finished cupcakes. Because this is a buttercream frosting it sets up quite firm when refrigerated which is nice on one hand cuz the frosting holds its shape once on the cupcake but on the other hand you want to let the refrigerated cupcake warm to room temp before you eat it so the frosting is softer.

Below is the completed cookie in a cupcake- they are soooooo good!!!!

(read on for the frosting recipe)

Buttercream frosting recipe. :) Also found on Pinterest.

1 cup of softened butter- use salted butter instead of unsalted for a better taste.

4 tablespoons of half and half

4 cups of powdered sugar

3 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

put softened butter in mixer (or use a hand mixer) whip the butter. Add the half and half, and whip some more. Once the butter and half and half are mixed, slowly mix in the sugar. Once that is mixed add the vanilla- mix some more and voila! Delicious buttercream frosting!! This frosting will melt so be warned- don't put it on warm cupcakes, or leave the frosted cupcakes/cake out for too long- it won't be pretty!