Tag Archives: dessert

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Guys, I absolutely have to share these. Normally, I share recipes that I make in my own lil’ Chicago kitchen. I cook, I photograph, I process pictures, I write the post–and all this can take a little time to pull together. So in this case, I’m making an exception and completely scrapping the process, because I can’t wait to share these until the baking impulse hits me. Because then you’d be without this recipe for another month. Or two . . . or three. And, considering the cookies at hand, that delay would be unpardonable.

Veronica (from Veronica’s Cornucopia) is a wonderful blogger who I’ve been following for a long time. I never knew when I started blogging that I would start to actually care for the people that I interact with online, but it’s happened! Even though we have never met face to face, Veronica has become very dear to my heart. She blogs about cooking (with fabulous blue-ribbon winning recipes), life, marriage, and funny childhood stories. In other words . . . everything! Right up my alley, in case you hadn’t noticed the, um, name of my blog.

Anyway, Veronica recently did a giveaway on her blog, with the prize of a dozen of her blue-ribbon winning chocolate chip cookies. Destiny acted, and I was picked as the winner.

Thank you Veronica, and thank you destiny.

I am here to say: please follow this link. Please visit Veronica’s blog. And please make these cookies.

The day I received the package, I tore it open with glee. I was starved at this point in the afternoon, and my coffee was mighty lonesome with no sweet treat standing by.

That all changed as I opened the ziploc bag and consumed the first cookie.

Crisp and chewy all at once. A gloriously perfect proportion of chocolate chips. They look a little dry/crumbly in these pictures, but that’s just an illusion. Once you take a bite, they are soft inside and absolutely divine in flavor.

The ingredients include vinegar, ground up oatmeal, and brown butter, and these unusual components come together to form my idea of chocolate chip perfection, which I had assumed would take decades to find.

Please make them, and if you have a few minutes, stop by to say hi to Veronica. I wish I could share a bite with you all . . .

. . . then again, I think I’ll keep these all to myself.

Though I have no step by step pictures this time ’round, I’m not completely neglecting my duties, so here’s the printer-friendly version for you:

Click here for printer-friendly version: Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Blueberry Port Cobbler

Blueberries were recently on sale at my grocery store–$5 for 2 pounds! This blueberry cobbler was the result. I had seen it just a few days prior on Soup Addict’s blog (who in turn took her inspiration from Paul Deen), switched out the Grand Marnier for Port and called it Rin Tin Tin.

Of course, this cobbler didn’t take care of all those blueberries, so I did what any other rational, sensient being would do and simply drowned the rest of them in heavy cream. With a sprinkling of sugar. Ahoy mateys! What ho! It looketh to me piratey eyes like we’ve spotted a cream-lovin’ land-lubber! With all that cream she will turn into blubber! Lubber-blubber! Oh hoh hoh and a bottle or rum!

I realize that little flight of fancy made no sense. For accuracy’s sake, please strike the ‘sensient’ and ‘rational’ descriptors above, and for heaven’s sake let’s move on before this post completely disintegrates into nonsense.

Ingredients

(Serves 6)

2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
3 TBS cup water
1 cup sugar, divided
1 TBS corn starch
1 TBS Port
1 pinch freshly ground nutmeg

4 TBS butter
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk

Yikes! I’m already forgetting ingredients.

This guy was hiding out in the liquor cabinet. Yo hoh hoh and a bottle of port, say I.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Put the butter in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish, and place it in the oven to melt.

Grab yon cute yellow pot.

Pour in the berries, 1/2 of the sugar . . .

. . . and the water.

I should note that though I used 1/4 cup of water when I made it, I reduced the amount to 3 TBS in the printable recipe (linked at the bottom of the post) per Soup Addict’s recommendation. You’ll see why later.

Heat the fruit over medium high until it’s boiling, and add the cornstarch.

Stir in the cornstarch, and add the nutmeg . . .

. . . and port.

In fact, next time I’ll probably just substitute the water for port.

Now turn down the heat to low, and simmer it for 10 minutes.

Mix the flour, remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl, combining well so that there are no lumps.

(I gave it a quick sift with my fingers to make sure–no one wants a baking powder surprise hidden in the batter)

Add the milk in slowly, stirring vigorously, to prevent clumping.

Pour the flour/milk mixture into the baking dish over the melted butter. I should note that Soup Addict’s batter looked much thicker than mine. I have no idea why. I think I’ll blame the kitchen imps–the same ones that try to cause something to fall out of the freezer every time I open it. I’m not naming names–but they know who they are.

Don’t stir the batter and butter together! Just let them coexist–together, but separate.

Spoon the fruit over top, ladling in the syrup at the end.

Beautiful!

And I love the deep magenta color of the berry syrup.

Mmmm. I want to bathe myself in it. Or possibly have a dress made in that exact shade.

Bake the cobbler for 40-50 minutes. The batter should rise to the top . . .

Mine didn’t.

It stubbornly decided to bake up differently than Soup Addict’s cobbler.

But it was still awesome.

The sides pulled away easily from the baking dish.

It’s the butter at work, I can tell you that much.

My cobbler turned out more like a berry sauce with floating bits of deliciously spongey cake. See? It’s like a (thick) fruit soup in there.

Not that I’m complaining, mind you. But this is the reason behind the after-the-fact reduction of the water to 3 TBS in the printable recipe, which will hopefully reduce the soupiness of yours.

Serve with ice cream!

It stores well in the fridge, and when you reheat it the next day, the cake is just as spongey.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Blueberry Port Cobbler