Brown Butter Peanut Butter Truffle Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been experimenting with brown butter lately. Before I made it for the first time a couple weeks ago, I did not care for it....I did not know of its powers...I was missing out. Then while I was melting the butter to create brown butter for the first time, I knew. I knew what it must feel like to be in Snape's potion class at Hogwarts whipping up a love potion because after first smell of the browning butter, I was in love. Who knew that just melting the butter for a few minutes and allowing it to brown could change its flavor profile completely. What kind of witchcraft is this!?! I will never look at butter the same. 

About theses cookies. I couldn't resist them when I saw they are made with brown butter. Little did I know that I was baking cookies that could possibly replace our currency. Next time you go get gas, offer the cashier one of these cookies as payment and that should suffice. These went fast. As in, less than 24 hours. Although, there were seven boys in my house last night, so I guess 24 hours is really not that much of a feat. As my friend Mark (one of those cookie-snatching boys I was speaking about earlier) was eating one, he took a bite and said "hey, these are actually pretty good".. he then walked away and a few seconds later he returned with another cookie. I eyed him suspiciously and asked how many cookies he had actually eaten...I don't remember hearing a response coming from his cookie filled mouth. I'm convinced he ate at least four last night. Now you know how I bake so much and am not extremely overweight....I have boys around every corner and in every crevice of my house to eat what I make, thankfully. I did have one before swim practice this morning though. I was going to workout. I burned it off. Then I got home and had another one. I had just worked out. I burned enough calories to eat a cookie. Life is good. 

The peanut butter truffles are hand mixed into this cookie dough until just incorporated and complement the chocolate and brown butter smashingly. This is not a full on peanut butter cookie, but that doesn't mean these cookies don't have a mean peanut butter flavor. Think of these cookies as a chocolate chip cookie gone rouge...they are bad and they know it. 

From: Budding Baktress
Ingredients:

Peanut Butter Truffles

- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Cookies

- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 granulated sugar

- 2 large eggs, at room temperature

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

1. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with foil and spray with no-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix powdered sugar and peanut butter until smooth. Spread in baking dish and flatten with hands. Place in freezer for at least 30 minutes.

2. To brown butter, melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Whisk frequently and heat until it's golden brown and giving off a nutty aroma. 

3.Remove from heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl; allow to cool to room temperature. This is important because if not cooled to room temperature, the warm butter can cause the cookie to be flat after baking.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. 

5. Remove peanut butter truffles and cut or tear into small pieces; place back in freezer for at least ten minutes. They won't look perfect and don't have to be cut into perfect squares...as you can tell.


Try and resist nibbling on these truffles...I dare you!

6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and browned butter. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. 

7. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour, baking soda, and salt until just incorporated. 

8. Fold in chocolate chips. Gently fold in chunks of peanut butter truffle. You want them to be visible, not completely blended into the dough. (Note: This makes a lot of peanut butter truffles. Use as much or as little of it as you want!) I used about three fourths of the truffles.

9. Scoop onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, flatten slightly with hand, and bake for 9-12 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

Turtle Pie

Sometimes I get a hankering for pie. Pie is one of those desserts that you don't always have handy and is therefore put on a pedestal as a special treat. It takes a deliberate effort and timeliness in making. It's more casual than cake but more grandiose than cookies. In our book, it meets all of the criteria for a simply decedant dessert: Southern by nature, includes buttery flavors, makes the mouth water at just the idea of it. 

Turtle Pie

crust

1 1/4 cups pecan halves or pieces (6 to 7 ounces), toasted, divided

1 plentiful cup of finely crushed graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

6 or 7 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

sauce and filling

3/4 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons dark corn syrup

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 pints (4 cups) premium vanilla ice cream, divided

ganache topping

Almost 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Almost 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tablespoons dark corn syrup

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

Directios:

crust

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Using on/off turns, finely chop 1 cup pecans in processor; transfer to medium bowl. Mix in graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Drizzle butter over; blend until evenly moistened. Press mixture firmly over bottom and up sides of 9-inch glass pie dish (not on rim).
  
  
• Bake crust until golden brown, about 12 minutes (if crust puffs, press firmly back into place). Cool crust completely. Wrap in foil and freeze at least 1 hour.

sauce and filling

• Bring first 3 ingredients to boil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking until sugar dissolves. Boil caramel 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. Turn off heat; whisk in butter, vanilla, and salt. Cool completely.

• Slightly soften 1 cup vanilla ice cream in microwave on low in 10-second intervals. Spread ice cream evenly in frozen pie crust; spread 1/4 cup caramel over. Freeze pie until ice cream and caramel are firm, about 1 hour. Repeat with remaining vanilla ice cream in three 1-cup portions and caramel in two 1/4-cup portions. Freeze pie overnight. Cover and reserve remaining caramel at room temperature.

ganache topping

• Combine chocolate, cream, and corn syrup in medium metal bowl. Place over saucepan of simmering water and whisk until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla and salt. Cool ganache at room temperature until thick but still pourable, about 30 minutes.
• Pour ganache evenly over frozen pie. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup pecans **.
  
  

** I toasted these pecan halves but butter and 
brown sugar on broil for about 2 mins

• Freeze until ganache is firm, at least 45 minutes. Drizzle decoratively with 1/4 cup reserved caramel. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep frozen. Cover and chill remaining caramel.

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  
• Let pie stand 10 minutes at room temperature. Rewarm remaining caramel, stirring over low heat. Cut pie into wedges and serve with caramel.

Valentines Dessert: Chocolate Espresso Semifreddo

So you are craving ice cream, but you open the fridge and all that is to be found is a bag of frozen peas and a lunch box ice pack. You really want a nice, smooth, frozen treat though. You close the fridge door in defeat and opt to snack on some old store bought cookies. Well, put those cookies down and listen to what I have to share with you. Semifreddo. Aka Semifreakindelicious. This is the next best thing to ice cream, and if you have a few eggs, some cream cheese, whipping cream and chocolate you are well on your way to fulfilling your frozen dessert dreams :) The only problem with this though is that you must make it a few hours prior to eating to give it time to freeze. Waiting for it to freeze might be some of the worst or best hours of your life. Knowing what awaits your taste buds is certainly enough to make you happy but realizing how long you must wait will probably/most definitely make you unhappy. But first things first: let me share the procedures to what may seem like a very difficult dessert to make, but trust me, you can do it!

This dessert involves a lot of steps, so it will be helpful to cut, measure, soften, melt, or anything else that needs to happen to the ingredients prior to preparing it. I found myself rushing to chop chocolate and crack eggs while I was trying to whisk some whipping cream while cooking a cookie crust. Whoo. I ended up making a mistake(oops). I used egg whites where there was supposed to be egg yolks, so I ended up with more egg whites then called for. So don't feel like you must be a great baker to make this. I already messed this recipe up by adding extra egg whites, so I got you on that.  Just read the directions, and then read them again, and then once more. Maybe one more time for safe measures.

This was THE PERFECT Valentines day dessert. Smooth, rich, and chocolaty with a  strong coffee flavor and a nice crunchy cookie crust. Throw some strawberries and drizzled chocolate on top and you have something that will impress all the people you love. This might remind you of last year's Valentines dessert seeing as though it had strawberries, Kahlua, and chocolate too. I just love that combination. You can never go wrong with it. 

Chocolate Espresso Semifreddo
From: Brown Eyed Baker
Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1¾ cup chocolate cookie crumbs (I used chocolate cream filled Oreos)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the semifreddo:

• 3 ounces espresso (I used dark roast coffee)
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon Kahlua or coffee liquor
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (or chocolate chips)
• 16 ounces cream cheese or Mascarpone cheese(softened or room temp.)
• 2 ounces heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
2. Combine the cookie crumbs and melted butter and press into the bottom of the springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. Over a double boiler, whisk together the YOLKS (not whites) and 2 tablespoons of sugar until it is pale yellow and thick. Add espresso, Kahlua, and vanilla. 

 Separating the eggs and measuring out Kahlua and coffee.

 *This is supposed to be egg yolks in the double boiler, but I decided to be completely oblivious and add egg whites. 

4. Place over simmering water and whisk continuously and vigorously until liquid coats the back of a spoon and the mixture is thick and foamy.

 5. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until melted and continue stirring until cooled.

6. In a separate bowl, stir together the cream cheese and heavy cream until smooth. Do not over stir. Make sure our cream cheese is very soft so it does not become clumpy.

7. Place egg whites and 1/3 cup sugar in a mixing bowl. Whip on medium high until stiff peaks form. 

8. Fold the cream cheese mixture into the chocolate mixture until there are no streaks left.

9. Fold 1/4 of the meringue (egg white mixture) into the chocolate-cream cheese mixture. Fold in the remaining meringue in three parts. Do not overmix. 

10. Spread the mixture over the baked crust in the pan. Tightly cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours.

10. When ready to serve, run a warm, dry knife around the sides of the pan, then loosen and remove the sides of the pan. Decorate with a drizzle of melted chocolate and fresh berries, if desired. Serve cold and cut slices with a warm, dry knife. Store in freezer.  

-Sarah-