Brown Butter Cranberry Bliss Bars.

One of my favorite Starbucks holiday treats- soft, chewy, buttery blondies full of cranberries and chunks of white chocolate, all under a layer of white chocolate-spiked cream cheese frosting, cranberries, a hint of orange, and white chocolate drizzles.

As much as Pinterest would have me believe, December isn't always all twinkle lights and snow days.

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It's also a dizzying blur of holiday parties, family, presents, tradition, getting things done, celebrating, spreading peace and joy, and, let's just be real with it: that balance of too many late-night peanut butter blossoms and rainy days spent running.

How do you make time for yourself in these twenty-five days of rushing and wrapping? I handle my holiday stress in one of two ways (if we're not counting champagne. And we're not... since we all know champagne doesn't count in December): either immediately find my way to a coffee shop and a sugar-free peppermint iced coffee with too much cream or I stress-bake.

These white chocolate blondie bars combine both of those simple, guilty pleasures: my favorite Starbucks holiday treat (cranberry bliss ❤) and just enough time spent in my tiny kitchen browning butter, zesting an orange, and breaking white chocolate into chunks to distract myself from everything else I should really be doing.

The base for these cookie bars is a buttery-soft, chewy blondie full of dried cranberries, chunks of white chocolate, and just enough cinnamon to know they mean business. The original recipe called for melted butter whisked together with brown sugar. I went one step further (because it's December and all) and baked these with brown butter.

I know. I'm already asking you to zest an orange and make cream cheese frosting with white chocolate drizzles. But in the time it would take you to order a Starbucks latte and wait in the drive-thru on a rainy Saturday afternoon is the exact amount of time it will take you to brown your butter. It's an extra step, but it is so, so worth it. The brown butter adds a rich, nutty flavor that complements the brown sugar and cranberry flavors so perfectly.

All that white chocolate. These Starbucks copycats have officially nestled their way onto my must-bake Christmas list, right between the peanut butter cup treats and cut-out sugar cookies.

Brown Butter Cranberry Bliss Bars

Printable Recipe

Blondies

3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped

Frosting

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 ounces white baking chocolate, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Prep. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13-inch with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper.

Brown your butter. Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until golden brown. Once butter is browned, remove from heat. Stir in brown sugar and pour into the bowl of an electric mixer. Allow to cool to room temperature. (For more information on how to brown butter, see my post here.)

Whisk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. 

Mix. When brown butter mixture has cooled to room temperature, mix in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until smooth. Stir in cranberries and chopped chocolate (batter will be thick!) 

Bake. Spread blondie batter into prepared pan. Bake for 18-21 minutes (I baked mine for 19 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake! Cool completely before frosting. 

Frost. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined. Gradually orange zest and half of the melted chocolate; beat until blended. Frost blondies. 

Sprinkle + cut. Sprinkle with chopped cranberries and drizzle with remaining white chocolate. Let frosting set before cutting into triangles or squares. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. 

Source: Adapted from Taste of Home.

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Baking with fresh summer berries is the one thing that's always on my summer bucket baking list... and the one thing I overlook each and every summer (along with homemade pie crust)... usually in favor of all things and everything ever s'mores.

But did you know? July 10th was National Blueberry Muffin Day! How did you celebrate? Tell me there were muffin-shaped cake pops and purple party streamers. Can I tell you how I celebrated those berry-studded muffins? Because I totally didn't.

I baked blueberry cupcakes instead! 

Sometimes finding the inspiration for baking comes simply from wanting to do the things I love. Like frosting sugary swirls onto cupcakes or baking with bright colorful blueberries. It's the little things.

For these, there was absolutely no baking daydreaming involved... which is totally a thing I am constantly doing. Somedays I just want to brown butter. Other days, just give me a reason to bake with rainbow sprinkles. Just let me live my life.

Today was simple. I just wanted to zest some lemons!

I cannot be the only one out there who loves zesting citrus and these warm, sunny, summertime days are perfect for baking little lemon cakes. Just look at the flecks of lemon in these fluffy cakes and cream cheese frosting!

These soft, cakey lemon cupcakes are full of lemon zest, fresh lemon juice, and bursting tangy-sweet blueberries... and they are one of the best cupcakes I have ever made. Just the buttery, vanilla, sugary-sweet lemon scent alone of these berry cakes baking in my tiny apartment kitchen had me nearly ripping the door off my oven to eat the blueberry batter with a spoon.

Which is why baking with lemon is a once a year thing... because I'm completely obsessed. It's real! Two years ago I made lemon raspberry cupcakes. One year ago I made cakey lemon bar brownies. Lemon pound cake at Starbucks? Just stop. It's my weakness, even more so than the pumpkin spice scones.

I'm still not sure where the self-control came from to let these cakes cool long enough to frost. Side-by-side with a vanilla bean peanut butter cup-stuffed cupcake I would choose one of these lemon blueberry dreams everytime. That's love. They are decadent, summery, and absolutely irresistable.

And serve chilled? I can't even.

You could definitely frost these with a vanilla buttercream frosting instead. Vanilla + lemon is always a good way to live. But what made these one of the best cupcakes I've ever had was the sugary lemon cream cheese frosting. I'm not usually a fan of cream cheese frosting and will always and forever frost my cakes with a buttercream if I can, but this pillowy cream cheese frosting full of lemon zest and freshly-squeezed lemon juice reminded me a little of lemon supreme pie, one of my favorite pies with its thick layer of creamy lemon cheesecake. 

Frosting that reminds me of cheesecake? It's love.

And to top it all off? Sparkling blueberries- fresh blueberries tossed in sugar and sprinkled on top. Summer baking. We're doing it!

On a side note, unfrosted... you could totally get away with calling these cakes muffins. 

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes 

Printable Recipe

Cupcakes
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
3/4 cup cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
1 cup fresh blueberries

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Zest of 1 large lemon
Additional blueberries for garnish

Prep. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour; set aside.

Whisk. In a medium bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

Mix. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon juice. With the mixer on low, gradually mix in half of the flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the milk. Mix in the remaining half of the flour mixture until just combined.

Bake. Use a spatula to gently fold in the prepared blueberries. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Beat it. When cupcakes are completely cooled, make the frosting. Combine cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until well-combined and smooth. Mix in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until totally incorporated, increase speed to high, and mix until smooth and fluffy.

Frost! Frost your cupcakes (I used a Wilton #1M piping tip for these cupcakes). Garnish with fresh blueberries tossed in granulated sugar.

Tip: store extra cupcakes in the refrigerator. The cream cheese frosting tastes even better when served chilled and the fresh berries will keep longer.

Makes 18 cupcakes. 

Source: Annie's Eats. 

Cheesecake-Filled Gingerbread Bundt Cake.

It's two thousand and twelve and I have just discovered the bundt pan. 

I've also discovered a few other things. Like... gingerbread is a situation I like finding myself in.

Adding cheesecake is bold. Do it.

Sometimes cake for breakfast is totally a necessary thing. Is it cake if there's no buttercream though? One could argue that it's just a round, cake-y quick bread.

One could argue that every morning for a week.

I've learned that baking gingerbread will make it all about Christmas, all of it, for 40-50 minutes. It's basically baking Christmas spirit.

And on that note: let's discuss how deeply I wish I still believed in Santa.

Maybe it's being an indepedent young lady, living life with a career and a pretty permanent boyfriend and her first ever apartment. Is decorating your own Christmas tree and baking your own Christmas cookies being an adult? I think it might be.

Is reminding yourself to slow down, get off Amazon (you've ordered enough already!), keep calm, eat some gingerbread, and maybe do some laundry what being an adult is all about?

It totally is. And if it's not, don't tell me.

Maybe it's recently finding out I have to change my Christmas plans, from being with family to driving 300 miles back in the opposite direction on Christmas Eve so I can spend Christmas day working. Maybe it's that. That sudden realization definitely ended with an angry white peach margarita Saturday night.

I wish Christmas magic was still as effortless as believing in Santa. I wish that kind of wonder was something I woke up with. But I've learned that, as an adult, Christmas magic is kind of a thing you have to make for yourself. It's a real thing, don't get me wrong, but it's kind of like fitting into your jeans at the end of December. It's not going to happen unless you believe it will... and then get out there in the world and make it happen.

So I make peppermint bark at midnight. I let my boyfriend whisk me away for night of Christmas shopping, eating respectable amounts of deep-dish pizza, and seeing Rise of the Guardians... even though there's at least a hundred five other things I should be doing. I very stealthily fill out Christmas cards at work. I call home. Often. Most importantly... I try and put that magic into somebody else's life.

Sometimes that magic comes in the form of spicy gingerbread cake stuffed with a creamy, sugary cheesecake center. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it happens for breakfast.

Bundt cakes are way too easy. It's a mix-and-pour situation. And cheesecake centers? Stop it. I can totally make this happen. I'm not always patient and I'm not always as kind as I should be... but I can definitely can bake you a cake and tell you you look nice today.

And you do, really. You totally deserve cake.

This is real Christmas magic. Make it happen! 

Cheesecake-Filled Gingerbread Bundt Cake

Printable Recipe 

Filling
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg

Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup molasses
Powdered sugar, for dusting over finished cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter (or spray with a nonstick baking spray) and flour a bundt pan. 

To make the filling, beat together the softened cream cheese, sugar, flour, and egg, until well combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and ginger.

In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, oil, and molasses until well combined. Whisk into larger bowl with flour mixture until just combined and no clumps of flour remain.

Pour 1/3 of the cake mixture into the bundt pan, using the a rubber spatula to evenly spray to edges. 

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop cheesecake mixture on top of the gingerbead mixture, being careful to keep it in the center and not spread it to the edges. You want it to be a surprise baked inside your cake!

Pour the rest of the gingerbread mixture over the cheesecake, again using a spatula to gently and evenly spread it. 

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Place wire rack on top of bundt pan and inverse to remove cake. Allow to cool completely. 

Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Source: Group Recipes, originally from Taste of Home.

Oreo Truffle-Swirled Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Right now, there's only three things I want from life...

change

adventures

and chocolate chip cookies.

Sometimes I forget I'm only 25 and get stuck in "this is it" thinking.

As in... the way my life is right now is the way it's going to be forever.

So not true.

So, to snap myself out of that, I've been daydreaming up a new chapter for my life and I think I'll just be real with you and put it out there.

Basically... I think I'd like to be a grown-up Veronica Mars who just so happens to own a bakery. I think it's perfect. A handful of cops (who just so happen to look the cast of Magic Mike, if you please) will stop by  early every morning for fresh-baked bear claws and cinnamon-sugar doughnuts. I'll pour coffee and bake cinnamon rolls and definitely flirt just a little as I pester them about their cases.

Blonde hair and cinnamon rolls will make anybody talk.

Sometimes I'll cater fancy, important events for people who may or may not be involved criminal activities. Weddings. Society parties. Masquerade balls. I can totally see myself in a classy black dress, spiky, glittery heels, a diamond necklace (it's secretly a video camera), sneaking around with pepper spray and handcuffs in a silver clutch after serving red velvet cupcakes all night.

I've thought this out a little bit.

And sometimes I'll team-up with my super cute police boyfriend and go undercover. Hello, who would suspect that quiet, innocent baker girl? She bakes cookies, what could she know? Naturally this leads to all kinds of bad, epic situations... high speed car chases, breaking into abandoned buildings, dodging bullets... basically stumbling into trouble wherever I can find it.

Kind of like real life.

And, also kind of like real life, after hunting for clues, staking out suspects, and bringing down the bad guy, I'll keep it real at the end of the day, go home, and eat kettlecorn for dinner. Then I'll watch Pretty Little Liars and make Oreo truffles... which I'll swirl into chocolate chip cookies like it's a totally normal thing to do. 

Because it totally is.

These cookies.

These are the best cookies I have ever made.

Crispy edges. Rich, soft centers. Semisweet and white chocolate chips. Swirls of Oreo cheesecake truffles.

It's a chocolate chip cookie meets cookies & cream explosion.

And the only time "this is it" thinking is perfectly acceptable. Put these in your life!

Oreo Truffle-Swirled Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Recipe

Oreo Truffles
21 Oreo cookies, finely crushed
3 ounces cream cheese, softened

Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted (or browned) plus 1 tablespoon and slightly cooled
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon molasses
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Line a small baking dish with foil; set aside. Crush Oreo cookies in a food processor or blender until finely ground, then in a medium bowl, mix with softened cream cheese until truffle forms. Press into foil-lined baking dish and flatten with hands. Place in freezer for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt (or brown) 1 stick butter plus 1 tablespoon; pour into a separate bowl to cool slightly.

In a stand mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the other stick of butter with the granulated sugar until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and molasses and beat until incorporated. Add the slightly cooled butter and the brown sugar and mix on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix until fully incorporated. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add all at once to the butter mixture and mix on low until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips and white chocolate chips with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Remove Oreo truffles from freezer and cut into small pieces. Gently fold them into the cookie dough. 

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll or scoop dough into balls and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are just starting to turn golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven (I pressed mine down slightly with the back of a spatula) and let cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Source: Cookie base adapted from the Joy the Baker cookbook.

Black Bottom Cupcakes.

This summer I'm all about celebrating the little things.

You know... those everyday moments that flit by like fireflies. Those little magical moments that make summer... summer. 

Like eating kettlecorn for dinner. 

And watching every Harry Potter movie.

Getting lost in a good book and buying a new summer dress.

Aquarium dates and finally paying off your credit card. 

Sparklers. It will always be about sparklers.

It's about searching for that perfect first apartment. 

And wondering where the Christmas tree will go.

It's about summer bucket lists. (Make banana bread! Go to the drive-in! Have a picnic! Bake with berries!)

And finding artwork on somebody else's car. 

And sometimes? 

Sometimes it's about baking cupcakes on the hottest day of the year.

Moist chocolatey devil's food cupcakes stuffed with rich chocolate chip cheesecake. 

Are these on your bucket list? Because they totally should be.

They're similar to the cheesecake-filled cupcakes I made last summer... but instead of baking the cheesecake in the centers, it's spooned right on top of the cake batter, giving it a fancy-looking top that doesn't need to be frosted and a creamy rich, cheesecake center.

And... they look like muffins. So you can totally get away with eating cake for breakfast. 

Doing summer right!

P.S. Here's a tip for baking cupcakes without burning the edges and sides.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Printable Recipe

Cheesecake Filling

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup miniature chocolate chips

Cupcake Batter

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with foil liners and set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Stir in chocolate chips; set aside.

In a larger bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking, and salt until combined. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar, and vanilla. Stir together until thoroughly combined.

Fill muffin liners 1/3 full with batter. Top with a heaping spoonful of cheesecake filling. The more the better!

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until done.

Makes 21 cupcakes.

Source: All-Recipes.