Buttermilk Banana Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Icing.

On days where absolutely nothing goes right, I banana bread. There's just something so satisfying about smashing bananas with a fork, beating butter and sugar, and turning it all into cake. Especially a bundt cake... since everyone knows that bundt cakes are just effortlessly-baked cakes which are fancy, circular quick breads which means you just had cake for breakfast.

This sweet, dense, golden brown banana cake was everything I needed last week. If the secret to a perfectly-moist, sweet banana bread is overripe, mostly brown bananas (and a dash of cinnamon and buttermilk), then the secret to an in-your-face stressful week is an apartment that smells like warm, baked banana bread and the satisfaction of making something successful happen all on your own.

... and then pouring icing all over it. 


Icing this cake was a challenge. As I was smashing bananas into this cake, I kept thinking... don't do it. Do. Not. Do. It.

Do not brown that butter. Do not even think about browning the butter. Brown butter icing? Stop it. Do something new. Do something with chocolate. Something with... peanut butter. Or rum! 

Wait. You're still thinking about it. What are you... DROP THE BUTTER. 

Well. There was only one way that was ever really going to go. 

I fell in love with rich, nutty-sweet brown butter icing when I made a pumpkin buttermilk cake last fall and knew immediately when I pulled this cinnamon-spiced banana cake out of the oven that it would be that icing I poured all over the top of this thing. 

And staring down at that just-moments-ago-glazed-cake makes me realize what a good decision that was... and also crave an iced chocolate cake doughnut like nobody's business. It does look like a giant doughnut, right? Is it just me?

Note: do not write about sugar and cake at 7:16 in the morning.

Note: make giant doughnuts happen. 

Another helpful tip? Sift your powdered sugar before whisking in the vanilla and brown butter for your icing. If you're lazy/rushed and desperate for a slice of cake for dinner like me, you'll end up with these unappealing clumps in your icing. Not a big deal... just not very pretty.

This cake was nearly a chocolate chip-banana situation, but since the last two banana breads I baked were extra-sweet and full of chocolate and fresh berries (dark chocolate raspberry banana bread and white chocolate cranberry streusel banana bread), I really just wanted a banana bread so good and plain it could stand alone without all the add-ins.

Except, you know. For the mini chocolate chips I sprinkled on top.

I can't even. 

Buttermilk Banana Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Icing 

Printable Recipe

Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium bananas)

Icing
1/2 cup butter (confession: I always use salted butter)
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 tablespoons milk
Mini chocolate chips for sprinkling, if desired

Preheat oven to 350°F. Flour and butter a 10-inch bundt pan (or spray with nonstick cooking spray); set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the softened butter and granulated sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated, then add the vanilla. 

Using a large spoon, stir in half of the flour mixture until just incorporated. Stir in the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour mixture. Quickly fold in the mashed bananas. 

Pour into prepared bundt cake pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and tests done in the center. Allow to cool 15 minutes in pan, then invert onto wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, add the powdered sugar to a medium bowl. Melt butter over medium heat and whisk until it begins to bubble up and foam. Continue to whisk until golden brown (more information on browning butter here). Remove from heat and pour into bowl of powdered sugar. Add milk and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Pour over top of cooled cake and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips, if desired. 

Source: Cake barely adapted from Lick the Bowl Good, originally from Southern Cakes. Icing from Amanda's Cooking.

Brown Butter Toffee & Macadamia Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies.

It's 2013... and I am still baking cookies absolutely everything with brown butter. 

I know. Now is the time for new. It's the time to be unexpected and bold, to make changes and lists and resolutions, to really get out there and live differently and adventurously and by the seat of our pants. I think it might also be the time for salads and juicing and getting ourselves to the gym... but let's just pretend no one ever said that. 

I mean, be real: let's celebrate the new year with salads! ... said absolutely no one ever.

Personally I think January is more about taking the best bits of 2012 and infusing them into our new year. Like... how I ate my weight in milk chocolate toffee-covered macadamia nuts last fall in Hawaii. How I discovered a favorite new way to bake perfect chocolate chip cookies... and fell in love with a simple fancy way to sass up basically anything: golden, nutty brown butter. 

Since 2012 started with triple fudge oreo cruch cookies, I'm of the mind that 2013 should start exactly the same: with loaded-up chocolate chip cookies. 

Unrelated: should I be worried that most of my new year's resolutions have to do with butter and brown sugar? Like... bake on the edge, be more adventurous, create new recipes, try new things, figure out vanilla beans, and seriously... bake a pie. No? Okay, good. 

There are some new things happening here though! Things like... there are nuts in my chocolate chip cookies. This is definitely an unexpected seat-of-the-pants situation... because the only thing I ever want in my chocolate chip cookies is more chocolate.

Oh hey. There's sea salt on these cookies too. That's totally living bold.

And there's this one new shiny, cherry-red thing in my life. It's totally not a big deal except it is.

In love/obsessed/cannot even deal.

These cookies are also kind of a big deal and start with my go-to chocolate chip cookie base (and one of my personal most-made cookie recipes from last year): brown butter chocolate chunk cookies. They were an instant 2012 favorite... buttery soft, perfectly chewy, extra thick, and full of that rich, nutty brown butter flavor that made them something more than just another chocolate chip cookie.

As if "just another" chocolate chip cookie could ever be a bad thing.

And the rest is just straight cookie math. 3/4 cup of everything within arm's reach went into these cookies. Crushed milk chocolate-covered toffee pieces + dark chocolate chips + chunks of macadamia nuts + a sprinkle of sea salt = the only way to really start the new year.

And... done. We're officially in this 2013 thing. Happy new year (21 days late)!

Brown Butter Toffee & Macadamia Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

3/4 cup crushed toffee pieces (I used Heath milk chocolate toffee bits)

Coarse sea salt for sprinkling on top

Brown 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon butter (more information on browning butter here). Once butter is browned, remove from heat and pour into a 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 beat until incorporated. Add the slightly cooled brown 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 speed until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips, macadamia nuts, and toffee pieces with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 375°F. Scoop dough into balls using a small cookie scoop and place 2-inches apart on a lightly greased or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Allow to cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. 

Source: Brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe from the Joy the Baker cookbook.

Top Ten Recipes of 2012.

2012, you got in there and got it done. 

Somehow between moving, starting a new job, un-long distancing my relationship, traveling three times, always, always unpacking, watching and re-watching The Hunger Games, and figuring out just how to be an adult, I somehow found time to brown that butter, bake a whole lot of cookies, and put chocolate chips in basically everything. 

It was a good year... and you were there! I know this because all numbers point to you being just as obsessed with brown butter and chocolate as I am. What were you into this year? I'll totally tell you. 

10. Cheesecake Cookie Sandwiches Two Ways: Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk & Strawberry Shortcake

This year's go-to chocolate chip cookie sandwiched around a creamy cheesecake filling + the origins of my brown butter obsession. If you haven't put that rich, nutty brown butter flavor in your chocolate chip cookies, then I may have a New Year's resolution for you. 

9. Coconut Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies were inspired by my fleeting springtime obsession with mocha coconut coffee. Crunchy, toasted bites of coconut, mini chocolate chips, and a whole lot of coffee flavor.

8. Oreo-Truffle Swirled Chocolate Chip Cookies

Inside my head I'm constantly thinking a whole lot of crazy. Like ... what would Oreo cheesecake taste like swirled into a chocolate chip cookie? These cookies were brought to you by that kind of thinking. 

7. Cinnamon Pumpkin Spice Kiss Blossoms

The very best thing I baked this fall and the first thing that'll come out of my oven October 1, 2013: chewy cinnamon cookies rolled in sugar and topped with a pumpkin spice Kiss. 

6. No-Bake Coconut Graham Cracker Bars

These no-bake bars are a total picnic/summertime situation. A layer of graham crackers + a sugary coconut pecan pie-like filling + more graham crackers + a cream cheese frosting = the only kind of math I can handle during the summer.

5. Banana Monkey Bread Muffins

These were one of the only muffins I made during 2012... and they're the reason "make more muffins" is on my 2013 baking list. If you love banana bread and you love monkey bread, these muffins are basically the best thing ever... especially warm from the oven and freshly-glazed.

4. I Want To Marry You Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies made in a pot on the stovetop and full of oats, cinnamon, chocolate, and white chocolate chips. I may not have a ring on my finger... but these cookies got me whisked away to Monterey for a romantic weekend of ocean, sand, aquarium dates, one or four margaritas. 

3. Triple Fudge Oreo Crunch Cookies

Why are we all so obsessed with Oreos? I have no idea, but this is what last January looked like to me... the first cookies I made 300 miles from home.

2. Chocolate Crinkle Kiss Cookies

I posted these cookies just one month and they're already the second most viewed recipe of 2012. Did you put these in your Christmas? These were the cookies that got me through all of December, through the Christmas shopping, late-night wrapping, and those moments I'm not even ashamed of where I needed a cookie to just plain function.

1. Cakey Lemon Bar "Brownies"

Somedays these cakey lemon bar brownies are all I can think about... and I'm so happy they're your most viewed, most favorite of 2012 too. Thick and dense as a chocolate brownie, covered in a sweet lemon icing, and baked with a crazy good/totally necessary amount of fresh lemon juice and zest? Stop it. This is a "when life gives you lemons" situation I hope 2013 finds myself in.

Did you bake any of these this year? What was your favorite? What would you like to see more of in the coming year? Inspire me! 

Brownie-Swirled Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies.

In the next 48 hours, I will somehow pull it all together. I will work 21 hours, finish Christmas shopping, wrap everything, bake a few last-minute gifts, clean the apartment, do laundry, figure out why there is still a jar of salted caramel in my car, pack everything within reach, and drive 300 miles home for Christmas.

Until then, moments of stress stitched together with moments of pure Christmas magic.

And fat, pillow-y, soft-baked chocolate chip cookies stitched together with fudgy swirls of chocolate brownies and a handful of dark/mint chocolate chips.

Because buying wrapping paper is stressful and nothing is more real than that.

And it all starts here.

Dark chocolate and mint chocolate chips that I bought in November with no real intention of baking with. You could just as easily use a comination of semisweet/dark chocolate and white chocolate chips and spike the cookie dough with peppermint extract if these minty green morsels aren't available to you. December just seems like the appropriate time for spiking cookie dough, if there ever was an appropriate time.

Then these happened.

And by happened I mean... you only need 2 1/2 of these brownies. Yeah. You just made brownie-swirled mint chocolate chip cookies and you have brownies to offer up as last-minute holiday gifts. You are in there and getting it done!

Could we add a few drops of peppermint extract to the brownie mix before baking? I think that could easily become a thing too. I'd definitely leave that out for Santa with the banana bread.

Brownie-Swirled Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Nestle Dark Chocolate + Mint Morsels
2 cups prepared brownies, cut into small cubes (about 2 1/2 large brownies)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand or electric mixture, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla beating until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to butter mixture, along with chocolate chips and brownie chunks, until just combined. The dough will be extra thick!

Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough in large tablespoon-sized balls onto a greased or silpat-lined baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Source: Barely adapted from Picky Palate.

White Chocolate Cranberry Banana Streusel Bread.

This is what happens when... 

You want to bake something wintry and festive. 

Something that doesn't require a cookie scoop. 

Something cranberry and white chocolate... but in loaf form. 

It's what happens when you say, "What should I bake today?" and your boyfriend always, always answers with, "... remember that banana bread?" 

I do. I do and I love you.

It's what happens when you know you're about to go into the world to Christmas shop and the only way to get through it requires cake for breakfast.

Basically... this is what happens when you put Christmas in your banana bread.

Strip this banana bread down and it still ranks right up there with just-sugared buttons & bowknots and raspberry almond thumbprints. You know: things that come out of my oven that I absolutely cannot resist... because it's basically banana cake! Thick, dense, and... with a good crumb? Perfectly soft and cakey? Come on. Please don't make me say moist.

Quick! Whisk in some Christmas. 

It's kind of like baking pie... only not.

Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. A handful of white chocolate. Fat, juicy cranberries bursting with a tangy-tart-sweetness.

Tangy-tart-sweetness is totally a thing.

And, at the last minute, a buttery cinnamon-brown sugar streusel. Because Merry Christmas to me!

And to you! Because this is the type of quick bread you make for someone you love. I was hesitant at first about skipping cookies to bake banana bread baking cranberries into banana bread. Would it be too much? Too tangy? Too sweet, with the crunchy brown sugar topping and melted chunks of white chocolate?

Bake it and believe! One slice and it was over. This just became a new Christmas/everyday/right now tradition.

... and I don't know what you're doing Christmas Eve, but I am officially that girl leaving Santa slices of banana bread and milk. If there was ever a way to do Christmas right... this would be that.

White Chocolate Cranberry Banana Streusel Bread 

Printable Recipe

Bread 
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 large bananas)
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup fresh cranberries, tossed in 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Streusel
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

To make streusel, combine all ingredients in a bowl and cut together using a fork or pastry blender.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a large bowl with a wooden spoon), beat the sugar and softened butter until well-combined, about 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the banana, yogurt, and vanilla extract and beat until well-combined. 

Stir in the flour mixture until just moist. Do not over-mix! Gently fold in the white chocolate chips and the cranberries tossed in flour.

Pour evenly into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with streusel, then bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.* Cool 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack, then remove to wire rack and allow to cool completely.

*If the edges start to brown before the center is fully baked, carefully place folded strips of foil around the edges of the pan to keep from burning. Occasionally I'll have to place a sheet of foil over the top as well during the last 15 minutes of baking to keep the top from over-browning/burning.

Source: Adapted from my dark chocolate raspberry banana bread, originally from Recipe Boy.

Soft, Chewy White Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Cookies.

The time is now. 

In two weeks time we'll be looking back on two thousand-twelve and making our New Year's resolutions. We'll be picking out glittery dresses, skyscraper heels, getting midnight kisses and/or high-fives, and putting rum and cake vodka in basically everything.

So I hear. I wouldn't know. I'll still be drinking peppermint coffee and eating gingerbread things.

I've been stress-baking my way through December, but it's time to face the facts: Christmas is in eleven days. Eleven. Days. No more I need to Christmas shop... but I think I'll make peppermint bark instead. I spent how much on Amazon? I really should make banana bread. My boyfriend and I can't decide where we'll spend Christmas... and my phone bill just came?

Sounds like a bundt cake situation to me.

Can we just stop? Put down the whisk and just chill?

My favorite Christmas moments aren't the ones I spend stressing about what needs to get done... they're the moments in between the Christmas shopping and present-wrapping. Sticking peanut butter cups in a peanut butter cookie. Driving around with my family with no purpose but hot chocolate and Christmas lights. That moment when there's a new present under the tree and I am 100% certain it's for me. Finding the perfect gift for someone. Hiding new ornaments on the tree while watching The Holiday so no one knows it's December 14th and I'm still buying cupcake and/or elephant shaped ornaments.

I think we should just skip New Years resolutions this year and make Christmas resolutions instead. Like... slow down, breathe, enjoy the season. Sing more carols. Watch The Santa Clause. Spend an afternoon hidden in a coffee shop with a half-finished good book and a stack of Christmas cards. Let's do all that instead.  

Wait. Work is calling? They want what?

Nope. Gingerbread cookies with white chocolate chips. I can't even deal.

Soft, Chewy White Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 package white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the shortening, brown sugar, egg, and molasses until smooth and creamy. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves until combined. Add to molasses mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in white chocolate chips.

Scoop onto an ungreased baking sheet at least 2 inches apart using a cookie scoop (or roll in tablespoon-sized balls) and bake for 10-11 minutes, until lightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool for at least three minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Source: Barely adapted from Hanging On by a Needle and Thread.