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.

{Source}

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.

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies {with Sno-caps!}

These are my favorite chocolate chip cookies. 

For the longest time, they've been hidden away on my blog, nestled inside this Cheesecake Cookie Sandwiches Two Ways: Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk & Strawberry Shortcake post. How have I never just written about my go-to, most-baked, most boyfriend-demanded chocolate chip cookies? 

Probably the same way I missed National Bundt Cake Day. 

P.S. Do you need a bundt cake? I got you. Try my Buttermilk Banana Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Icing, Zebra Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache Icing, Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Icing, or my favorite: this Cheesecake-Filled Gingerbread Bundt Cake. It's never too late to celebrate... or too early for gingerbread.

Today we're baking Sno-caps into our chocolate chip cookies... because there are red cups and wrapping paper and twinkle lights in the world and Sno-caps (semi-sweet chocolate chips covered in white nonpareil sprinkles and resembling snow-capped mountains) are the perfect holiday twist for easing ourselves into Christmastime baking.

Tis the season, I know.. but I'm totally not ready just yet for candy canes and peanut butter blossoms. Let's start with festive chocolate chip cookies!      

What makes these my favorite chocolate chip cookies? 

n  Brown butter. You know about my love for baking everything ever with brown butter and these chocolate chip cookies is where that love all started. Besides adding a nutty, caramel-rich depth of flavor, it gives these cookies a soft chewiness that can only found when you're baking with melted butter.    

n Molasses + dark brown sugar. Molasses adds a warm, just-slightly gingerbread flavor to the dough, while keeping the centers of these cookies just-baked soft for days. The dark brown sugar (which is just light brown sugar with even more molasses) works with the molasses to create one perfectly-soft, chewy chocolate chip cookie.

 Fact: No matter what I'm baking, I almost always reach for the dark brown sugar over the golden brown.  

n  Cinnamon. I'm almost always adding a little something extra to my cookie dough and that something is either in the form of cinnamon or bourbon. Bourbon accents the vanilla/caramel flavors from the brown butter and molasses and cinnamon makes the chocolate flavors really pop.

But be honest: who really keeps bourbon in their baking cabinet? I just don't have that kind of faith in myself.

  n  Triple chocolate chips. These cookies are similar to my Triple Chocolate Chip Cake Batter Cookies... they're full of semisweet chocolate, white chocolate chips, and crispy, sprinkle-covered Sno-Caps. My weakness? White chocolate chips in my chocolate chip cookies! 

Now if Nestle would just make a white chocolate version of their semisweet chunks.

Crispy edges. Soft, chewy centers that stay just-baked for days... if they even last that long. Plus those golden specks of brown butter I can't stop talking about, cinnamon, dark brown sugar, molasses, and as many types of chocolate chips as I can possibly bake into a cookie? 

It almost makes up for not having bourbon.

Almost.

P.S. I made these cookies Saturday. They were gone within four days. 

Brown Butter Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon molasses

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips 

1 (3.1-ounce) package Sno-Caps

Brown butter. Brown 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon of butter by heating over medium heat, whisking constantly, until golden brown. Once butter is browned, remove from heat and pour into a bowl to cool slightly. For more information on how to brown butter, see this post. 

Mix. 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 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. 

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

Chill. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (Tip: The longer you chill the dough, the thicker they will become when they bake!) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Scoop dough into balls using a small cookie scoop and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.

Bake. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are just starting to turn golden brown around the edges. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Source: Adapted from the Joy the Baker cookbook.

White Chocolate Cranberry S'mores Cracker Candy.

Sometimes, during those long days when I hit a life rut, I think about writing a cookbook... because that's a thing people do and it helps me focus on what I love. 

Like toppling cupcake towers over.

And browning butter. 

And making stacks of graham cracker candy.

I think it would be full of imperfect bundt cakes... because I don't have the patience to sift powdered sugar.

I would stuff peanut butter cups inside cupcakes... because even a plain vanilla cupcake is capable of being something extraordinary.

It would probably be called Stacks on a Cake Stand... because that's my style. It's who I am. Own it!

And be real: there would be an entire chapter on brown butter. 

We learn who we are by doing the things we love. 

Baking teaches me that magic happens when you least expect it... usually right before you give up. Molasses and sugar become brown sugar, butter finally browns, and butter and sugar become smooth vanilla frosting. It teaches me to follow that thought that wonders if there's such a thing as a white chocolate cranberry s'more... or if you can ever really have too many cake stands. 

It teaches me that comparison truly takes the joy out of the things you love. Be you! 

Running teaches me to keep moving forward, one step at a time... and it teaches me that I'm capable of anything. I can beat my last mile time. I can run at 6 MPH without falling flat on my face. I can shut down that voice that tells me to slow down or give up. I'm stronger than I think and the good things I want in my life are worth fighting for.

Too deep? Let's talk brown sugar and graham crackers. 

One of my favorites things to bake is cracker candy. The possibilities are endless! A bubbling, caramel-toffee glaze of butter and brown sugar poured over a layer of salty-sweet crackers is the perfect blank canvas for any flavor, holiday, or season. 

Just look at all the combinations I've made so far...

Saltines + chocolate + crushed almonds     =      chocolate almond cracker candy 

(Every Christmas I bake at least two batches... it's my most requested holiday treat!)

Graham crackers + marshmallows + M&M candies      =      Christmas s'mores candy

Buttery Club crackers + chocolate + peanut butter chips + sea salt     =     salt river bars

Graham crackers + marshmallows + Hersheys chocolate     =     graham cracker s'mores candy

(my most popular and most pinned recipe!)

Cinnamon graham crackers + pumpkin spice marshmallows + white chocolate + toasted pecans     =     pumpkin spice s'mores cracker candy

(I love this combination... and it's the first thing I baked in my new apartment last fall!)

Today's combination is inspired by fall... and one of my favorite seasonal flavors (besides pumpkin!): white chocolate cranberry. Maybe I'm just ready for Christmas and cranberry bliss bars. Either way, let's make white chocolate cranberry s'mores a thing. 

This is what I imagine fall looks like.

Graham crackers covered in that sugary-rich toffee glaze and sprinkled with puffy marshmallows, white chocolate chips, tart dried cranberries, and toasted pecans.

So addicting, as rich as fudge, full of fall flavor, and as easy as melting butter, sugar, and sprinkling everything ever over graham crackers. 

This is fall baking. In and out... and out the door to find pumpkin spice lattes.  

 White Chocolate Cranberry S'mores Cracker Candy

Printable Recipe 

12 sheets of graham crackers
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 cups mini marshmallows
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan with aluminum foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang over the ends, and spray foil with cooking spray. Line graham crackers up on the foil so that the sides are touching.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and mixture comes just to a boil (about 4-6 minutes). Remove from heat and pour evenly over crackers. Bake 5 to 6 minutes, or until bubbly.

Remove pan from oven and immediately sprinkle mini marshmallows, white chocolate chips, pecans, and dried cranberries over the crackers. 

Return pan to oven for another 2-3 minutes, or until marshmallows begin to soften and puff up. 

Cool completely. Lift from pan using foil edges; cut into bars and enjoy!

Source: Inspired by my graham cracker s'mores candy. 

White Chocolate S'mores Sugar Cookie Bars.

Today I wanted to bake the thickest, chewiest, richest sugar cookie bars ever... and smash a layer of white chocolate s'mores inside.

Because it's summer. And because white chocolate s'mores. 

In the perfect summer I've dreamed up inside my head, I would eat nothing but s'mores, margaritas, giant slices of banana bread, and kettlecorn... especially s'mores. Two graham crackers, a burnt, crispy, gooey marshmallow, and melty milk chocolate = love. What, you put peanut butter cups in your s'mores? Just stop it. I can't even think about it/how amazing would mini peanut butter cups taste sprinkled inside these cookie bars?

And yes... I will forever be that girl who set her s'mores mallows on fire. On purpose.

In my real-life summer, I'm trying to be about my new Couch to 5K app I've downloaded for absolutely no reason (peanut butter cupcakes) onto my phone. I'm two weeks in and I'll be honest and real with you: this writing is just pure and simple me needing someone, anyone, to know about it, and maybe high-five me a little... because it means bright purple running shoes (not ashamed), just... just a whole lot of running, waking up early, and running. 

Oh and daydreaming about all the buttery, sugary things I wish I was eating. 

Like s'mores. And white chocolate. And sugar cookies.

Another confession? I love sugar cookies, almost more than any other cookie... because they usually come with buttercream frosting, twinkle lights, red and green sugar sprinkles, and Christmas trees. In fact, I think this is the first time I've ever baked sugar cookies outside of December. Just the smell of these sugar cookie bars baking, even on a hot June day, made me stress out a little... like I had some presents to wrap or some shopping to do. 

Calm down. Cookie bars. 

These cookie bars could not be any easier... and it all starts with a thick, sugary cookie dough base.

 I made the biggest batch ever (5 cups of flour!) of rich, chewy, buttery-soft sugar cookie dough, pressed half of it into the bottom of a 9x9 pan, layered it with squares ofgraham crackers, mini marshmallows, and white chocolate chips, and pressed the remaining cookie dough over the top of everything ever. It felt a little bit like baking a pie. A cookie pie. Be about it.



Sugar cookie + graham cracker + marshmallows + white chocolate chips  + sugar cookie = a blonde twist on the traditional chocolatey campfire treat.

Could you cut corners and use pre-made dough from the store? Of course. It's summer. Less whisks and spoons = more time at the pool. Live your life.

The thickest cookie bars ever. Two hands totally needed. Tip: I think if I made these again, I would bake them in a 9x13-inch pan for thinner squares and easier cookie bar-handling... and drizzle some kind of white chocolate/vanilla bean/caramel icing on top of everything. Let's definitely do that.

Summer baking = the best thing ever. Smash a s'more in it!    

White Chocolate S'mores Sugar Cookie Bars

Printable Recipe

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
5 1/2 graham cracker sheets
1 (10-ounce bag) white chocolate chips
2 cups mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9-inch baking dish with foil, making sure the foil extends over the sides and spray with a non-stick baking spray; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. 

With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined. 

Divide cookie dough in half. Press half of the dough into the bottom of the baking dish. Layer graham crackers side-by-side on top of the cookie dough. Sprinkle with marshmallows and white chocolate chips. Top with the remaining cookie dough, pressing down gently. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cookie bars tests clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. When cooled, use the foil to lift bars from the pan, cut into squares, and serve. 

Source: Inspired by Picky Palate's white chocolate s'mores cake bars. 

Brown Butter & Everything Ever.

It's no secret that I am absolutely in love with/cannot stop talking about/am totally obsessed with brown butter. What's so special about those golden specks of butter and why bother taking the time to "brown" it? 

I'll totally make you a list... because I'm in Lake Tahoe! And you just can't bake anything when you're staring at snow-covered mountains, cabins in the woods, and fruity rum drinks all day. 

❤  It adds a rich, nutty hazelnut flavor (and beautiful golden specks) to your baking that'll make you instantly fall in love. I mean, in French, brown butter is known as beurre noisette... it literally means "hazelnut butter"! 

❤  It's that extra something special that turns those cookies or cinnamon rolls into the best thing you've ever baked.  

❤  It complements and adds depth of flavor... which is a fancy way of saying it pairs perfectly with all those flavors you love: cinnamon, oatmeal, brown sugar, caramel, chocolate, pumpkin, bananas. In my experience, brown butter is some kind of baking magic that makes those flavors pop. 

❤  It's versatile. Put it everything ever! Cupcakes, cookies, frostings, cakes. Can we put it in banana bread? Yes. Drizzle it on our popcorn? Do it. Our coffee creamer? It's already a thing. 

❤  The best part: it's easy. It's one extra step... that only takes about eight minutes.

I browned butter for the first time last summer... and since then I've posted fourteen recipes full of those golden specks. Brown butter for days!

I'm ready to jump into some new and exciting things this summer (summer just seems like a good time for that!)... but in the meantime, here's every brown butter recipe ever. 

How to Brown Butter // ... this just seems like a good place to start. A how-to situation just for you. P.S. it's easier than you think.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies // my favorite go-to chocolate chip cookie... and the perfect base for M&M cookies.  

Pumpkin Buttermilk Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Icing // Three things: this is my first (and favorite) bundt cake I ever made, it's never too early for pumpkin cake, & brown butter icing is unlike any icing ever. It also belongs in your life.

Brown butter toffee & macadamia nut chocolate chip cookies // These cookies were inspired by dreams of Hawaii and eating nothing but chocolate-and-toffee-covered macadamia nuts. Cookies inspired by real life living? It doesn't get any better than that!

Brown butter snickerdoodles // For a girl who hasn't fallen head-over-heels in love with snickerdoodles yet, let me just tell you: these are the best cookies I have ever made. They taste like hazelnuts and cinnamon rolls and rich, sugary snickerdoodles, all with crispy edges and buttery soft centers. It's true love.

Brown butter berry cheesecake muffins // Cakey brown butter vanilla muffins + fresh raspberries and blueberries + a scoop of cheesecake + brown sugar-cinnamon streusel = all things that belong in your life. 

Brown butter white chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies // The most irresistable oatmeal cookies I have ever tasted. Sprinkled with sugar and sea salt, bursting with that dark brown sugar and brown butter flavor, and studded with huge chunks of rich white chocolate... no chocolate chips or raisins here! 

Brown butter oatmeal M&M cookies // It's summertime. Let's bake colorful cookies with ice cream scoops.

Brown butter-peanut butter truffle chocolate chip cookies // These were one of the first brown butter cookies I ever made... and to be honest, brown butter doesn't really add anything extra or rich to the flavor of peanut butter. It's a nutty flavor on nutty butter situation. But the swirls of peanut butter truffle in these cookies? I can't even deal/I would put it in everything if I could.

Pretzel-crusted brown butter bourbon blondies // Boozy blondies full of chocolate, white chocolate, bourbon, and brown butter... all baked onto a sugary pretzel crust. Just look at that cookie math!

Brown butter, brown sugar chocolate chip shortcakes // Fat cakey shortcakes studded with mini chocolate chips, sprinkled with brown sugar, and baked with brown butter. Strawberries + whipped cream totally optional.

Buttermilk banana bundt cake with brown butter icing // The best thing about bundt cakes? You can totally pass them off as a breakfast thing. The best about this bundt cake? The brown butter icing. It pairs perfectly with the soft buttermilk banana cake. You have to try it.

Brown butter oatmeal s'mores cookie cups with graham cracker frosting // The only thing better than brown butter and oatmeal is brown butter and oatmeal with s'mores sprinkled on top.  

Brown butter bourbon chocolate chip cookies // Three things I love about these chocolate chip cookies: the brown butter, the bourbon, and the giants discs of baking chocolate. This is one unforgettable chocolate chip cookie.