Mini Snickers Stuffed Snickerdoodle Bites

I guess you could say that I like stuffing candy and other treats into my cookies. I just love when there is a hidden surprise inside of a cookie. First, I made these Caramel Apple Milkyway Chocolate Chip Cookies that were a big hit at a birthday in the fall. I followed those up with Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies, as well as Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt, both which were instant favorites. I really don't see an end to the stuffed cookies anytime soon.

The best part about this recipe is that it does not require any baking. Start to finish you can make these cookie dough bites in just 20 minutes. Simple and delicious- those are definitely my favorite recipes. Even if you don't have snickers bars on hand, you can make plain snickerdoodle bites. Everyone loves  snickerdoodles. Also just a note- I preferred eating them slightly chilled out of the refrigerator, but that it is just my personal preference. 

Mini Snickers Stuffed Snickerdoodle Bites

Recipe adapted from Cooking Classy

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
3 tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
28 mini snickers bars
3 tbsp granulated sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter, sugars and cream of tartar until light and creamy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the heavy cream and the vanilla extract. Mix until combined. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.

In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar and cinnamon.

Scoop out one tablespoon of cookie dough at a time. Roll the cookie dough into a ball with your hands and then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Chill or serve immediately. The remaining snickerdoodle bites should be stored in the refrigerator.

Yield: 28 snickerdoodle bites

Nutella Swirled Banana Muffins

I love a good piece of banana bread or a banana muffin as much as the next person. My boyfriend might even like them more than me. For this reason, I often find myself flagging recipes for banana bread, banana muffins and other banana treats. The problem is that I am not always patient enough to make them on a regular basis. For years I made banana bread and banana muffins that lacked any real flavor. I constantly ignored the recipes and used bananas that were bright yellow in color. The result? Dry and flavorless baked goods that were nothing like what I had hoped to make. The key is letting the bananas sit for days on the counter, long enough so that they are brown in color. If you are impatient like me, you can always put the bananas in a brown bag to speed up the process.

These muffins alone are worth the hassle of waiting for your bananas to turn brown. Trust me. And as if a banana muffin is not a good enough breakfast on its own, the nutella swirl really puts it over the top. Nutella and banana are such a great combination- I am already thinking about more recipes that could incorporate these two flavors together. 

Nutella Swirled Nutella Muffins

Recipe from the Novice Chef

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 very ripe bananas (brown in color), mashed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In another large bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas and sugars. Slowly beat in the egg and vegetable. Mix until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla extract. Gently fold the dry ingredients into bowl of wet ingredients and mix until there are no lumps in the batter.

Fill each muffin tin approximately 3/4 full. Top each muffin with about 1 tsp of Nutella. With a knife or toothpick, gently swirl the Nutella into the batter.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool completely on a wire rack.

Brown Butter Sprinkle Cookies

I had this recipe ready to post last friday morning, but given what was going on in my hometown of Boston, it just didn't seem right to do so. As much as I love sharing recipes, there were a lot more important things going on just miles away from my own apartment. And to be honest, I would have had a hard time pulling myself away from the television even for just a little while that day. There are times when I complain about living in Boston, really just during the cold and snowy winter months. But the truth is that Boston is my home and I could not imagine living anywhere else. My heart brakes for all of the victims of the Marathon bombings. But I am also glad that the worst is behind us and our city can finally move on.

That being said, I am really excited to share these Brown Butter Sprinkle Cookies with you today. They are really fun cookies because they are full of color from both the mini M&M's and the sprinkles. I love sprinkles. Oh, and there is also brown butter in these cookies. I may have mentioned my love of brown butter once or twice in the past.  One additional note about these cookies- I found that the cookie dough was a lot more crumbly than what I am used to working with. Although I was unsure of how these cookies would bake in the oven, they ended up turning out just fine. 

Brown Butter Sprinkle Cookies

Recipe from The Sweet Life

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2  cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups mini M&M's
1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles

In a large pan, melt butter over medium heat. Continue to cook butter until it becomes it bubbly and brown in color. Be careful not to burn the butter. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

 In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Using a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugars until light and creamy, about 3-4 minutes.  Add the egg, followed by the egg yolk, beating until fully incorporated after each addition. Add the vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Turn off the mixer. Add the mini M&M's and sprinkles. Gently fold with a spatula until combined.

Scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown in color. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire cooling rack. 

Peanut Butter Cup S'mores Bars

I am getting really anxious for the summer and warmer weather. Although New England has teased us with a few nice days, it never seems to last long enough. I cannot wait until I put my winter jacket away for good. Bring on the warm weather, flip flops and ice cream. Even though Mother Nature might not be ready to officially call it summer, these Peanut Butter Cup S'mores Bars definitely reminded me of what is still to come. 

This recipe was adapted from Tracey's Super Simple S'mores Bars. The recipe itself lives up to its name as they are certainly simple to make. Here is a quick rundown of the recipe. First, a crust mixture is prepared and pressed down into the bottom of an 8x8 baking pan. The crust includes graham cracker crumbs, an essential part of any s'mores treat. A layer of peanut butter cups is placed on top of the crust, followed by a layer of marshmallow creme and any remaining graham cracker crumbs. Feel free to use Hershey Bars if you prefer to mimic a more traditional s'mores bar. However, I love peanut butter and look for any excuse to include it in a recipe. I will leave that decision up to you.

Peanut Butter Cup S'mores Bars

Recipe from Tracey's Culinary Adventures

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (from about 5 graham crackers)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

16 peanut butter cups, unwrapped

1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme (such as Fluff)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang of paper on two sides so that bars can be lifted after baking. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 

Using a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the egg, continuing to beat until fully incorporated. Add the vanilla. With the mixer on slow speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until combined.

Transfer the dough to the prepared baking pan. Gently press the dough into an even layer on the bottom of the baking pan. Unwrap the peanut butter cups and place them in a 4x4 pattern over the bottom layer. Spread the marshmallow creme over the peanut butter cups (This step will be a little tricky due to the stickiness of the marshmallow creme. Don't worry if it is not an even layer. The marshmallow creme will melt during baking). 

Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown in color. Transfer the baking pan to a wire rack and allow the bars to cool completely. Cut into squares before serving. I put the baking pan into the refrigerator for about 20 minutes prior to cutting the bars in order to make the process easier. 

Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

As if starting a new job was not enough, I also moved into a new apartment just over a month ago. It has certainly been a busy month. Throw in a friend's wedding in Virginia and Easter weekend with the family, and you can see why there haven't been many blog posts recently. It's not that I have stayed out of the kitchen completely, just that I haven't had as much time to photograph and share the recipes that I make. But now that everything is starting to slow down, I finally have more time to dedicate to my blog and my love of sharing recipes. I wanted my first recipe back to be a good one and these cookies are just that. In fact, I have already made them three times since I first came across the recipe just a few weeks ago. That should come as no surprise given that brown butter is in the title. I just love the stuff. Can you blame me?

Brown butter, in addition to the nutella and sea salt, give these cookies so much flavor. I love the pairing of ingredients so much that I cannot help but make this recipe over and over again. It also might be the best smelling cookie dough that I have ever made. Seriously, I love the smell of brown butter just as much as I love the taste. If there was a brown butter scented perfume, I would probably buy it. Bath and Body Works, have your people call my people and we can make something happen. Until then, guess I can live with making these cookies everyday. 

Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats (originally adapted from Ambitious Kitchen)

1/2 cup Nutella

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt, plus more for sprinkling on top of cooled cookies

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp plain greek yogurt

1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Fill a small plastic bag with Nutella. Seal the bag and snip off one corner. Pipe small dollops of Nutella onto the baking sheet, about 1 1/2 tsp each. Repeat until you have about 20 dollops of Nutella. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and allow the dollops to set for at least 2 hours. 

Place the butter in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Allow the butter to melt completely. Continue to cook the butter, whisking constantly, until it bubbles and becomes brown in color. Removed the brown butter from the heat and allow it to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and sea salt. Set aside.  In a stand mixer, combine the cooled brown butter and sugar. Mix on medium speed until light and creamy. Add the egg, followed by the egg yolk, mixing until fully incorprated. Add the vanilla and greek yogurt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Stop the mixer and add the chocolate chips. Gently fold the chocolate chips into the cookie dough with a spatula. Allow the dough to chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Scoop cookie dough into balls, about 2 tablespoons in size. Make a small indentation in the cookie dough to make a bowl shape. Place a dollop of Nutella in the center and seal the edges to form a ball of cookie dough once again. Place prepared balls onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 13-14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Sprinkles the cookies with additional sea salt. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.