Brown Butter Almond Pesto

Now that the weather is getting nicer, I like to stop at the farmer's market on my way home from work on Fridays. I can almost guarantee that I will walk home with a bag full of fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs. I love cooking with fresh herbs. Two weeks ago I came home with an abundance of basil and knew I wanted to make pasta with pesto sauce, one of my favorite meals.

Yesterday I mentioned my love of almond butter. Yes, I could eat it with a spoon right out of the jar. This Brown Butter Almond Pesto is one of my other favorite uses of almond butter. It is a unique yet delicious take on a more traditional pesto recipe. I love it because it uses two of my very favorite ingredients- brown butter and almond butter. I just love my butters. However, if you don't have any almond butter, you can always just use whole almonds. It will just take a little longer to process the pesto into a creamy consistency. 

Brown Butter Almond Pesto
Recipe from Cooking Classy

2 cups fresh basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp almond butter
1/4 cup unsalted butter, browned and cooled
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
3-4 tbsp warm water
Salt and pepper to taste

Add the basil leaves to a food processor and pulse a few times. Add the garlic, Parmesan cheese and almond butter. Process until combined. With the motor still running, add the butter and olive oil. Finally add the lemon juice and enough water to reach desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with pasta or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Brown Butter Lemon Pasta

My mom and I went on a kitchen tour this past weekend. This is the second year in a row that we have gone together. It honestly features some of the nicest kitchens that I have ever seen in person. Nearly every kitchen has white marble countertops, white cabinets and stainless steel appliances- basically my dream kitchen. I only hope that I have a kitchen half as nice some day, with double ovens and miles of countertop space of course. 

After the tour, I was inspired to get back into my own kitchen and try out some new recipes. I started with this Brown Butter Lemon Pasta. Sometimes simple is best. I find lemon to be so light and refreshing, especially in the spring and summer months. And it was only a matter of time before I incorporated brown butter into something other than desserts. I honestly think I could eat this pasta dish every night and not get sick of it. Since it comes together in only 30 minutes, there is no reason not to try it for yourself.

Brown Butter Lemon Pasta

Recipe from Cooking Classy

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp lemon zest

2 tbsp italian seasoned bread crumbs

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

8 oz angel hair pasta or spaghetti

1/2 cup finely grated Romano cheese

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Chopped basil or parsley to garnish

Cook pasta according to directions on the package. While the pasta is cooking, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once butter is completely melted, continue to cook until bubbly and brown in color. Be careful not to burn the butter. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and lemon zest. Sauté until lightly golden in color. Add the bread crumbs and toast until just golden. Remove from heat.

Add the brown butter and lemon juice to the garlic mixture. Whisk to combine. Once the pasta is cooked, drawn and return to the pot. Add the brown butter mixture and combine until well coated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Finally add the Romano cheese, chopped herbs  and almonds to the pasta. Toss the entire mixture to evenly coat.

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. 

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.

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

There are four different types of cookies in my kitchen right now. I had no choice but to eat cookies for lunch today. Is that bad? I have been having so much fun experimenting with new cookie recipes over the past few weeks, but I always have a hard time giving them all away. Other than my dad, no one in my family really eats my baked goods. At Thanksgiving dinner, my aunt asked my brother if he wanted a piece of pie and ice cream. He responded, "No, I don't really like dessert". Umm, what?? Are you even related to me?? I can't imagine ever saying something like that. Especially if it means missing out on these Brown Butter Snickerdoodles. 

These Brown Butter Snickerdoodles were one of the desserts I brought to the Boston College Basketball Christmas party last night. In my book, brown butter makes anything better. I just love the nutty smell and flavor of brown butter. These cookies puffed up quite nicely in the oven, resulting in thick and chewy cookies full of cinnamon flavor. This was the first recipe I tried from my newest cookbook, Baked Elements. I have the other cookbooks by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito and I cannot say enough good things about them. All of their recipes turn out perfectly- I can't wait to try more from this one! 

Brown Butter Snickerdoodles

Recipe from Baked Elements by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp + 2 tsp cinnamon, divided
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tbsp milk
1 cup + 3 tbsp sugar, divided
1/2 cup light brown sugar

In a medium sized skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Continue to cook butter until it becomes golden brown in color and smells nutty in flavor. Pour the brown butter into the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat butter on medium speed for 5-7 minutes to bring it to room temperature.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until fully incorporated. Set aside.
When the butter is cooled, add 1 cup of sugar and the brown sugar to the mixer bowl. Beat until light and creamy, scraping down the side of the bowl as necessary.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the milk and egg mixture. Mix until fully incorporated.
In three additions, slowly add the dry ingredients, scraping down the side of the bowl as necessary. Mix until fully combined.
Turn off the mixer. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour (or up to 24 hours).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop cookie dough into balls. Roll each ball into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Transfer balls to the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for about 10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Cookies should be cracked on top and golden brown around the edges. Allow cookies to cool on sheets for a few minutes. Transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Enjoy :)