Saturday, March 21, 2015

Browned butter and finding joy in baking

Let me begin by saying that I am not the best baker. I really enjoy baked goods (that's for sure!), but most of the time I'd rather just buy a cupcake or a muffin then put in the time and effort to make them. Something always seems to go wrong when I bake and I just don't seem to get any joy out of it (sorry grandma). And if I'm honest, some of my dislike for baking might stem from pure laziness...MIGHT.

So, when I ran across this article on how to be a better baker I was fully prepared to completely disregard it. However, I was intrigued by Joy's writing - she is hilarious - so I perused around her blog a little more. In my perusing, I stumbled upon her post on how to brown butter. As a non-baker, I had never heard of this before. "Browned butter? What is that?" my simple, bake-less mind pondered. To hear Joy talk about it, you'd think it was magic...actually, I think she calls it just that. Well, if something is magic, I have to try it!

And so today, I busted out my trusty KitchenAid and decided to try my hand at browning butter in an attempt to make Joy's "The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies."

Butter was browned, ingredients were mixed, messes were made, dishes were dirtied (and cleaned), dough was formed, and cookies were baked. All with little mishaps. In fact, I thought I was golden right up until the time I was pulling the cookies out of the oven. I dropped two down in the bottom of the oven, right on the hot coils, so of course those burned and filled my kitchen with smoke. But hey, I didn't burn any other cookies and they are DELICIOUS! The mix of salty and sweet - heavenly!

And let me tell, browned butter? Amazing stuff. It's probably my new favorite smell. Does anyone know if there is a candle in that scent? I'd totally buy it.

So, all in all, I'd say my baking today was a huge success. And it was actually kind of FUN. Maybe I can find some joy in baking after all!?

And hey, if I can do it, so can you! Need some baking inspiration? Check out Joy the Baker, you'll find some there!

What did you do with your Saturday? Bake anything lately? Don't these look tasty?






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