Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

 PSA: THESE COOKIES CAN BE MADE IN ONE BOWL/POT/CONTAINER!

I will confess, these cookies were made quite awhile ago, but I simply haven’t had the time or energy to write up a post.  Last time, after a week of exams, papers and group projects, I collapsed on to the bed in a tired heap and asked myself what I was even doing here in New York, what I was doing at Columbia and if I even knew who I was anymore.  Of course, it didn’t help that daylight savings time means that by the time I come home from school, it’s completely dark out and it truly feels like I’m living in a cave. Not to be creating a pity-party, but I guess my point was that, I needed a break.  I needed time to take care of myself, to exercise, to spend time with friends, to bake, to BLOG! And it’s so easy to forget that humans need self-care time too.  We’re so easily caught up in taking care of other people, making sure our lives are in order, that sometimes, we can’t even remember the last time we were hungry for a homemade meal. 

SO, thank goodness for Election Day, giving me the time to take a break from school and reflect on life and rebuild my confidence in the decisions that I’ve made in life. And I hope that wherever you are, whoever you are, you make sure to create some space and time in your life to take care of yourself too.  Whether it’s the early morning cup of coffee, or the late night t.v. show, make sure you’re taking care of your mental health.  Which by the way…you could start by…making these cookies!

Whenever October and November roll around, I’m always addicted to the idea of cranberries, I have no idea why, but it’s probably got to do with Turkey Day. Anyways, these are inspired by Thanksgiving and everything Thanksgiving represents (besides the fact that it eventually lead to the conflict between Native Americans and Immigrants), BUT other than that, warmth, sweetness, a deep gratitude for life. 

Also, they use brown butter, which in my opinion, makes for an amazing flavor combination with the white chocolate and cranberries.  The white chocolate is just sweet and creamy enough to offset the tartness of the cranberries and the brown butter?? (Not a huge fan of white chocolate? Feel free to sub in dark chocolate as well!)That’s the real showstopper, tying the two flavors together and creating a deep, rich, caramel-y undertone. OH, and that pinch of cinnamon? Don’t leave it out, it seriously makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE in creating a cookie that you just want to continue eating forever. 

Brown butter is great, it creates cookies that have chewy centers and crispy edges.  I will forewarn you though, that these cookies (as you can see) are more on the thinner side.  That doesn’t mean that they’re not soft, or chewy, but it does mean that they’re lite-versions (aka you can eat way more without feeling guilty). If you’re not quite sure how to brown butter properly, I have a step by step guide right here. 

CRANBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES | A dozen large cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter browned and cooled
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
• Sea salt or kosher salt for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium-large pot (needs to be big enough to hold all the ingredients), melt and brown the butter.  Allow it to cool.
2. Once cooled, add sugar, vanilla, and egg into mixture and whisk together until smooth
3. Then add in flour, baking soda and cinnamon.  Incorporate dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
4. Fold in white chocolate chips and dried cranberries
5. Refrigerate dough for at least an hour and up to 3 days (they only get better with time!)
6. Preheat oven to 350 (F)
7. Let dough come back to room temperature (otherwise it will be SUPER hard to roll into balls)
8. Roll into golf ball sized balls and place on lined baking sheet
9. Sprinkle on a little bit of salt on top of each cookie before baking
10. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges are just beginning to turn a golden brown
11. Cookies will stay fresh for up to a week in an airtight container

Enjoy!

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Raspberry Almond White Chocolate Scones

I’m biased, but in my opinion, these are the best raspberry almond white chocolate scones.

My current obsession of watching Great British Baking has spilled over into all aspects of my life, especially the food part. I’ve had a hankering for fish & chips, bangers & mash and Scotch eggs AND I DON’T EVEN EAT MEAT!!!!!  Some please help me. And if you’re going to come over, you might as well come and help me eat the dozens of scones piled up in my kitchen.
As far as desserts go, scones are pretty healthy…I mean only one tablespoon of sugar in the entire recipe AND fruit? You gotta be kidding me! On the other hand, a scone might just fill your entire saturated fat quota for the day. I guess it’s all about balance, right? Scones seem pretty easy to make, but if you’re not careful, they can quickly become tough and dry. This was the exact reason why I hated scones for so long…until I discovered the key to perfectly fluffy, buttery and flavorful scones.

For the perfect scones, make sure that you really work the butter pieces into your dry ingredients. Butter coats the flour particles and prevents gluten formation which keeps the scones moist and soft. The second part to delicious scones is to make sure you don’t overwork the dough.  It is so easy to want to add more flour because the dough will be very sticky, but work the dough just until a ball forms – I find it easiest to use a rubber spatula and fold the ingredients together until a dough ball forms and then gently pat it into a circle.

So, what are you waiting for? Get your scone game on!

IMPORTANT: Using frozen raspberries will ensure that the raspberries don’t make your dough too wet and bleed all over the place. As for white chocolate chunks, that’s a personal preference, but chunks generally melt easier than chips, so if you like pockets of molten chocolate in your scones versus solid pieces, use white chocolate chunks

RASPBERRY ALMOND WHITE CHOCOLATE SCONES | Makes 8 scones
INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar + 1 tbsp more for sprinkling
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter – cut in 1/2″ pieces
• 1 cup frozen raspberries
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chunks
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream + 2 tbsp more for brushing
• 1 egg

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 (F).
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.
3. Add in butter pieces and using hands or pastry cutter, incorporate butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse sand.
4. Add in white chocolate chunks and frozen raspberries taking care to separate any raspberries in frozen chunks
5. In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine heavy cream, almond extract and egg, mixing thoroughly.
6. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into the well.
7. Using spatula, fold wet and dry ingredients together until a wet, shaggy dough forms.  DO NOT overwork dough.
8. Place dough on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and pat into an 8″ circle.
9. Brush top with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar. Then cut circle into 8 pieces to help scones rise more easily in oven.
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until edges are just starting to turn golden brown and the tips of the scones feel firm to the touch.

Enjoy!