Browned Butter Peanut Butter Snack Cake

This lady at buttermilk is a genius.

She combined peanut butter and browned butter. This cake is delicious, but this frosting is divine. Make this. Or make any cake you please, and top it with this frosting. (I couldn't make the peanut butter cheesecake I wanted for my birthday as it wouldn't hold up without a refrigerator for our trip to our land, so I made a simple chocolate cake and topped it with this.)

Browned Butter Peanut Butter Snack Cake
Cake
1/2 cup butter, to be browned
1/8 cup canola oil
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. (heaped) baking soda
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 Tbsp. milk
Frosting
1/2 cup butter, browned
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. heavy cream (or milk)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper. Over medium heat, melt the butter. Cook until butter is browned and nutty. (You can brown the butter needed for the frosting at the same time, and set half aside. Just make sure to get the browned bits in both the cake and frosting portions as those contain the most flavor.)

Pour browned butter into a bowl. Add peanut butter, vanilla, sugar and oil. Whisk together until smooth. Whisk in the eggs. Gently stir in the dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk, and stir until smooth. Pour half the batter into the pan. Add the cocoa powder and milk to the remaining half of the batter, and stir until smooth. Dollop the chocolate batter throughout the pan, and gently swirl with a knife. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until cake is done.

To make the frosting, chill the browned butter until it's solid but not fully hardened. Using a mixer, beat together the butters until fluffy. Add in peanut butter, vanilla and salt, and beat to combine. Gradually add the powdered sugar, and mix until incorporated. Drizzle in the cream or milk, and beat on high until fluffy. (You can add more milk if needed to achieve the desired texture.)

Spread frosting on cooled cake. Enjoy. Makes an 8 x 8 cake.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

This is a simple recipe with simple ingredients, yet it tastes incredibly decadent. Perhaps that's because you're eating chocolate, eggs, butter and little else. You could even pretend it's healthy because there's no added sugar. It's not. (It's not healthy. There is also no added sugar.)

This came across my radar from Brown Eyed Baker. I've always enjoyed her recipes and found this to be a solid win. Mine required additional baking time to set, but it was absolutely worth it. The perfect treat for Mother's Day!

Flourless Chocolate Cake
8 eggs, cold
16 oz. bittersweet chocolate (chopped)
1 cup unsalted butter (cut into small cubes)
1/4 cup brewed coffee at room temperature (or water)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. chocolate extract (helpful if you have no coffee)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease an 8-inch springform pan, line with parchment & grease the parchment. Wrap the outside of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil, and place in a 9 x 13 pan (or other larger dish to use for a water bath). Put a small pot of water on to boil for a water bath.

Using a stand mixer with a whisk, beat eggs on medium until doubled in volume, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, melt chocolate and butter together with coffee using a double boiler. (I cheated and melted the chocolate and butter on medium heat in the microwave and stirred in the water.) Remove from heat, and stir in chocolate and extracts.

Using a large spatula, fold one-third of the eggs into the chocolate mixture until just a few streaks of egg are visible. Add the remaining eggs in two more additions, folding until the mixture is totally combined.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth out the top. Pour enough boiling water to come halfway up the springform pan. Bake until the cake has risen slightly, the edges are beginning to set and a thin glaze (like a brownie crust) has formed, about 22 to 25 minutes. The cake should register 140 degrees on a digital thermometer.

Remove the cake from the water bath, remove foil, and set on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, cover with plastic wrap, and chill at least 6 hours or overnight before serving. (The cake keeps well refrigerated for up to 4 days.)

About 30 minutes before serving, run a thin knife between the cake and pan, and remove the sides of the pan. Place the cake on a serving platter, dust with powdered sugar if desired and serve with fresh whipped cream. Serves 12 to 16.

Sourdough Discard Crackers

I saw quite a few people trying sourdough discard crackers, so I jumped on the bandwagon using a recipe from Little Spoon Farm. I tweaked it slightly because I thought everything bagel crackers sounded good. Well, from the one I tried, they are quite good. So good that my husband ate the remainder of the 3 batches I made!

These are easy and required simple ingredients I had on hand. You can season them with herbs, hard cheeses, etc. to suit your preferences and what's available.

Sourdough Discard Crackers
200 g. sourdough starter
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp. everything bagel seasoning

Preheat oven to 325°F. In a bowl, combine discard, butter and seasoning. (You can use all the seasoning at once or reserve 1/3 to sprinkle on top. Tastes the same, but the seasoning on top enhances the appearance.)

Spread in a thin layer on a sheet of parchment paper. Bake 10 minutes, remove from the oven and score into cracker shapes using a knife or pizza cutter. Return to the oven, baking a total of 40 to 50 minutes or until crunchy. I usually end up removing the crackers that are done and letting the rest bake a few more minutes as mine are never baked perfectly evenly.

Makes apparently 1 serving of crackers, although I think it's supposed to probably be at least 4 servings.

Double Chocolate Muffins

Baking is one of my happy places, so I gave these muffins from Two Peas & Their Pod a whirl to have tasty treats for a day trip to our land. Both my husband and son agreed these are better than the store-bought versions that we all thoroughly enjoy. My one son chanted "best muffins ever," and my other son smeared chocolate muffin everywhere to show his appreciation.

These are worth making. I did a double batch because I wanted leftovers. I ended up with 12 jumbo muffins and 8 regular muffins, so I'm not complaining that my version ended up with more than the original recipe.

Double Chocolate Muffins
1 2/3 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder, divided
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup hot water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, plus 1 yolk
2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
2 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 12 standard-size muffin tins or 6 jumbo ones with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together flour, 1/4 cup cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup cocoa powder and hot water until smooth.

In a third bowl, beat the sugar, oil, eggs and yolk, vanilla and sour cream together until well combined. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 the cocoa and water mixture, another 1/3 of the flour, the remainder of the cocoa and water mixture and then the final 1/3 of the flour. Stir to combine after each addition. Stir in 2 cups of chocolate chips, reserving the remainder.

Divide batter evenly among muffin tins, using more as needed to ensure each is filled no more than level. (Mine were between 3/4 full and level and turned out great.) Top with remaining chocolate chips for that bakery look.

Bake 25-30 minutes for standard muffins or 40 for jumbo. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly before removing from the tin to cool completely (or devour warm). Be sure to check at about 20 minutes or 30 minutes for jumbo to avoid dry muffins by over-baking them.

Notes: With doubling the recipe, I used 5 eggs with no issues instead of the extra egg yolk. Also, I skimped and only used 4 cups of chocolate chips, and they was still plenty of chocolate.