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Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Blondies

Dessert, ,
The Archaeologist Bakes - Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Blondies

I love a good brownie as much as anyone, but especially this time of year it’s nice to mix it up with something that tastes a little lighter, like these blondies! Full of raspberries and white chocolate chips, they are also buttery and chewy and really the perfect type of blondie. And while I said they taste lighter because of the raspberry and white chocolate, trust me, they are still extremely decadent.

I’ve been making version of these blondies for years, but I’ve never shared them here. Now is the time. I admit that blondies aren’t my favorite dessert, and I’m really not a fan of white chocolate. But these blondies are just so rich and fudgy, while the raspberry really pops and the white chocolate seems to round it all out. Every time I make these I wonder why I don’t make them more often.

The Archaeologist Bakes - Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Blondies

I frequently add slivered almonds to these. Sometimes in addition to the white chocolate chips, and sometimes instead of them. But there are endless ways to customize them. As always, you can add any nut you want, or substitute any flavor chip you would like (bonus points if you use the confetti white chocolate chips like I did). Regular, old semi-sweet chocolate chips would be fantastic. Blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries would all work well. Or use a mix of whatever you have! You can also always leave out the almond extract. The zest of half a lemon would be a great addition instead!

The Archaeologist Bakes - Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Blondies

Don’t do what I do and wait too long to make these. They are so perfect for spring, when you’re craving fresh berry flavors, but it still gets cool at night so a decadent dessert sounds good. Make them this weekend (and then maybe next weekend too)!

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 Raspberry White Chocolate Chip Blondies
Course Dessert
Servings
Ingredients
Course Dessert
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Combine melted butter and brown sugar. Stir in egg, vanilla, and almond extract.
  3. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt.
  4. Add white chocolate chips, mix well, and scrape into prepared pan. Smooth the top.
  5. Slightly chop the berries. Scatter them over the batter in the pan.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-45 minutes. Blondies should be golden brown and set in the center. A toothpick inserted near the center should come out with only a few wet crumbs.
  7. Cool completely before removing from pan and slicing.
Recipe Notes
  • Leave out almond extract, or substitute with the zest of half a lemon.
  • Use semi-sweet or other chocolate chips instead of white chocolate.
  • Use up to 1 cup of mix-ins. Instead of all chocolate chips, use 1/2 cups nuts and 1/2 cup chips.
  • Try different berries - strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries would all be great.
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Easy Apple Spice Cake with White Chocolate Browned Butter Buttercream

Cakes and cupcakes, Dessert, ,

A super-easy apple spice cake made from a mix, with a perfectly fluffy white chocolate browned butter buttercream that has only two ingredients. It’s the cake that this early fall season is begging for!

I hadn’t really planned on sharing this recipe, but I decided it was too delicious not to. It all came about mostly by accident. I was shopping at Wal-Mart this week, and found the sprinkles I ended up using on this cake. I love fall, and I love sprinkles, and I didn’t have these…so I couldn’t help myself and bought them. Look at how perfectly fall-inspired they are! But then I needed to make something to use them on. When I got home, I started thinking about what I could bake that needed these sprinkles. I remembered I had a spice cake mix in the pantry, so I pulled that out and started mixing it up. But to add just a little more fall flavor, I decided to use unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil. It adds just the slightest hint of apple that works so well with the spice cake.

I know, that’s not much of a recipe yet. But then I needed to make a frosting for it. I was going to just make my standard browned butter buttercream, but I checked my baking supplies and realized I was pretty low on powdered sugar. I wasn’t sure I would have enough for a full batch of buttercream. So I thought I would make Swiss meringue buttercream with browned butter. And I checked my eggs. Not enough of those either. (I’ve been out of town for work and haven’t been baking much.) At this point I was getting desperate, because I really didn’t want to go back to the store. And my cake was already in the oven. That’s when I remembered a two-ingredient chocolate frosting I had tried previously, and wondered if it could be made with white chocolate. I went back to the original blogger, and sure enough, it can be made with white chocolate chips! At this point I was fairly certain I could also use browned butter, so I just went for it. It was the right decision. This frosting is not too sweet, and the combination of white chocolate and nutty browned butter pair perfectly with the spice cake.

Anyone can make this frosting. Seriously, anyone. And it’s so impressive, even if you’re not a baker people will be raving over this dessert. All you do is brown butter and add white chocolate chips. To brown the butter, put it in a light-colored (not non-stick) pan and melt it over medium-low heat. It will start to bubble – that’s what you want. Let it continue to cook until you start to see brown spots at the bottom. That’s the milk solids starting to brown, which is what gives it a nutty flavor. Once the melted butter is golden and the bits are a medium brown, take it off the heat and cool it slightly. Once it is warm, but not hot, add the white chocolate chips and let them melt. Chill it until solid, bring to room temperature, and whip it up. That’s it. Delicious, sophisticated frosting with almost no effort.

I baked this in three 6-inch pans, but you can bake it in any pans you would like. Use two 8- or 9-inch, or even a 9×13-inch pan for an even easier dessert. Want to mix it up and make it your own? Add some chopped, toasted pecans on top or in the middle frosting layers. Use apple cider instead of water in the cake for an even more prominent apple flavor. Add a drizzle of caramel or melted cookie butter on top (definitely going that route next time myself!). Which ever way you make it, just make sure to give this frosting a try. It couldn’t be easier, and it will definitely impress your friends and family!

Print Recipe
 Easy Apple Spice Cake with White Chocolate Browned Butter Buttercream
Servings
Ingredients
Cake
Frosting
Servings
Ingredients
Cake
Frosting
Instructions
Cake
  1. Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Mix on low speed just until combined. Increase speed to high and mix for 2 minutes.
  2. Divide batter evenly between two greased 8- or 9-inch pans, or three greased 6-inch pans.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-28 minutes, depending on size of pans.
  4. Cool on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.
Frosting
  1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Continue cooking until butter boils and begins to brown. Once solids have lightly browned and liquid is golden in color, remove from heat and transfer to a heat-proof bowl.
  2. Let cool slightly before adding white chocolate chips. Butter should be warm enough to melt the chocolate, but not so hot it will burn. If butter has cooled to far, microwave in 30 second bursts until chocolate is melted.
  3. Cool mixture in the refrigerator until solidified. Remove from refrigerator and bring back to cool room temperature.
  4. Place in large mixing bowl and beat at medium speed with whisk attachment until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  5. Fill and frost cake.
Recipe Notes
  • Use apple cider instead of water in the cake mix for even more apple flavor.
  • Add chopped, toasted pecans on top or in the middle frosting layers.
  • Drizzle the top with caramel or melted cookie butter.
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Unicorn Pizzelles Three Ways: Cookies, Sandwiches, and Stroopwafels

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Hi everyone! Is it too late to jump on the unicorn bandwagon? 

What a busy spring it has been. I was out of town for work most of the last month, and when I finally got back I had this small matter of my wedding to attend to. 🙂 It turned out to be a beautiful day, at least for the few hours we needed it to be. It stormed the night before and then again that afternoon, but in the late morning it dried up and the sun actually peeked out a little bit. It was a small ceremony, with only the two of us and the pastor (and photographer), but it was perfect, and everything we wanted it to be. I made my own wedding cake – I know, everyone says not to do it – but it turned out great. I made one of the geode cakes that has become so popular lately. Do you want to see a picture?

So, as you can see, I have been busy, and I have been baking. I just haven’t had time to do much for this blog. But I got a pizzelle maker from my parents for the wedding, and I knew I had to do something fun with it. Since I hadn’t made any unicorn treats yet, and they seem to be so popular, I decided it was time. And because I just can’t leave something well enough alone, I made a couple of variations.

Of course the “plain” cookie is delicious, but I also used a circle cutter to cut smaller circles and filled those with white chocolate buttercream. Then I rolled them in sprinkles. Because unicorn cookies need sprinkles. And for the larger cookies, I filled some with a caramel stroopwafel filling. Stroopwafels are a pizzelle-like cookie from the Netherlands filled with a cinnamon caramel. I had never had one, but they sounded delicious – and they are. Apparently you can place it over a steamy mug of coffee or tea, and that will warm the cookie and filling slightly, making it even better.

Pizzelles are so easy to make. Yes, you need a pizzelle iron, but they are totally worth it. They are a really simple batter, and they cook up so fast you can make a ton of cookies pretty quickly. And, they work perfectly with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend if you are GF.  You can flavor them with any extract you want. And you can fill them with almost anything. They make great ice cream sandwiches. Or curl them into an ice cream cone while they are still warm. Or spread on some peanut butter, or Nutella, or cookie butter….

If you aren’t into unicorns, go with darker colors and make galaxy-inspired cookies. Or, with graduation season upon us, color these with your school colors. They would be great for a graduation party! However you make them, you should make them soon!



Print Recipe


Unicorn Pizzelles Three Ways

Basic pizzelles, with two optional fillings.

Servings


Ingredients
Pizzelles

White Chocolate Buttercream

Stroopwafel Filling

Servings


Ingredients
Pizzelles

White Chocolate Buttercream

Stroopwafel Filling


Instructions
Pizzelles
  1. Beat eggs and sugar with the whisk attachment of an electric mixer until light yellow in color, 3 to 5 minutes.

  2. Add vanilla and cooled, melted butter and mix until combined.

  3. Sift together flour and baking powder, and gently stir into egg mixture.

  4. If desired, divide into three equal portions and color each portion a different color.

  5. Place each color into a small disposable piping bag, cut off the ends, and place all three into a larger piping bag.

  6. Or, using a long spatula, place the three colors side-by-side in the large piping bag.

  7. Preheat and grease a pizzelle iron according to manufacturers directions.

  8. Pipe about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter onto each circle and bake 25-35 seconds.

  9. Remove from iron with a spatula and place flat onto a wire rack to cool.

  10. For smaller cookies, use about 1/2 tablespoon batter and cook for 15-20 seconds.

  11. As soon as cookies come off of the iron (you have about 15 seconds tops), use a 2 to 3 inch round metal cookie cutter to cut a circle out of the middle of the cookie. Cool on wire rack as above.

White Chocolate Buttercream
  1. Combine chocolate chips and cream in a microwavable bowl.

  2. Microwave for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until chips are melted. (You are making a white chocolate ganache.)

  3. Cool ganache to room temperature, either on the counter or in the refrigerator.

  4. Place buttercream into a bowl, and beat in cooled ganache.

  5. Sandwich two small pizzelles together with the white chocolate buttercream, and roll edges in sprinkles if desired.

Stroopwafel Filling
  1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture reaches the soft ball stage, 234 to 240 degrees Fahrenheit.

  2. Remove from heat and cool slightly, no more than 5 minutes.

  3. Working quickly, and CAREFULLY (it's hot sugar!), spread about 1/2 tablespoon of the mixture on one full-size pizzelle and top with another cookie.

  4. If the mixture gets too thick before you finish filling cookies, place the pan back on the burner on low until the mixture starts to thin back out.


Recipe Notes
  • Use any extract you like. Anise is a traditional flavor for pizzelles.
  • Use any colors you like, or leave it uncolored and drop by spoonfuls instead of piping the batter.
  • Fill the cookies (or not) with any filling you like. Ice cream, buttercream, Nutella, etc.


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