Brown Butter & Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars with Fleur de Sel for #TheLeftoversClub

For this month's Leftovers Club, I was paired with Michele! Michele has a great blog called Always Bakin (love the name!) and has recently taken over the reigns as fearless leader/organizer extraordinaire of The Leftovers Club!  Our previous fearless leader, Elizabeth from Food Ramblings, just had an adorable baby boy just a few days ago! Congratulations, Elizabeth!! Thank you so much for all you have done for the club.

 

This month, I had a really tough time deciding which recipe I wanted to share. I actually sent Michele 2 different options because I was so indecisive... these Brown Butter & Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars and a loaf of Sour Cream Cinnamon Coffee Cake. Well, Michele was absolutely no help at all because she loved them both! Haha....

 

 

 

I decided to share the recipe for the bars because well...brown butter+nutella+chocolate+fleur de sel = duh! Need I say more? I will definitely post the recipe for the Sour Cream Cinnamon Coffee Cake later, but for now here's a preview pic...

 

 

 

I really enjoy being a part of The Leftovers Club. Swapping baked goods with fellow bloggers is a lot of fun! If you'd like to sign up to be a part of the club, I highly recommend it. Check out all of the details here....http://alwayzbakin.com/the-leftovers-club/

 

 



Brown Butter & Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars w/Fleur de Sel

Makes 1 9"x13 pan, approx. 18 bars

 

Note: This recipe requires chilling so plan ahead

 

Ingredients:

2 sticks of unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon size pieces

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, room temp

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon sour cream

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup nutella

Fleur de Sel for sprinkling

 

Directions:

 

Make the brown butter

 

Place the butter in a sauce pan, and melt over medium-low heat, swirling occasionally. Continue with this process...the butter will foam up and have lots of bubbles, then the foaming will gradually subside, the butter mixture will become translucent and brown bits will form at the bottom of the pan. The butter will also become fragrant and smell nutty/caramel-y. Once the brown bits have formed, remove the butter from the heat and pour into a glass bowl. Cool the brown butter completely. approx 1-2 hours. I like to wait until mine has somewhat solidified.

 

Once the brown butter has cooled completely, scoop/pour it into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Make sure you get all of the brown bits, that's the flavor!

 

Add both sugars to the bowl and mix on low speed until well combined (approx 30 seconds). Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.

 

Add the eggs, vanilla extract and sour cream. Mix on low speed until combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.

 

Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

 

Refrigerate the dough for 3 hours or overnight.

 

Line a 9x13" pan with nonstick foil or spray regular foil with nonstick cooking spray.

 

Place 2/3 of the dough in the pan and press into an even layer. Tip: Since the dough is somewhat stiff when it comes out of the fridge, I found it was easier to place small chunks of the dough all over the bottom of the baking pan (they should be close together) and then press them together in an even layer. If you put one huge chunk of dough into the pan and try to press it out into an even layer that way, it's a lot harder to do.

 

Heat the nutella in the microwave for a few seconds to loosen it up, then scoop/pour it into 3 rows across the length of the pan. Tip: Imagine cutting the bars into 3 rows along the length (the 13" side) of the pan. You want to place your 3 rows of nutella in the center of those 3 rows so that the streak of nutella is in the center of each bar when you cut it.

 

Crumble the remaining cookie dough randomly over the top. Tip: Don't cover up the stripes of nutella too much, you want those to be peaking out a bit when they're done baking so you see little puddles of nutella.

 

Bake at 350 for approx 15-20 minutes. Do not overbake! The dough should look lightly golden brown but should still be somewhat what (not completely set or dry). Tip: If you overbake, the cookie bars will be dry but don't worry, there's a fix for this! Just microwave the bars a few seconds before you eat one to warm it up and make it gooey.

 

Remove from the oven and place on a wire baking rack to cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, sprinkle a touch of Fleur de Sel over the top (try to get some of it on the puddles of nutella peaking out of the dough).

 

 

Allow to cool completely, then remove from the pan using the foil as your handle. Cut into bars & serve!

 

Leftovers can be stored in an air tight container at room temp for up to 2 days or send some to your Leftovers Club Partner like I did! : )

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Decadent Brown Butter and Toasted Walnut Brownies

Brownies. Who doesn't love a good brownie? I consider brownies to be on the of the all-time classic comfort desserts, right up there with the Chocolate Chip Cookie. Everyone should have a great homemade brownie recipe in their collection and, in my opinion, this is one of the best. The secret? A full arsenal of flavor - brown butter, toasted walnuts, chunks of high-quality chocolate and espresso powder! If you have never used brown butter in your baking, you should give it a try. This technnique transforms the flavor of the butter and gives it a rich, nutty flavor. Toasting the walnuts brings out the oils and (believe it or not) makes them taste even more nutty. Chunks of chocolate? Well that's a no-brainer and the espresso powder enhances the flavor of chocolate. Whether you're a fan of fudgy, chewy or cakey brownies, this recipe will appeal to everyone. I hope you give it a try and it becomes your go-to brownie recipe.

Decadent Brown Butter and Toasted Walnut Brownies

2  1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed
2 1/2 c sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp espresso powder
4 tsp water
4 large eggs chilled
1 1/2 c natural cocoa powder
2/3 c plus 2 T all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 c walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 c good quality dark chocolate, chopped (Valhrona, Guittard, Ghiradelli, Lindt are some of the best)

Preheat oven to 325 and line a 13x9" baking pan with non-stick foil or spray regular foil with non-stick cooking spray. I usually use a glass baking pan.

Combine the water and espresso powder in a small bowl. Set aside.

Combine the sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring often, until the butter stops foaming and brown bits form at the bottom of the pan. This process could take 5-10 minutes depending upon how cold your butter was when you put it in the pan. Remove from heat and pour immediately into th cocoa powder mixture. Add water, vanilla and espresso powder and stir to blend. Allow to cool 5 min.

After 5 min, add eggs to mixture one at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Ok, here's where you get a little bit of a workout and burn calories so you can eat more brownies...Beat vigorously for 60 strokes. This will give your brownies that shiny, crackly top that's the trademark of a good brownie.

Fold in nuts and chocolate chunks. Spread into prepared pan and bake approx 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Watch your brownies carefully during the end of the baking time as all ovens are different and there is nothing worse than an underbaked or overbaked brownie.

Allow to cool completely in pan. Remove, cut and enjoy!

These brownies are best when eaten within 2 days. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.