Just J.Faye

Hiking & Other Adventures

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

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These cherry walnut butterscotch blondies were born from an “I want to bake right now” mood.

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

On Tuesday night during my run I decided that I was going to go home and bake afterwards. Throughout my last few miles I was mentally going through my pantry, trying to figure out what I could make that would be simple, quick, and delicious.

Blondies, of course! That would be perfect.

Blondies are so easy to throw together. As long as you have butter, flour, sugar, and an egg you’re all set! And who is not consistently stocked up with these things?!

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

One of the fun things about blondies is that you can add whatever mix-ins you have in your pantry. Luckily I had just stocked up on various nuts and dried fruits and knew I had some sort of chip (dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, or butterscotch) stored in my freezer.

After getting home and physically looking at my pantry I decided that cherry walnut butterscotch blondies were the way to go.

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

But, PROBLEM. I was out of vanilla extract. How in the heck does that even happen?! Butter, sugar, flour, eggs, I had, but no vanilla. Gahhh. Oh well, I was too excited about the idea of these to give up, so I just nixed the vanilla.

And you know what? They still turned out amazing. The sweetness of the butterscotch and cherries made the vanilla unnecessary. Thank goodness.

(Note to self: add vanilla extract to my grocery shopping list. Flour too, just in case.)

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

An awesome thing about baking blondies is that you don’t need a mixer. You can make them with a medium saucepan, a large spoon, and some measuring equipment. Cleanup is also super quick, which is always a bonus.

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

These cherry walnut butterscotch blondies are perfect for those “I need to bake right now” moments (or even for planned baking events). They are gooey, full of texture, quick, easy, and so delicious!

Know who would really love and appreciate them? Your mom.

I mean that seriously, it wasn’t one of those “your mom” jokes.

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies
 
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Blondies are always quick, simple, and delicious. Add in some toasted walnuts, tart dried cherries, and butterscotch chips to make them extra tasty!
Serves: 16 bars
Ingredients
  • 1 cup walnuts, halved or coarsely chopped
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup butterscotch chips, divided
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup dried tart cherries
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the blondies can easily be lifted out of the pan. Grease with butter or oil spray.
  2. Spread the walnuts on a baking pan and toast in the oven for about 5-10 minutes, stirring once or twice to ensure they don’t burn. Once toasted, set aside.
  3. Melt the butter and ¼ cup butterscotch chips in a medium saucepan.
  4. Mix in the brown sugar until smooth, then beat in the egg.
  5. Stir in the flour until just combined.
  6. Fold in the walnuts, cherries, and remaining butterscotch chips (feel free to save a little of each to sprinkle on the top).
  7. Place batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. It will be thick. Sprinkle the remaining walnuts, cherries, and butterscotch chips on top (if you remembered to save them) and pat down slightly.
  8. Bake for 23-25 minutes.
  9. Cool completely before removing bars from the pan. Then cut and enjoy!

Speaking of moms, my mom and I are going to go run the Fargo Half Marathon! RIGHT NOW. It’s my 5th (I think?) half and my mom’s 1st! She’s going to be awesome. Then we’re going to go to the cabin and spend the rest of the weekend relaxing. It’ll be perfect.

Sending lots of love to all the moms out there! You’re amazing. xoxo

Cherry Walnut Butterscotch Blondies

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Bacon Scotcheroos

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On Wednesday night I met my friends for a bacon themed dinner. Yeah, BACON THEMED. It was amazing. My contribution: bacon scotcheroos.

bacon scotcheroos About a year and a half ago two of my friends and I started getting together for themed dinners. The host chooses the theme and prepares the main course. The other two bring an appropriate appetizer/dessert/drink to fit. Our dinners have ranged from Indian to pizza to crockpot to Brazilian to picnic to paleo to seafood.

I don’t know how it took us so long to get to bacon, but it happened. A bacon avocado salad followed by bacon wrapped chicken thighs and then rounded out by these bacon scotcheroos. Yeah. Delicious.

These dinners, I love them. We catch up on each other’s lives. Natalie and I will say something completely random in unison. Senthil will look at us like we are crazy – sometimes it’s hard to tell if he loves or hates us. One time (after a bottle of wine or two) we booked a trip to Atlanta for the Midtown Music Festival. Another time (after a caipirinha or two) we bought concert tickets to Phantogram. Then there was that time (after a vodka soda or two) we “performed” La Bamba over and over again on Rockband. This time we drank a lot of water, discussed Bonnaroo & other music festivals, and called dibs on a trip to India. Our next dinner is French themed. Who knows what will happen there.

bacon scotcheroos Anyways, back to bacon scotcheroos. What you really care about here.

For those of you unfamiliar (who are you?!), scotcheroos are similar to rice krispie bars, but instead of marshmallows they are held together with a mix of peanut butter, Karo syrup, and sugar. Then they are topped with chocolate and butterscotch, so you are left with a sweet, crunchy, chewy bar of deliciousness.

To fit the bacon theme and because there just wasn’t enough calories in the original version of these bars, I added bacon to the rice krispies mixture and sprinkled some sea salt on top. This savory addition helps cut some of the sweetness and also makes them extra delicious. I mean… bacon, chocolate, peanut butter. Triple win.

bacon scotcheroos What you need to do is bake that bacon. Eat one slice, then cut the rest into tiny pieces. Mix together the Karo syrup and brown sugar until it boils. Stir in some chunky peanut butter until it’s melted. Then add in the bacon bits and rice krispies. Press this mixture into a greased pan. I give you permission to taste test here.

Now go melt some chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. Pour it over the rice krispies and top with sprinkles of sea salt. Hide the pan somewhere until it sets. Then cut them up and give them to all your friends. Eat one or two and don’t even feel bad about it. But then make sure to workout extra hard later.

bacon scotcheroos These bars are super quick and simple to make. They freeze well. They transport easy. And they taste amazing. I don’t know what else I can say to convince you to try them, except… bacon.

bacon scotcheroos

Bacon Scotcheroos
 
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Adding bacon into classic scotcheroos is just wonderful. These bars are simple treat to put together. Plus, they have bacon, peanut butter, and chocolate. Triple win.
Serves: 20
Ingredients
  • 12oz package thick-cut bacon
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup light Karo syrup
  • 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
  • 6 cups rice krispies
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup butterscotch chips
  • Sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
  1. Grease a 9x12 cake pan. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil.
  2. Spread the bacon out between the foil-lined pans. Bake for 20 minutes or until the bacon is baked to your liking. Chop into pieces and set aside.
  3. In a large saucepan, add the brown sugar and Karo syrup. Stir over medium-high heat until the mixture begins to boil. Remove the pan from the heat.
  4. Stir in the peanut butter until it melts.
  5. Stir in the bacon pieces and rice krispies.
  6. Press mixture into the pan. Set aside.
  7. In a saucepan (it can be the same one as before), add the chocolate and butterscotch chips. Stir on low-medium until melted. This can also be done in the microwave.
  8. Pour the melted chocolate/butterscotch over the rice kripies. Add sprinkles of sea salt.
  9. Cover and set aside until the chocolate has set.
  10. Cut into bar. Serve. Enjoy.

Besides talking about these amazing bacon scotcheroos, I also want to quickly mention a very special cake for a very special person. This cake has been years in the making. It stems from a random and weird conversation at Taco Bell in the fall of 2006, then became an idea at Public Kitchen + Bar this January, and then a reality last night.

Only for one of my very best friends would I ever make a cake in the shape of a tampon that says “Happy Menarche”.

happy birthday! Kenny, happy 28th birthday, you are amazing. Megan and Danielle, I’m glad we dreamed up this cake. Kelly, Zach, Alana, Scott, Scott, Molly, Bethany, Andrew, Chris, and Corey, thank you for eating the cake (this amazing red velvet recipe) despite its shape.

From bacon dinners to tampon cakes, I truly am friends with the greatest people.

PS- after eating tacos and tampon cake we went to see WITS with Brandi Carlile and Eric Stonestreet (AKA Cam from Modern Family). Amazing. Please go listen to WITS, then listen to all the Brandi Carlile songs, and then watch every episode of Modern Family if you haven’t already.

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Brown Butter Bourbon Blondies

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Brown butter bourbon blondies. This is real life. Do you love it? brown butter bourbon blondies Brown butter, walnuts, and chocolate chips are always a good idea. You just can’t go wrong. Bourbon on the other hand… you can go wrong with bourbon. I’ve learned that lesson once or twice (or more). However, you have no need to fret in this situation. There are two tablespoons of bourbon across 16 bars. I think (and hope) you can handle that.

On the other hand if you pour yourself a glass of bourbon (or two) whilst you bake, that is a different story. You may want to be careful. Just saying.

Now I feel that I need to clarify that I was not drunk (nor was I even drinking) while baking these bars.

brown butter bourbon blondies The mix of the brown butter, brown sugar, and bourbon give these blondies a nice caramel-y, nutty flavor. The walnuts help with the nutty flavor as well (for obvious reasons). The chocolate chips are there, because, well, chocolate. No need to explain further.

If you don’t want chocolate and nuts to get in the way of your butter and sugar you can go ahead and decrease the chocolate chip and walnut quantities from 1 cup to ½ cup. If you want to get crazy you can skip the measuring cup altogether and just throw in a handful or two of each. Do what you’re in the mood for.

brown butter bourbon blondies I know the recipe below is 10 bullet points long, but it is so, so easy. Once the butter is browned the remaining steps take approximately 2 minutes. You just keep adding things into the butter and stirring.

Then you bake. Then you wait. Then you eat.

brown butter bourbon blondies Brown butter bourbon blondies. If you don’t make them for your love of brown butter and bourbon, make them for your love of alliteration.

Also, share them with your friends. They will love you.

brown butter bourbon blondies

 

Brown Butter Bourbon Blondies
 
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Blondies are delicious, but the addition of brown butter, bourbon, walnuts, and chocolate chips make them even better. Plus, they are so simple to make!
Serves: 16 bars
Ingredients
  • 1 cup walnuts, chopped
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 ice cube
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons bourbon
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of foil and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the blondies can easily be lifted out of the pan. Grease foil with butter or oil.
  2. Spread the walnuts on a baking pan and toast in the oven for about 5-10 minutes, stirring once or twice to ensure they don’t burn. Once toasted, set aside.
  3. To brown the butter: melt butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk the melted butter until brown specks appear at the bottom. Watch closely and be careful not to burn. It should be a light brown color and have a nutty aroma. This should take about 5 minutes. Place brown butter in a large heat-proof bowl and whisk in an ice cube.
  4. Mix in the brown sugar until smooth.
  5. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and whiskey.
  6. Stir in the flour until just combined.
  7. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips (feel free to save about a ¼ cup of each to sprinkle on the top).
  8. Place batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining walnuts and chocolate chips on top (if you remembered to save them) and pat down slightly.
  9. Bake for 23-25 minutes.
  10. Cool completely before removing bars from the pan. Then cut and enjoy!

In other exciting news, it is my little sister’s birthday today! Jaci is… so many things: beautiful, intelligent, creative, hilarious (especially when crabby), and amazing in every single way. She is one of my favorite people on the planet. We fight. We laugh. We talk/text/email/snapchat everyday. We take a lot of sister pictures. We have a lot of fun. I love her so very much.

The whole family is gathering in Sioux Falls today to celebrate Jaci’s birthday. We’re going to go to a beer festival. It’ll be funnnnnn.

Happy Birthday Jaci! I hope you have a great weekend!

PS – makes these blondies.

 

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Brown Butter Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Are you sick of pumpkin yet? I really, really hope not, because you need to make these pumpkin bars. They are so so so so so so so so sooooooo good.

brown butter pumpkin bars Trust me.

Brown butter. Cream Cheese. Toasted Walnuts. PUMPKIN. Gaaahhhhh. You just can’t go wrong here.

My mom makes these pumpkin bars every year. They are amazing as is, but let’s just face it, brown butter makes everything better sooooo… I re-created them with brown butter. Then I threw in brown sugar and walnuts too for the heck of it. Hey, why not?! We’re gettin’ cray in the kitchen.

Speaking of cray, don’t freak out, there are five sticks of butter in this recipe. I know, I know, that’s a lot of butter; however, this recipe makes A LOT of bars, so it kind of evens out. Plus, they are just too good to not eat. YOLO. Run an extra few miles this week.

Butter is back anyways, right? It’s ok.

brown butter pumpkin bars The bars itself are not too sweet and have the perfect amount of pumpkiny-spice flavor. They are soft, moist (sorry if you hate that word), and cakey with just a little bit of crunch from the walnuts.

Then there is the frosting. Ooohhhh, this frosting! Cream cheese frosting is always incredible, but with the addition of brown butter… incredible to the max. I kid you not.

brown butter pumpkin bars Make these. Eat five. Save six more for yourself. Then bring the remaining to work/bake sale/Friendsgiving/Thanksgiving/wherever people accept baked goods. Since the recipe makes so many bars no one will even know that you hoarded some for yourself.

brown butter pumpkin bars You should have them for dessert after eating this soup. Pumpkin, pumpkin everywhere.

Make sure to add in a few workouts (like this, this, or this) to sweat out some of that brown butter. Life is a balance.  brown butter pumpkin bars

Brown Butter Pumpkin Bars with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
 
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These pumpkin bars are so good. They are super soft and have tons of flavor from the brown butter in both the bar and the cream cheese frosting. This recipe makes a lot of bars, so you'll be able to keep some for yourself and share with friends.
Ingredients
For the bars:
  • 2 cups walnuts
  • 1¼ cups butter (2 ½ sticks)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ⅔ cup white sugar
  • 29-ounce can pumpkin puree
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • ¼ teaspoon cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon all spice
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
For the frosting:
  • 1¼ cups butter (2 ½ sticks)
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2-4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Grease an 11x17-inch jelly roll pan.
  2. To toast the nuts: spread walnuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Stir them around occasionally (every 5 minutes or so) to ensure they are not burning. Once toasted, chop roughly and set aside.
  3. To brown the butter: melt butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk the melted butter until brown specks appear at the bottom, it will froth and foam a bit. Watch closely and be careful not to burn. It should be a light brown color and have a nutty aroma. Save one cup for the bars and one cup for the frosting.
  4. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.
  5. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine 1 cup of brown butter, the eggs, sugars, and pumpkin. Mix on medium until lights and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  6. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Stir in the walnuts.
  7. Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 27-30 minutes. Let the bars cool completely.
  8. To make the frosting: cream together the cream cheese and butter, about 3 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add the remaining powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until desired consistency is reached.
  9. When the bars have cooled completely, spread the frosting evenly over the bars. Cut into squares and serve! Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
Notes
You can substitute all the spices with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.

Slightly adapted from allrecipes.com.

PS- I took a break from knitting and watching Christmas movies on Hallmark to write this. Is that bad? I might be getting too far ahead of myself.

brown butter pumpkin bars PPS- no, I’m not 80-years old. Knitting is cool.

 

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Sprinkle Pudding Cookie Bars

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Find me a person that doesn’t love sprinkles. I want to tell them to their face that they’re crazy. sprinkle pudding cookie bars Sprinkles. They just make everything so much more fun. And couldn’t we all use an extra dose of fun on Mondays?

I think so. That’s why I’m bringing you these sprinkle pudding cookie bars.

And as if sprinkles weren’t enough, I topped them with these cute frosted animal cookies. Because, why the heck not? sprinkle pudding cookie bars

sprinkle pudding cookie bars In case you’re curious: yes, they do taste as good as they look.

The secret here is in the instant pudding mix. A couple of months ago I made these banana pudding cookie bars and discovered how truly amazing pudding cookies are. They are just so… soft. Soft and crumbly and delicious.

From the flavor to the sprinkles to the texture to the animal cookies, I just love everything about these adorable little bars. They appeal to both the eyes and the taste buds. sprinkle pudding cookie bars They are also super easy and quick to make. The dough comes together like standard cookie dough. Cream the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs, vanilla, and our new favorite cookie ingredient (pudding mix). Stir in the dry ingredients. Throw in sprinkles and crushed up cookies, just for fun. Press the dough into a pan.

sprinkle pudding cookie bars Top it off with some animal crackers. Bake for approximately 13 minutes. Wait for bars to cool (warning: this is the hardest part). Then cut them up and enjoy one… or five. sprinkle pudding cookie bars Then go bring some to your friends because they deserve sprinkles on Mondays too. sprinkle pudding cookie bars And because having an entire pan of these around is a dangerous thing.

Sprinkle Pudding Cookie Bars
 
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I love everything about these adorable little bars. The addition of pudding mix into the dough makes these bars extra soft and delicious. The sprinkles and animal cookies make them super fun.
Author:
Serves: 20 bars
Ingredients
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 (3.4 oz) package vanilla instant pudding mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup animal cookies, coarsely chopped (optional)
  • 1 cup sprinkles
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream together sugars and butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  4. Add the pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
  5. Add in the flour mixture. Stir until combined.
  6. Fold in the cookie chunks and sprinkles.
  7. Put the dough into the prepared pan and press until even. Then press animal cookies on the top of the dough. I did 5 columns and 4 rows (20 total).
  8. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Let bars cool completely before cutting and eating.

sprinkle pudding cookie bars

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Browned Butter Ginger Peach Blondies

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Browned butter. It’s nutty, flavorful, and adds a completely different dimension to baked goods.

browned butter ginger peach blondies
Have you ever cooked or baked with it before? If not, you should go change that right now. Get out a stick of butter and start melting it! Or maybe wait until after you are done reading this. Sometimes multi-tasking is hard and you really don’t want to burn it.

Browned butter is exactly what it sounds like: butter than has been browned. Go figure.

browned butter ginger peach blondies
You essentially melt butter in a saucepan and whisk it until the milk solids are cooked and toasted. This is what makes the butter brown and gives off that nice, nutty aroma. It’s amazing. But for how amazing browned butter is, blackened butter is not. So watch it carefully and do not burn it, hence my previous warning about multi-tasking.

I am going to add this browned butter into blondies.

browned butter ginger peach blondies
Now let’s think about this: dishwater blonde is a hair color that is blondish-brownish. So if I use browned butter in blondies should I call them “dishwater blondies”?

That’s a hypothetical question. I am not going to call them that.

browned butter ginger peach blondies
Plus, along with the browned butter we are also going to add in some ginger and peaches. And what would you call that? These ingredients just throw an entirely different dimension into this hair color analogy, so I’m just going to stop. After all, this isn’t a salon. It’s a kitchen.

browned butter ginger peach blondies
Oh, and pecans. I can’t forget about the toasted pecans!

browned butter ginger peach blondies
So we’re just going to stick with this: browned butter ginger peach blondies.

The name is a bit long, but the product is a lot delicious.

browned butter ginger peach blondies

Browned Butter Ginger Peach Blondies
 
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Browned butter give these blondies a whole new flavor dimension, but then adding ginger, pecans, and peaches turn them into one extremely delicious bar. They are packed with flavor, soft, and incredibly satisfying.
Author:
Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • 1 cup pecans
  • 15 tbsp unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), melted and cooled
  • 1 ¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 ½ cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 firm peaches, one diced and one sliced
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of foil and place them perpendicularly in a 13x9” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the blondies can easily be lifted out of the pan. Grease foil with butter or oil.
  2. To toast the nuts: spread pecans on a baking sheet and bake for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Stir them around occasionally (every 5 minutes or so) to ensure they are not burning. Once toasted, chop roughly and set aside.
  3. To brown the butter: melt butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk the melted butter until brown specks appear at the bottom, it will froth and foam a bit. Watch closely and be careful not to burn. It should be a light brown color and have a nutty aroma. Place browned butter (should yield about ¾ cup) into a heatproof bowl and let cool slightly.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and ginger. Toss in the diced peaches. Set aside.
  5. In a large bowl, whisk together the browned butter and brown sugar until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Fold in the dry ingredients until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in the nuts (feel free to save some to sprinkle on top).
  6. Spread batter into the prepared pan, place the sliced peaches on top, sprinkle with the remaining pecans and a few dashes of ginger. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
  7. Cool completely before removing bars from the pan.
Notes
The peaches make these bars super soft and moist, so a good, firm peach is ideal for this recipe. Pat the sliced and diced peaches with a paper towel before incorporating into the recipe to draw out some of the additional moisture.

I know you are probably prepping for a huge 4th of July picnic right now. I apologize for not bringing you something in the red, white, and blue color scheme. But at the same time, I don’t apologize at all. These are so, so good.

browned butter ginger peach blondies
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