Brown Butter Nutella-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies (a.k.a HEAVEN)

Last weekend I was sitting at home, studying for scary, looming destruction-causing finals, when I decided I needed to satisfy my  fattening, sugary, high-in-carb craving with a delicious, simple cookie. I flipped through some books, browsed some magazines, and gave up. Why bother using up ingredients when you don't have something wildly amazing to make? That's when I though of brown butter-- low and behold the god of butter, with a nutty, caramel aroma that takes any goodie to the next level. And better yet, why don't I just add some Nutella in there as well. I found the holy grail cookies after desperate searching (just kidding, about 4 minutes) and here is the finished product: xox happy baking! 

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon plain greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 jar of Nutella, chilled in refrigerator
• Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam. Make sure you whisk consistently during this process. After a couple of minutes, the butter will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan; continue to whisk and remove from heat as soon as the butter begins to brown and give off a nutty aroma. Immediately transfer the butter to a bowl to prevent burning. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
2. With an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt until combined. Add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed just until combined. Gently fold in all of the chocolate chips.
3. Chill your dough for 2 hours in the refrigerator, or place in freezer for 30 minutes if you are super eager, although I cannot promise the same results if you do this.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once dough is chilled measure about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the dough ball very thinly into the palm of your hand. Place 1 teaspoon of chilled nutella in the middle and fold dough around it; gently roll into a ball — it doesn’t have to be perfectly rolled! Make sure that the nutella is not seeping out of the dough. Add more dough if necessary. Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and flatten with your hand VERY gently. (Really only the tops need to be flattened a bit!)
5. Bake the cookies 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the sheets at least 2 minutes. Sprinkle with a little sea salt. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets after a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

cookie genius creds: AmbitiousKitchen.com

A Garden Runway

LOOK #1

LOOK #2

 LOOK #3

LOOK #4

Finals. The word alone is shunned into hallways and under desks until the week everyone dreads during those short, blissful months after Midterm exams. When making study guides, quizzes, review sheets, and stacks of towering flashcards 7 hours straight, I strongly advise taking an interval to accomplish something wildly more fascinating and worth the time-- a fashion shoot. My lovely friends Bianca and Julia, with their willowy slender frames, were the perfect models for my first 'shoot'. I styled their makeup, hair, and wardrobes for the three scenes we shot at my house in the West LA mountains. For the 1st look on Julia, a sequin flapper dress, oversized jean jacket, and leather boots looked cool. To top it off, tousled hair with a jeweled 1920's-esque headband. For makeup, I lined eyelids with a dusty gold cream shadow and traced a liquid black line adjacent to the gold: pat some shadow in the middle of lips to give an iridescent shimmer. For Bianca (brown hair), a zig zag flapper dress and cropped leather jacket felt tough yet girly. I put her hair in a loose bun with a gold headband and a simple red lip finished her look. For look number 2, I dressed Bianca in a black bustle jacket and denim shorts and loose hair; I lined her eyelids with a shimmery emerald liner and mascara. For Julia, I channeled a china doll, going for side-pulled hair and a bow clip, cropped striped shirt, and a printed skirt. For makeup, I filled in her brows with a brown liner and applied mascara only to the bottom lashes. For the third look, I dressed Bianca in a lace dress and fur vest for a hippie style; lining her lids with black pencil. Julia wore a sparkly silver sheath with a leather jacket. Her eyes were rimmed with black liner and I added a thin streak of shimmery silver cream shadow under her waterline. For the last look, I dressed Julia like a mine and patted lipstick in the center of her lips. For Bianca, she wore a blazer, denim shirt, skirt and fedora for a fun look. Four simple yet chic ensembles!