Brown Butter Pistachio Popcorn Cookies

I know what you are thinking...  

"Another cookie recipe?!"

But give me a chance...   

I do not typically share the elephantine load of baked treat recipes that one might expect from a food blogger around this time of year.

There is one, very simple reason for that choice.

Most of my favorite holiday cookies really are not that dazzling.  Come Christmastime, I prefer the uncomplicated.  The unadorned, antediluvian cookies that my great-grandmother used to pack into red and green tins.  Sugar cookies as thin as parchment, Russian tea cookies thick with confectioner’s sugar and bleeding with butter, and soft peanut butter balls dipped in rich chocolate ganache - affectionately known as “buckeyes.” 

I will take all the innovation and neoclassicism you can devise come December 26th, but for now, all I want is to be drenched in edible nostalgia.

That being said, yesterday morning I woke up and decided that I wanted to throw pistachios, popcorn, and brown butter (Do I hear angels singing? Oh, no, sorry... That was just my Pandora station.) into my cookie dough. 

Never underestimate the creativity that can come from your 9am cravings. 

It’s been a couple years since I first discovered the magic of popcorn cookies.  Leave it to Deb to come up with something so unapologetically indulgent.  

I understand the skepticism, but trust me on this.  It is the new pretzels-in-your-ice-cream.

Disclaimer: This recipe will tell you to make about twice as much popcorn as you actually need for the cookies, but I do not need to tell you why, now do I?  

Have you ever browned butter before?  

Do you like things that smell wonderful and taste even better?  I know you do, of course you do!  This is why we are friends. 

Butter is heated until it is slowly bubbling, then all of our little bits of fat become toasty brown and we have something that is just about as close to heaven as we can get from these earthly kitchens of ours.

Oh, hello cookies!

These cookies are so full of crunchy, salty-sweetness, it's almost too much for a girl's heart to handle.

Almost. 

Crispy, golden edges and soft, chewy centers.  I think these cookies just may have earned themselves a place next to my great grandmother's sugar cookies. 

Christmas is next week.  Breathe in and out.  Enjoy every moment.  And try, please try, to avoid that post office if you possibly can. 

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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Brown Butter Pistachio Popcorn Cookies

makes roughly 18 cookies

- 1 tablespoon coconut oil

- 1/4 cup popping corn 

- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, divided (at room temperature)

- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt (plus extra for salting popcorn)

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 

- 1 large egg 

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1/2 cup roasted, unsalted pistachios

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Place a 4-quart saucepan over medium high heat and add coconut oil.  When the oil has melted, add popping corn and cover.  

Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the kernels begin to pop.  Once this begins, shake the pan vigorously over the heat until you no longer hear kernels popping. 

Remove the pan from the heat and salt the popcorn to taste.  Set aside. 

Place 1/4 cup butter in a small frying pan and place over medium heat.  Once the butter begins to bubble, watch it carefully.  The goal is for the butter to become rich topaz in color, with tiny darker bits laying on the bottom of the pan.  This should take about 5 minutes.  

Once the butter has browned, remove from heat and use a spoon to scrape off the white froth from the top of the butter.  Allow the butter to cool while you prepare the cookie batter. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. 

In the work bowl of your stand mixer combine remaining 1/4 cup butter with sugars.  Beat on medium speed, scraping down the sides as necessary, until the mixture is airy and well-combined. Beat in egg. 

With the mixer on low speed, slowly incorporate browned butter and vanilla extract.  

While continuing to mix, gradually add the flour mixture until all of the dry ingredients are well incorporated. 

Fold in pistachios and 1 1/2 cups popped corn. 

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and use an ice cream scoop to portion out the dough into 2 tablespoon balls. 

Bake for 9-12 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown.  The centers should still look slightly soft.  

Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool.  Store in airtight containers until ready to serve.  Enjoy!

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10 Lords-a-Leaping - A Holiday Collaboration

My mother has always had a stack of Christmas books that she only rescues from the depths of the closet once a year.

Each of us children have always had our favorite, and my mother would rotate through each beautifully-illustrated volume throughout the cozy evenings of December.  Those were some of the best evenings of the whole year. 

One of my favorite books was a richly colored picture book - each of its twelve pages containing but one line from a classic tune. 

"The 12 Days of Christmas" - it was an illustrated interpretation of one of my very favorite carols. 

Those sweet memories all returned when Cost Plus World Market approached me with the whimsical notion of creating a 10 Lords-a-Leaping-inspired recipe.

I invited two of my sweet young lady friends over to share with them my treasured book, and to make use of some of their endless energy as we assembled these miniature Lord Baltimore cakes. 

Bing Crosby serenaded whilst we baked and whipped and frosted.  

You can find the full recipe for these tiny cakes on the World Market Blog - along with eleven other deliciously inspired Christmas baking recipes!

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

This post was sponsored by Cost Plus World Market . They have been my faithful and trusted source for all things festive - from Christmas entertaining essentials, to whimsical bakeware, World Market has you covered! This post was a joy to put together and I am delighted to share it with you! It is a great privilege to work with a brand that I love so much! All opinions here are my own, as always. Thank you for reading and allowing me to continue doing what I love!

Don't forget to enter Cost Plus World Market's Great Holiday Baking Sweepstakes" for a chance to win a trip for two to London, with pastry classes, a guided food tour, a $1,000 World Market gift card, and more! Enter every day, now through December 31st!

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Coconut Cream Hot Cocoa with Coconut Tuiles

There is one wintry day that I remember with exceptional fondness. 

My brother, sister, and I had piled into the bed of my father’s truck, which had a cap, and sealed it up tight and cozy.  

We brought with us every blanket in the house, probably a stuffed critter or two, and huddled together in our newfound fortress.  My gracious mother made us a thermos of hot cocoa and several bags of microwave popcorn.  

That day was magical. 

Snow was falling, and we gripped our steaming miniature mugs as though that chocolatey brew was the only thing standing between us and frostbite. 

I would happily hop into the back of that truck today, though we probably could no longer sit up without hitting our heads, and my brother probably wouldn’t want to cuddle up with his sisters anymore, but I would give anything for even a taste of that long-lamented magic.

Last week, I attempted to stir up (pun intended) some of that childish magic as I made this hot cocoa. 

This cocoa was inspired by my heavily anesthetized husband (then fiancé), just after he had his wisdom teeth removed.  As we sat in the office waiting for him to become somewhat lucid, he offered me a range of ideas for future recipes.  He was most excited about hot tea with whipped cream, which has yet to come to fruition.  What a shame…

Though his culinary instincts were not at their sharpest at the time, he did make one suggestion that was rather brilliant.  Coconut Cream Hot Cocoa.

Medicated stupor aside, where there is cream and chocolate, there is happiness. 

“Yes, dearest drugged one, we can indeed make that a reality.  Now please stop pouting, I’ll buy you that smoothie.” 

The days have been cold, the mornings colder, and I am yearning for that long lost comfort that came in the form of the bed of a hefty green truck, cuddly siblings, and packet after packet of Swiss Miss. 

Today there are no siblings to cuddle with and no truck bed to crawl into, but I have my cocoa and the warmest of memories to shield me from the blustery world that lies around me. 

Now go grab some chocolate, you’ve got work to do. 

Cheers to the good old days that inspire the good new days. 

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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Coconut Cream Hot Cocoa with Coconut Tuiles 

serves 4 / tuile recipe adapted slightly from Fine Cooking

for the coconut tuiles

- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar 

- 1 ounce all-purpose flour 

- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

- pinch of kosher salt

- 1 tablespoon water

- 2 tablespoons shredded, sweetened coconut

In a small bowl, whisk to combine sugar and flour.  Whisk in melted butter, salt, water, and coconut.  

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for one hour; or until firm. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking sheet.  Portion the chilled mixture into 1/2 teaspoon balls, spacing them about 3-inches apart.

Bake for 7-9 minutes, until they are deep golden in color.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for one minute before removing from the pan.  You may shape them gently before they cool, or allow them to cool on the pan completely and then break into pieces. 

Store in airtight containers until ready to use. 

for the coconut whipped cream

- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

- 1/2 cup coconut cream

- 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted

Beat heavy whipping cream on high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.  Reduce speed to low and mix in confectioner’s sugar and coconut cream.  Refrigerate until ready to use. 

for the hot cocoa

- 3 cups whole milk 

- 1 cup coconut cream

- 1/3 cup granulated sugar 

- 7 ounces milk chocolate, roughly chopped

- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine whole milk, coconut cream, and granulated sugar in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat.  Stir the mixture often until the sugar is dissolved and the milk is steaming. 

Remove from heat and add chocolate; stir until smooth.  Stir in nutmeg and vanilla. 

Serve hot with heavy spoonfuls of whipped cream and a coconut tuile. 

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