Cinnamon Swirl Chocolate Chip Bread

I had a relaxing morning reading God's word, listening to Hillsong, finishing my wax-ups, and baking this! Lately, God has been convicting me of not feeling content with my situation, and it has really been depleting my joy in Him. For more read below! Anyways, here's the recipe I made. It's one of the simplest recipes ever but surely will be a favorite! Click here for the recipe!

This morning, I read this devotional from Oswald Chambers (utmost.org) that talks about why we suffer, and how we can use our persecutions or criticisms or failures for God's glory. These are all definitely things that we all go through. And let me tell you, it's never easy. In these times, we are to remain faithful because faith brings us closer and more aligned to Christ. God tests us, and for good reasons, and in the end we can look back and say that it made us stronger and so much more dependent on Him. Right now, I can't say I completely always trust God, especially when things suck and school is hard. But reading His word every day is a reminder to me that, with faith, comes doubt. And doubt is okay! We are allowed to doubt God, but through this, we need to remember to CLING to Him and just watch His faithfulness shine through.

 . . but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings . . . —1 Peter 4:13

If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. Because of this process, you will never be surprised by what comes your way. You say, “Oh, I can’t deal with that person.” Why can’t you? God gave you sufficient opportunities to learn from Him about that problem; but you turned away, not heeding the lesson, because it seemed foolish to spend your time that way.

The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered “according to the will of God” (1 Peter 4:19), having a different point of view of suffering from ours. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand. In the history of the Christian church, the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. People have sought to carry out God’s orders through a shortcut of their own. God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the “long road home.”

Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them? It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— “God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!”

Mini Reese's Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

This post marks the craziest, longest, [almost] most stressful week of my life. 5 midterms + 1 presentation that we had only 1 night to prep for! But I'm keeping it cool, for the most part. And sleep is my friend. I don't care about studying, I NEED SLEEP! Anyways, I didn't bake at all this week, which is like...BIG for me. So here's the first thing I did after finishing midterms. Yea I'm crazy, I know. Done in like 20 minutes, try it out. They're delish! (I only let myself eat 1/2 of a cookie to try..because I'm trying to stay away from sugar). -.- But if you aren't then go ahead and indulge. 

Ingredients

• 1 sticks softened butter
• 1/2 Cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 Cup granulated sugar
• 1 large eggs
• 1/2 Tablespoon pure vanilla
• 1 3/4 Cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 bag mini Reese's 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 
2. Cream wet ingredients: butter sugars, egg, vanilla, well! 
3. Mix together flour salt and baking soda. 
4. Stir in chocolate chips. 
5. Take a big cookie dough scoop (3 tbls) and split the ball in half. Stick the Reese's in the middle and seal the edges. 
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown on bottom. INDULGE! 

Adapted from none other than: Picky Palate


Literally, Thanks GOD it's Friday! He got me through this week, and it's crazy how secure you begin to feel once you start lifting up your desires to the Lord in prayer. I just read a devo telling how much Jesus, the Son of God, went in quiet to pray. Can you imagine, THE Son of God, prayed that much, how much should we be talking to our God? I'm ashamed of how much I lack prayer in my life. And it's something I'm working on daily now.

Luke 6:12-13 ~ Now during those days [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of the, whom he also named apostles.

The purpose of living is not to learn to make prayer, but to become prayer; to live in and for God according to the divine call, wholly surrendered to the Spirit's activity in the soul for the glory of God. - Father Gilbert Shaw

"Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment ‘as to the Lord.’ It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received." -C.S. Lewis   [Thanks for the reminder Abigail!]

Kit Kat Chocolate Chip Cookies

OK so these are like really good...so don't make these if you're on a diet! Thank God I had to bring these to a potluck, or else I would have stuffed them all down my mouth and would be in regret right now. The only special thing about these are that I made them in a whoopie pan, so they're like GIANT. But other than that, brown butter makes them super nutty & delicious. If you're wondering why & how I've been baking so much, it's mainly because I'm procrastinating on work, need baking therapy after every lab session, and am having too much fun in my new apartment. God is good though, and provides us with the rest we need. For that, I am thankful! He sustains me more than I will ever know or imagine. Anyways, enjoy the recipe :)

Got this on Amazon!

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 bag mini Kit Kats

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray a whoopie pan with nonstick spray or line a pan with parchment.
2. Place butter into a small saucepan over medium heat. Swirl and heat until deep golden brown. Remove heat and let cool for 5 minutes. [This is important, because you don't want to cook your egg in the next step, if the butter is too hot!]
3. Place browned butter and little bits from the pan into a stand mixer along with the brown and granulated sugar. Beat to combine then add egg and vanilla beating to combine. Add  flour, pudding mix, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips. Mix on low until just combined.
4. With a medium cookie scoop, place 2 tablespoons of dough into whoopie pan or onto pan. Gently press 2-3 mini kit kats into each cookie and bake for 10 minutes, until baked through. Remove and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. 

Sea Salt Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Lazy Sundays call for baking! Here's my version of Picky Palate's Salted Brown Butter Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Instead of dark chocolate, I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, and I also used Celtic Sea Salt instead of Fleur de Sel. These turned out to have the perfect balance of sweet with a touch of salty. The hardest part of this recipe is making the brown butter. Basically, brown butter is toasting butter in a saucepan without burning it. It gives recipes a different, more nutty flavor. It seems complicated, but it just takes a watchful eye! 

The lineup, minus the brown sugar!

To make brown butter, melt butter on med-high heat for about 5 minutes until you see a golden brown color like this. You'll also see little brown specks if you look closely. This is the color you want, no darker!

Scoop about 2 tbls of dough on a cookie sheet. Then, add a sprinkle of sea salt to each cookie. 

 

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon corn starch
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Aprox. 2-3 teaspoons sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line a large baking sheet with a silpat liner or parchment paper.
2. Place butter into a small saucepan over medium heat. Swirl and heat until deep golden brown. Remove heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
3. Place browned butter and little bits from the pan into a stand mixer along with the brown and granulated sugar. Beat to combine then add egg and vanilla beating to combine. Add  flour, pudding mix, baking soda, corn starch, salt and chocolate chips. Mix on low until just combined.
4. With a medium cookie scoop, place 2 tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of sea salt and bake for 10 minutes, until baked through. Remove and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Serve and enjoy.