white chocolate

Blueberries and Cream Muffins from Milk Bar’s Bake Club with Christina Tosi

May 15, 2020 by Alyssa

Eat cake for breakfast with these blueberries and cream muffins bursting with blueberries and white chocolate chips from Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi.

At the start of the pandemic, Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi began Bake Club, a daily baking project streamed live to all of her Instagram followers. It’s been going on now for over 50 days and she’s made everything from jam to gummies to bars, cookies, and cupcakes with hundreds of fans baking alongside her each day. And on the day I joined her on Instagram, she made Blueberries and Cream Muffins.

How Bake Club Works: Blueberries and Cream Muffins Edition

The evening before Bake Club, Tosi posts a few images on her Instagram that show the ingredients required for the next day’s bake. There’s usually a ‘required photo’ meaning you need these ingredients for tomorrow’s Bake Club along with a second photo that’s more of a grab-bag, choose your own adventure, that compliments the required ingredients in photo one.

On the day of Bake Club, Tosi starts with a quick hello, chats about her day before, and introduces a Spotify playlist that accompanies the day’s baking adventure, which is usually playing in the background while Tosi bakes. About 10-minutes into Bake Club, Tosi reveals what she’s baking, and on the day I chose to bake with her, she was baking muffins, stating that she was craving Milk Bar’s famous Blueberries and Cream cookies so she decided to do a play on them by making Blueberries and Cream Muffins.

Check out my other Milk Bar reviews here: Celebrating 31 Years with Momofuku Milk Bar Birthday Cake and the famous Milk Bar ‘Crack’ Pie

Tosi then takes her viewers on a whirlwind tour of her kitchen while she gathers all the necessary ingredients for the bake and then kicks off the actual recipe, walking Bake Club attendees step by step through measuring, mixing, substitution options, and finally shipping the baked good into the oven to bake. That’s when she signs off, tells everyone to post photos of their bake once it’s complete and Bake Club wraps for the day.

All in, the day I attended Bake Club for the Blueberries and Cream Muffins, the session took about 40-minutes — which got me up to the point of placing my muffins into the oven. For the actual baking part, I was on my own, left with the rough timing Tosi supplied before signing off.

Why I enjoyed baking Blueberries and Cream Muffins with Christina Tosi

I put off baking with Bake Club for the longest time because I thought the session would be elementary and I consider myself a pretty confident baker. However, one day I had some extra time on my hands and decided ‘why not’ and I was pleasantly surprised how much fun I had at Bake Club.

Christina Tosi has a really fun personality, she’s spunky, funny, and appears genuine — she’s hard not to like! I also enjoyed the fact that she didn’t dumb down baking. Tosi emphasized the science of baking, thoroughly explaining why the muffin recipe should use a light, neutral oil rather than butter (because of the milk fats + water in the butter wouldn’t provide the proper muffin texture) and how the addition of apple cider vinegar reacts with the baking soda and baking powder to provide height to the muffin when baking.

Looking for Tosi’s Blueberries and Cream Muffins Instagram Live video? Find it here!

The Milk Bar handle was also active in chat during the Bake Club session, offering advice to those commenting or asking questions during the session which made it even more interactive since Tosi herself wasn’t directly responding to chat inquiries since she was focused on leading the baking lesson.

I also enjoyed that Tosi gave numerous substitution options so regardless of what viewers had on hand, they’d be able to create a cohesive flavor profile. I loved some of her suggestions such as cornmeal and strawberries, olive oil and orange, blueberries and honey. She really made baking approachable for the novice and educational for those of us more experienced in the kitchen.

I would definitely bake again with Christina Tosi during Bake Club!

The End Result

While Tosi did provide options to change up her Blueberries and Cream Muffins, I followed it almost exactly, only substituting frozen blueberries in place of fresh since that’s what I had on hand. The end result was a ridiculously delicious muffin. It was basically a muffin that served my own favorite mantra — #EatCakeForBreakfast.

This muffin browned beautifully with a nice rise and a crisp, crunchy muffin top that left me wanting to peel the tops off each and eat them all myself. The flavor was most definitely blueberries and cream, stuffed with juicy blueberries, white chocolate chips, and a hell of a lotta sugar from the chocolate-sugar combo (thus, cake!). I also enjoyed that the muffin was light and fluffy and not overly greasy or crumbly like some muffins tend to be.

Overall, it was delicious and will serve as a base muffin recipe I plan to use in the future with other flavor combinations.

So tell me, have you done any baking with Christain Tosi during the pandemic? What did you make?

Blueberries and Cream Muffins from Milk Bar's Bake Club with Christina Tosi

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

Recipe from Milk Bar's Bake Club: https://milkbarstore.com/blogs/christina-tosi-bake-club/blueberries-and-cream-muffins

Author: Alyssa

Serves: 6-9 muffins

Ingredients

1 egg
½ cup sugar
¼ cup milk
¼ teaspoon vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup frozen blueberries**
½ cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375F (I used convection setting) and line a standard muffin tray with 6-9 cupcake liners.
In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the egg and sugar. Add in the vinegar and stream in the milk. Whisk to combine followed by the vanilla extract and oil. Whisk again to combine.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir with a spatula until just combined.
Gently fold in the blueberries and white chocolate chips.
Using a large cookie scoop or a ⅓ cup measuring cup, fill the prepared cupcake liners. Milk Bar stated this recipe made 6 muffins when I followed it I had 9 muffins, with the cupcake liners filled about 80% of the way full.
Bake the muffins in the oven for 18-22 minutes until tops are golden.
Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.
Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days.

Notes

Blueberries should thaw for about 30-minutes on the counter the strained of any liquid that was released to remove excess moisture

White Chocolate Peppermint Tuile Cookies

December 17, 2019 by Alyssa

Impress your holiday guests with these white chocolate peppermint tuile cookies, crispy chocolate wafers filled with a sweet minty mousse.

I’m not sure why I added tuile cookies to my baking bucket list but when I revisited my list a few weeks ago, I was excited to try my hand at them at making them. I knew I wanted to make a tuile cookie stuffed with something because, seriously, who wouldn’t want to eat a cookie stuffed with a delicious filling? And, since we’re heading into the holiday season, I chose to make chocolate tuiles and filled them with a white chocolate peppermint mousse.

The chocolate tuiles are rather mild in flavor but they’re very crisp and they’re the perfect vehicle for holding the fluffy, white chocolate mousse. Tip: Serve these cookies within an hour of assembling to ensure they stay crisp.

The white chocolate peppermint mousse is lick-the-bowl delicious! It reminded me of a sweet peppermint candy, nothing too overpowering just subtle hints of vanilla and holiday mint. The mousse starts with a base of white chocolate ganache which you fold into a bowl of freshly made whipped cream. To finish it off, you folded in candy cane pieces for a little crunch and the result is a sweet, silky white chocolate peppermint mousse. I actually enjoyed eating this straight from the bowl, no tuile cookie involved!

Making the Tuile Batter

Making tuile batter is quite easy, just 5 main ingredients — butter, sugar, cocoa powder, flour & egg whites. All the ingredients whip together easily in a stand mixer resulting in a stiff, thick batter. Looking at the batter, it appears as if it won’t make much but since tuiles are spread so thin, the batter actually results in about 50-60 cookies, which means this recipe is rather time-consuming because you bake the tuiles in small batches of 4-6 cookies at a time.

Tuiles Require a Stencil

When I first looked into making tuile cookies, a stencil was suggested. After searching a few blogs, I also saw an option for creating your own template by tracing a shape onto parchment paper and spreading the batter by hand to fill the pattern.

My first attempt where I tried to spread the batter into the circles by hand.

Not wanting to invest in a tuile template for just one baking session, I chose to go the ‘make your own route’. When it was time to make the cookies, I took a 3-inch round cookie cutter and traced it on to my parchment paper to create a template and began spreading the batter as thin as I could into the circles using an offset spatula. The cookies coming out of the oven were fine using this method, maybe slightly thick, but I felt okay about the result.

However, I hated how time-consuming it was to spread the batter evenly into the circles by hand. It was taking me longer to spread the batter into the hand-drawn circles than it was to actually bake the cookies. And that’s when I decided to make my own stencil.

Innovating in Real-Time

I traced the same 3-inch cookie cutter circles onto an old silicon baking mat and cut out the circles to form a stencil. I then placed the silicone mat on top of parchment paper and using my offset spatula, I spread the batter into the cutout circles, scraped away the excess then carefully peel off the stencil to reveal six perfectly round tuile cookies ready for baking.

Spreading the tuile batter into the stencil

My handmade tuile template using an old silicon baking mat.

I found this method to be much easier, way more efficient, and the baked tuile’s thickness was perfectly even when compared to my original hand-spread tuiles. #lessonlearned If you choose to make these cookies, you can DIY your own tuile template as I did or you can purchase one on Amazon, which is probably cheaper than ruining a silicone baking mat.

Time to Bake & Roll

My tuile template made six tuiles at a time but I found I could only roll about 3 tuiles at a time once they were removed from the oven. When I got to tuile number four, the cookie had started to cool and it cracked before I could properly roll it into the cone shape.

To account for this, I adjusted my baking time to 3-minutes per cookie sheet. I’d then pull the cookies out, quickly roll three of the cookies into their tuile cone shape then pop the remaining three cookies, still on the baking sheet, bake into the oven to ‘warm up’ for 1 more minute then repeat the rolling process with the remaining three cookies.

Just like I didn’t have the proper tuile template, I also didn’t have a tool to roll my tuile cookies around once they came out of the oven so I improvised using the pestle from my mortar and pestle to form a cone shape. Creating the cone shape took a little bit of practice but luckily this batter makes a ton of cookies which allows for the learning curve.

Fill & Enjoy!

Filling the cookies is the easiest part of the entire process. Just place the white chocolate mousse into a piping bag, cut a 1/2 inch hole into the bag and fill the chocolate tuile cones. You can choose to decorate the tuile cookies with more crushed peppermint, sprinkles, or just leave them as-is.

Plan and Serve Immediately

The chocolate tuiles should be made the day you plan to serve them. However, the mousse can be made up to a day in advance (just don’t mix the candy cane pieces in until serving/filling) and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble. I’d recommend filling the tuiles right before serving to ensure the cookies stay crisp. I found that the longer the cookies sit with the mousse, the softer they become. And unfortunately, these cookies don’t keep well either. So eat up!

Check out my full 2019 baking bucket list here!

White Chocolate Peppermint Tuile Cookies

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

Author: Alyssa

Serves: 60 cookies

Ingredients

For the tuile cookies
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
⅔ cup confectioner's sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 egg whites
pinch of salt
white chocolate peppermint mousse, recipe below
sprinkles & crushed peppermint for decorating, optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400F and line a cookie tray with parchment paper. Place your tuile template on top of the parchment paper and set aside.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt into a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter for 2-3 minutes then add in the confectioner's sugar. Cream together for 4-5 minutes until smooth.
Add in the egg whites, one at a time. The mixture may look 'curdled' but just keep mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl.
Lastly, add in the flour-cocoa mixture all at once and mix until just combined. The batter will be thick.
Using an offset spatula, thinly spread the batter into tuile template, scraping away excess. Once all molds are filled, gently peel the template off of the parchment paper (my template made 6 cookies at a time).
Bake the cookies for 3-4 minutes (depending on thickness). Remove from oven and quickly roll the tuiles, while hot, into a cone shape. Set the cookies on a wire rack to cool completely. If you're unable to roll all the tuiles without them breaking, pop the remaining tuiles back into the oven for an additional 30-60 seconds to 'warm-up' then continue rolling.
When ready to serve, place the white chocolate peppermint mousse into a piping bag. Cut a hole in the bag that's about a ½ inch wide (to ensure the peppermint candy fits through) and fill each of the chocolate tuile cones. Decorate with sprinkles or additional crushed peppermint as desired.
Serve immediately as these cookies do not keep well once assembled.

Notes

I highly advise you make the tuile cookies the day you plan to serve them or else they become soft. Serve immediately upon filling with the mousse. The longer the cookies sit with the mousse, the softer the cookies become.

White Chocolate Peppermint Mousse

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

90 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

Author: Alyssa

Serves: 3 cups

Ingredients

3 cups heavy whipping cream, separated
12 ounces white chocolate chips
½ teaspoon peppermint extract
¼-1/3 cup crushed peppermint pieces

Instructions

Place the white chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl and set aside.
In a saucepan over medium heat, warm ¾ cup heavy cream until hot, just simmering but not boiling.
Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate chips, let sit for 2-minutes then stir the mixture together until smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract. Place the bowl in the fridge to chill for at least 30-minutes.
Once the white chocolate is chilled, begin making the whipped cream by placing the remaining 2¼ cups of whipping cream into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on high until stiff peaks form.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and gently fold in the chilled white chocolate into the whipped cream. Do this gently as to not deflate the whipped cream.
Chill the mixture for at least 60-minutes before serving. Right before serving, fold in the crushed candy cane pieces.

Notes

You can make the mousse 1 day prior to serving if kept in the fridge, just don't mix in the candy cane pieces until serving. Leftover mousse can be served as-is in a small bowl for dessert.

Peanut Butter White Chocolate Scones

March 6, 2018 by Alyssa

If you’re looking for a sweet start to your day then try my Peanut Butter White Chocolate Scones. Crumbly, buttery scones filled with peanut butter and white chocolate chips with a vanilla glaze and PB-drizzle on top. It’s basically a cookie for breakfast. You’re welcome.

I really love peanut butter. Like, really love peanut butter.

In fact, I have 4 jars of peanut butter open in my pantry right now. I also have containers ready for travel at a moment’s notice, and have packets of organic peanut butter hidden in my purse and work bag. Just in case a peanut butter emergency strikes.

I kid you not.

So, it’s only natural that I found another way to incorporate peanut butter into breakfast by making peanut butter white chocolate scones, they’re prettyyyy much like a crumbly cookie. That you can eat for breakfast. No complaints here.

I never used to like making scones but eventually, I learned that if I was willing to get a little messy, scones are super easy to pull together in the morning.

For my peanut butter white chocolate scones, I suggest waking, putting your butter in the freezer to chill for 30-minutes while you sip your first cup of coffee then jump into scone-making.

By the time these scones bake and you dress them in the vanilla glaze & peanut butter drizzle, it will be just about time for brunch and your second cup of coffee. Which obviously, pairs perfectly with my peanut butter white chocolate scones’ sweet, buttery, crumbly texture.

Put your feet up, dig in, and enjoy your ‘cookie’ for breakfast.

5.0 from 5 reviews

Peanut Butter White Chocolate Scones

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

50 mins

Author: Alyssa

Serves: 16

Ingredients

For the Scones
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, chilled and diced
½ cup half & half
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
½ cup peanut butter chips
½ cup white chocolate chips
For the Vanilla Icing

2 cup confectioner's sugar
3-4 tablespoons half and half
1½ teaspoon clear vanilla extract
For the Peanut Butter Drizzle
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400*F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, set aside
In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Using a pastry blender cut in the chilled butter until its the consistency of small pebbles.
In a small bowl, whisk together the half and half, egg, and extracts.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently combine.
Fold in the peanut butter and white chocolate chip, careful to not over mix.*
Once mixed, form the dough into a large ball on a lightly floured surface.
Cut the dough ball in half and set one aside.
Working with one half of the dough, gently roll the ball into a round circle, roughly 6 inches in diameter and ½ inch thick.
Using a floured pastry cutter or floured knife, cut the circle across 4 times to form 8 equal-sized triangles.
Gently transfer the cut scones on to the prepared baking sheet, leaving a 1-inch space between each.
Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the remaining dough piece.
Bake the scones for 15-18 minutes until light golden in color.
Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
While baking, make the icing.
For the Vanilla Icing, mix everything together in a medium-sized bowl and set aside until the scones have cooled and you are ready to ice them.
Once completely cooled, dip the top side of the scone into the prepared vanilla icing, letting any excess drip off before returning to the wire rack to dry. (I like to dip mine twice for an extra thick glaze!)
For the Peanut Butter Drizzle, in a small microwave-safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds. Stir to distribute the heat until the peanut butter is fully melted. Pour the melted peanut butter into a prepared piping bag and snip a ¼ inch off the tip. When iced scones have set, drizzle the glaze over top and serve immediately.

Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

November 9, 2017 by Alyssa

Drizzled with white chocolate & speckled with candied pumpkin seeds, Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats are a delicious seasonal treat.

Hurry! You only have a few more weeks before we retire Pumpkin Spice for the year and welcome in Gingerbread & Peppermint! And with the time that’s left you HAVE to make these Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats!

I know rice krispie treats may sound under-rated but that’s because you’ve never had my rice krispie treats! My treats are flavor bombs that blow the classic treats out of the water. White chocolate + pumpkin spice + marshmallows + spiced pumpkin seeds = DELICIOUS

Just like my Grandma’s Dilly Bar recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats, these Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats are decadently delicious, full of flavor and beyond simple to make.

The secret to Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Rice Krispie treats is Trader Joe’s Spiced Pumpkin Seeds! I love TJ’s pumpkin seeds on their own or mixed with nuts & Pumpkin O’s or sprinkled on a salad but after finding myself nibbling through the bag, I decided their addictive flavor would be perfect incorporated into a seasonal treat!

As for the Pumpkin Spice flavor itself, this comes from the classic Pumpkin Pie Spice mix! The only real pumpkin in these Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate White Krispie Treats are these pumpkin seeds. And in reality, it’s the flavor of pumpkin spice that the world’s crazy about…not so much the earthy orange pumpkin flavor itself.

To finish off the treats (and to make them a tad fancier than just a standard ol’ bar) I drizzled the top with white chocolate.

If you’re feeling sassy, you can also incorporate white chocolate chips into the bars themselves when mixing in the pumpkin seeds!

I wanted a lighter touch of white chocolate since it’s rather sweet and when paired with the marshmallows and spiced seeds, I was worried it may be too sweet! Either way, no matter how much or how little white chocolate you choose to use, don’t leave it out!

I love these treats best within the first few days but they’ll stay fresh for up to a week in a well-sealed container! Either way, enjoy the last few days of Pumpkin Spice season!

If you’re looking to squeeze in a few more Pumpkin Spice options before the season ends, check out my Mini Pumpkin Spice Scone with Molasses Drizzle or Mini No-Rise Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls!

5.0 from 3 reviews

Pumpkin Spice White Chocolate Rick Krispie Treats

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

Author: Alyssa

Serves: 24

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
10 ounces marshmallows
6 cups crisp rice cereal
1 cup Trade Joe's Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
½ cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

Lightly grease a 9x13 inch pan with butter or line it with parchment paper and set aside
In a large pot on the stove, heat the butter until melted over medium heat
Stir the pumpkin spice into the butter then add in the marshmallows
Stir the marshmallows & butter continuously over medium heat until the marshmallows are fully melted
Remove from heat and mix in the cereal and pumpkin seeds
Smooth the treat mixture into the prepared pan, ensuring an even top layer
Let cool at least 2 hours before cutting into bars
Once cut into bars, warm the white chocolate in the microwave in 30-second increments (~90 seconds total), stirring well between each heating.
Drizzle the white chocolate over the cut bars and let cool before serving