Review: Brown Butter Sea Salt Cookies

I've happily scarfed many cookies in my day and just when I think I've tried them all, I come across a golden nugget that blows my mind. Enter Brown Butter Cookie Company- thank you for existing. Huge thanks to my lovely coworker for introducing these to me. On occasion she'll generously bring in a box to share and each time it feels like Christmas. Heck, I even bogart more than my sweet pregnant coworker does. I can't help it, they're too good! The BBCC store is located in a cute surf town: Cayucos, Ca, but luckily you can order these online whenever you please. If you happen to hit up the store, you will be greeted by free samples and possibly the two sisters who co-own this company as well.

Now lets talk flavors. I've been lucky enough to sample 4 flavors, but they make 6 total: Coco, Coconut Lime, Citrus, Original, Coco Mint and Espresso. Here is my two cents on the flavs I've tried.

Photo Cred: Sarah O'Rourke  |  Coco Cookie — Photo Cred: Sarah O'Rourke | *Coco Cookie*

Coco: It's so money. I mean, look at these beauties. It has a glorious light buttery chocolate flavor. Definitely one of my favorites!

Coco Rating: 4.5 Cookie Crumbs

Coconut Lime: This little guy is very intriguing. It's unlike any cookie I've had before. It has a hint of lime tucked away just enough in a butter-based cookie.

Coconut Lime Rating: 4 Cookie Crumbs

Citrus: I didn't dislike it, but it didn't make me want horde any away for later. I love citrus in chocolate, but it's not my favorite in a sugar-type cookie. They can't all be winners, right?

Citrus Rating: 3 Cookie Crumbs

Photo Cred: Sarah O'Rourke  |  Original Cookie — Photo Cred: Sarah O'Rourke | *Original Cookie*

Original: This is my FAV. It's so good once it hits your lips. I love the brown sugar and pop of salt you taste in each bite. I also appreciate the buttery flavor that's not greasy by any means. These cookies are too classy to be greasy!

Original Rating: 5 Cookie Crumbs

These cookies are so sweet, they even say "enjoy!" on their package. Do yourself a favor and order a box and thank me later.

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Review: Desserts of Disneyland

My family and I go to the happiest place on Earth, Disneyland, every year. This is partially due to the fact that we all truly love it, but mostly because there's a dental convention in Anaheim that my parents attend. (Ironic fact: my dad is a dentist and my mom is a hygienist...and we're all dessert fiends. GASP). Since we've been going for so many years, we know the park waaay too well, especially when it comes to the desserts (didn't see that one coming huh?) Luckily, Mr. Walt Disney didn't disappoint in this area. My fam and I have dessert traditions that we try to partake in each visit and I'd like to share some of the highlights with you.

Clockwise starting left: Chocolate Chip Cookie Hot Fudge Sundae, Strawberry Ice Cream with Hot Fudge, Firehouse Dalmatian Mint Sundae and Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream.

Best Ice Cream Sundae: Firehouse Dalmatian Mint Sundae @ Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor.
This sundae can do no wrong. Two scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream, served in a waffle cup, with hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry. This past visit, I stupidly ordered the Chocolate Chip Cookie Hot Fudge Sundae to mix things up. Don't do this. It was below average. Plus, I got to watch my sister happily chow down on the Mint Sundae across the table from me. I was an angry panda.

Why so happy friend? I'm about to eat your face.

Best Frozen Nibble: Mickey's Ice Cream Sandwhich @ Frozen Treat Cart.
Snag one of these adorable cookies 'n cream ice cream sandos and bite Mickey's ears off with glee.

Best Afternoon Snack: Churro: @ Churro Cart.
When you're in between meals and you need a little something something to tie yourself over, order yourself a Churro. It's sugary crunchy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside.

Best Baked Sweet Treat: Chef Cookie’s Deep Dish @ Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue.
Choose from a classic chocolate chip cookie or seasonal cookie (ours was a snickerdoodle), each served with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with hot fudge or caramel. It's yum.

photo cred: disneylandblackoutdates.com — photo cred: disneylandblackoutdates.com

Best Hot Day Refresher: Pineapple Whip @ Tiki Juice Bar.
This pineapple fro-yo is not only delightfully refreshing, but is probably the healthiest dessert at DL. Order this when you've been porking out on corn dogs and want a lighter sweet.

Clockwise starting top left: Some fruity dessert, some PB choco number, my duo of crème brûlée: vanilla and hazelnut and lastly molten choco with flare. — Clockwise starting top left: Some fruity dessert, some PB choco number, my duo of crème brûlée: vanilla and hazelnut and lastly molten choco with flare.

Best Exclusive Dessert: Crème Brûlée duo @ Club 33
You can't help but feel like a VIP getting to dine at Club 33. The 4 desserts we tried were not all mind-blowers, but most were really tasty. Tom Colicchio would give them all high marks on presentation, but I personally think the crème brûlée duo tasted the best.

Disneyland will always hold a very special place in my heart...and stomach. My hat is tipped to you Walt!

Overall Rating: 5 Ice Cream Scoops

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Review: Cupcakes of NYC

On my first trip to New York City in the spring of 2009, I decided to embark on a journey: to find the tastiest cupcake NYC has to offer. It was a short trip, so I had to be focused. Sadly, I did not make it to the top of the Empire State Building or see the Statue of Liberty, but I did make it to three cupcake shops. Now that's what I call a successful trip!

Left to right: PB, Cookie Dough & Cappuccino

First, my girlfriends and I hit up a cupcake place that has a lot of hub-bub: Crumbs Bake Shop. The shop may be small, but the cupcakes are ginormous. We snagged three to try: Peanut Butter Cup, Cookie Dough and Cappuccino. Thoughts? The frosting-to-cake ratio was off; there was waaay too much frosting/topping for your own good. Plus, each of them had a frosting filling too, not like it needed anymore. All this frosting was crazy sweet too, which is ok for a bite or two, but come bite three, things start to turn bad.

Crumbs Bake Shop Rating: 1.5 cupcake wrappers

Next cupcake stop was at another crowd pleaser: Magnolia Bakery. This place was featured in a Sex and the City episode, so yeah, it's popular. We're talking line-out-the-door-and-around-the-block popular. So we waited in line with the other schmucks for our cupcakes, hoping they would be worth all the fuss. We ordered three cupcakes to sample, and to be honest, I can't even remember what they were. They were that forgettable. The only thing I recall is thinking they were OK, nothing special about them...not to mention it made me question Carrie and Miranda's taste in cupcakes.

Magnolia Bakery Rating: 2.5 cupcake wrappers

Left to right: Classic Chocolate , Red Velvet with Cream Cheese frosting on the right, hi old friend!

Last, but certainly not least, on our way to walk The Highline, I spotted a cute little bakery in the distance: Billy's Bakery. I insisted that we stop by after our walk and man am I glad we did. This cute, quaint shop is very unassuming and could easily be passed by if it weren't for my cupcake radar. I ended up splitting two cupcakes with one of my friends: Red Velvet and Classic Chocolate. Red Velvet was the CLEAR winner and I immediately regretted agreeing to split the second half. Cake to frosting ratio was perfect, cake was moist and a lovely light chocolatey flavor and the cream cheese frosting was just the right amount of sweet. It made me want to track down Billy and give him a high-five.

illy's Bakery Rating: 5 cupcake wrappers

The next time you find yourself in need of a cupcake in NYC, go treat yo-self with a Red Velv at (my future BFF) Billy's Bakery.

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Review: Chapeau! French Toast

My fee-awnce (fiancé sounds too hoity-toity) and I went to one of our favorite restaurants to celebrate V-day: Chapeau! The "!" happens to be part of its name, although I'd be inclined to use it anyways because I love this place so much. We had a lovely meal, but lets cut to the chase and chat about the important part. No, not the delicious authentic French food, but the dessert we had. It was listed as "French Toast" on the menu, making it sound incredibly average, but let me tell you, it was far from that. The description had the word "hazelnut" it in, which evoked an instant Pavlovian reaction in both of us, which made this the obvious choice. It consisted of a piece of perfectly seasoned french toast which was lying in a bed of soft caramel and topped with hazelnut ice cream. Sounds simple enough, but it was amazeballs. Rich, moist, caramelly goodness comboed with creamy hazelnut, and was surprisingly not too sweet. If you live in the bay area, go hit up Chapeau! for dinner, order the French Toast for dessert, and thank me later.

Rating: 5 spoons

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Dessert Fiend