Brown Butter White Chocolate Loaf

Once upon a time, there was a magical land called Daiso. When you walk in, you don’t even know where to begin. There’s a lot of pink (at least at the location on Market Street), but oh man, there is so much more. Multi-colored pasta strainers; Tupperware on Tupperware; and baking pans of all shapes and sizes. The best part? Nearly everything in the store is $1.50! Is this even possible in San Francisco?? Oh yes, it is, and hence, it is magic.

So I may gone a little crazy here..

Now that you know where you’re going this weekend, let me tell share why the #daisodiaries happened. My lovely roommate is helping to organize a silent auction tonight for the Oakland Lacrosse Club, for which I devised a gift basket full of handmade pastries and a certificate for a free pastry lesson by yours truly. Pretty cool right? Any time I get to make mass amounts of desserts and teach someone about them is a plus one in my cookbook!

A loaf, a tart, and some cookies walk into a bar…

The thing about gifting desserts (which is soon to be happening more and more as the holidays approach) is that you want them to (a) look somewhat pretty and (b) be packaged somewhat pretty. It is very similar to plating desserts in a restaurant –we all know that it’s going to taste good, but presentation matters.

You also want to make something that isn’t going to go bad quickly. Holiday desserts usually aren’t eaten all in one day (unless you’re a fatty like me), so you want something sturdy, like this brown butter white chocolate loaf. Plus, anything with brown butter and white chocolate is all you really want anyways.

Never made brown butter? Don’t trip chocolate chip! It’s easy, and it is almost magical as Daiso. Almost.

See all those little black crumbs? That’s brown butter ready to kill it in this loaf.

If any of you are free, stop by the fundraiser tonight! Otherwise, get thee to Daiso for some bread pans to bake (and gift) away!

No loafin’ around.

No gift basket is complete without a mustache!

Brown Butter White Chocolate Loaf
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

[ingredients]

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray your loaf pan (even if disposable) and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
3. In a small pot, melt the butter over medium heat and cook until it browns and smells nutty, about 7-8 minutes. The butter will sputter, but don’t worry. Scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen the browned solids off the bottom – they look burnt but that is where the flavor is!
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the eggs until pale, about 3 minutes. Add both the sugars and continue to beat.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and brown butter in alternate rounds, starting and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined.
6. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle the white chocolate chips on top. It won’t look like a lot of batter, but this thang rises like no other.
7. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack before packaging. Or if this is not for gifting, get a knife and start nomming.