Crumbl Copycat: Birthday Cake Cookies from Lifestyle of a Foodie

Crumbl Copycat: Birthday Cake Cookies - made dough July 3, 2022 from Lifestyle of a Foodie 

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon cake batter extract

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons sprinkles

Cream cheese frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon cake batter extract

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, granulated sugar and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
3. Beat in the egg, cake batter extract and vanilla extract, until combined.
4. Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt until just combined. Do not overmix. Portion dough into 6 equal-sized portions and roll into balls. Flatten slightly to 1-inch thickness
5. Bake cookies for 11 minutes the cool on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Frosting: in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and fluffy.
7. Add in the powdered sugar and cake batter extract; whip for 3-5 minutes or until fluffy. Place the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip. Frost each cooled cookie by piping in a spiral. Sprinkle with extra sprinkles if desired.

Raise your hand if you didn't know "cake batter extract" was a thing. Just me? Seriously, my world of extracts is mostly vanilla. I know almond and coconut extracts exist but I don't like them so I don't use them. Orange and lemon extracts I use sparingly and it depends on the recipe. But cake batter extract? Who knew? 

Now I know. I found two recipes that used them so of course I had to buy a bottle so I could try them out. Michaels sells different extracts as does Amazon. This recipe only uses a little in both the dough and the frosting so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. And despite my not liking sprinkles, I added some to stay true to the recipe.

The results are a bit mixed for me. I liked the texture of these - soft-dense and cakey but not fluffy. The sprinkles didn't bother me too much but if I made these again, I'd probably leave them out of the cookie and just keep them as sprinkles on the frosting.

Flavor-wise, I'm a little uncertain about these. There wasn't that much flavor to them. They weren't overly sweet but they were a little bland. Next time I think I'd amp up both the cake batter extract as well as the vanilla extract. Texture was on point, flavor needs a little more. These are good frosted though to add that extra flavor.