Crumbl Cookies review #60: Lemon Poppyseed, Chocolate Crumb Cake, Gingerbread Cake and Caramel Shortbread ft Twix

Crumb Cookies review #60: Lemon Poppyseed, Chocolate Crumb Cake, Gingerbread Cake and Caramel Shortbread ft Twix, visited December 6, 2023

Chocolate Crumb Cake

 

This review is mostly about the Chocolate Crumb Cake as I've already reviewed the Lemon Poppyseed (twice, the second Lemon Poppyseed bought at the Sparks store was way better than the first one bought at a Las Vegas store).

Gingerbread Cake

I've also reviewed the Gingerbread Cake but the one I got 2 years ago was much better than the one from this year. In a rare miss from my Sparks store, this one was a trifle overbaked or fully baked. The edges were hard and the texture of the cookie wasn't as underbaked as I would've liked or how my first one was from 2 years ago. 

Lemon Poppyseed

Shortbread featuring Twix

The shortbread featuring Twix though was much better from the Sparks store than the Vegas one. In Vegas, I got Twix dust. From the Sparks store, I got Twix chunks as the garnishes were supposed to be. The caramel was amazing as always.

Chocolate Crumb Cake

But the real review is for the Chocolate Crumb Cake. It might look slightly familiar as I was told the original test cookie was called the Chocolate Babka which I did get and review as a test cookie back in August 2023. The cookie on the regular menu was changed to have the chocolate glaze, more chocolate crumble garnished and they cut back on the cinnamon flavor so it didn't fight for supremacy with the chocolate (spoiler: the chocolate flavor won). I approve of these changes, even with the chocolate glaze, which I also enjoyed. I liked the flavor of this cookie much better than the tester since it was more of a chocolate cookie only subtly flavored with cinnamon. And as you can tell from the below picture, I loved the texture as that's the perfect cookie texture to me at room temperature: dense, moist and chewy, not too mushy/raw but also not cakey or dry.

Classic Fudgy Brownies from Lisa Yockelson

Classic Fudge Brownies - made December 2, 2023 from Brownies & Blondies by Lisa Yockelson 

3/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour

3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon unsifted cake flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

18 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped

2 cups granulated sugar

4 extra large eggs

2 extra large egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking power and salt; set aside.
3. In the top half of a double boiler over hot water, combine butter and unsweetened chocolate, whisking until completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat.
4. Add sugar to melted butter-chocolate mixture and beat to combine. Add eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition until just combined. Beat in vanilla extract.
5. Add dry ingredients in two additions, mixing until just combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

As you can tell from the pictures, this time around I was using up M&Ms from my leftover Halloween candy stash. I could've probably added more M&Ms on top to use them up but before baking, they seemed like plenty. Next time, I'll need to use a more generous hand.

I prefer adding M&Ms on top of brownies instead of inside cookies. M&M cookies always seem a little too sweet to me, no matter the cookie, because of the sweetness from the candy shell.

On top of fudgy chocolate brownies, M&Ms work well as the brownie is chocolatey rather than sweet so the M&Ms add a nice sweetness and crunch.

I've mentioned in previous posts that Lisa Yockelson is the queen of brownie recipes. She has multiple baking books and a wide variety of brownie recipes. Admittedly, I'm not sure I could tell too many of them apart in a blind taste test and what ingredients make them (slightly) different from each other. But I can tell they're all good. Delicious, fudgy with a firm but soft texture that isn't too mushy. This was easily one of those and the thick brownie batter supported the M&Ms on top quite nicely.

If you want an easy brownie recipe so you can serve warm brownies while unwrapping Christmas presents, this one fits the bill. Merry Christmas (Eve)!

Sable Breton-Inspired Butter Cookies from Hayden Annika

Sable Breton-Inspired Butter Cookies - made dough December 5, 2023 from Hayden Annika 

3 egg yolks, room temperature

75 grams powdered sugar

100 grams salted French or European butter (I used Kerrygold)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

250 grams cake flour

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip yolks and sugar until pale and thick.
2. Add softened butter and vanilla until thoroughly mixed and smooth.
3. Switch to a paddle attachment and gradually add cake flour on low speed.
4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Once chilled, stamp cookies. Freeze stamped cookies for at least 1 hour.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space frozen cookies. Bake 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

New cookie stamp alert! Still Nordic Ware and made in the USA but this time sourced from Target, just in time for the holidays. Plus they were 30% off when I bought them so $14 for the three stamps were a good deal.

If you're new to cookie stamping, these types of stamps with wooden handles and large impressions that aren't too finely detailed but still have a pattern, are the best starting point.

And of course, it helps to work with a good recipe that holds the stamped impressions during baking. Which, as you can see, this one does. 

I followed the recipe exactly, subbing in Kerrygold European butter since I didn't have access to French butter like the original recipe suggested. I don't have a link back to the original source like I normally do as I got them from the files section of my Facebook group on Molded Cookies but I credit the recipe to one of the group's members who publishes her recipes for stamped cookies.

Sable Breton are butter cookies that tend to be on the buttery and (sometimes) dry side. They're not the crisp snap of shortbread or at least this one didn't. I don't know if I didn't bake them long enough to get the snap. I have mixed feelings about this recipe. I love how faithfully the stamped impressions held and the flavor was good. Not sure I was wild about the texture though as it was in that nebulous ether stage between crisp and chewy. I prefer a cookie texture to commit to one or the other. Plus it had a drier mouthfeel. Which maybe real Sable Bretons also have? It's been awhile since I've had one so I can't remember. Still, look at those impressions. The recipe didn't make very many cookies given the size of my stamps but the dough was easy to work with and easy to make again for more cookies to send in military care packages.

Speculaas Cookies from Bigger Bolder Baking

Speculaas Cookies - made dough December 3, 2023 from Bigger Bolder Baking 

1 2/3 cups (236 grams) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground aniseed

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (4 ounces) butter, room temperature

3/4 cup (128 grams) brown sugar

2 tablespoons milk

fine rice flour or granulated sugar, for rolling

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, aniseed, nutmeg, black pepper, ginger and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until well combined and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.
3. Beat in the milk then gradually add the flour mixture in several additions, mixing on low speed.
4. Once dough is combined, gather into a ball, flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. If using an embossed rolling pin, chill dough 10-15 minutes then roll out with a plain rolling pin to 1/3" thickness between two sheets of parchment paper. Refrigerate until firm, at least one hour.
5. If using cookie stamps, wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate until firm, at least one hour.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. If using embossed rolling pin, dust embossed rolling pin with rice flour and run rolling pin over rolled-out dough; cut with cookie cutters. If using cookie stamps, pinch off pieces of dough and roll into balls. Roll balls in granulated sugar and stamp with cookie stamp(s). Cut edges if you want them neat. 
8. Evenly space stamped cookies on prepared baking sheets and bake about 15-18 minutes until slightly golden. Let rest on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

I made these earlier in December so I'd be able to ship them out to deployed military troops hopefully in time for them to receive it for Christmas. While I'm not usually a big fan of too many spices in cookies, speculaas are the rare exception (although I'm starting to develop a taste for gingerbread, finally).

Biscoff cookies rank right up there with Oreos in my snobby taste buds exceptions for store bought cookies. It doesn't mean I don't try to bake replicas at home though, although so far nothing tops the original Biscoff cookie.

But these were meant to be stamped and I can't not use my new Christmas stamps, right?

The impressions turned out decently well on these, although the fine writing on the "Merry Christmas" stamp was a little hit or miss.

The tradeoff you have to make with these is how much of a crunch you want in them. If you bake closer to the 15 minute mark, they're a little softer but they're actually meant to be crisp. If you bake closer to the 18-20 minute mark, you'll get the crunch but they are a little harder to bite into. It's all a matter of preference and how strong your teeth are.

Surprisingly, I like the crunchier version in terms of both taste and texture. When they're not baked to full crunchiness, you'll get a mixture of crunch at the edges and more chewiness in the middle but, like the original Biscoff cookies, they are meant to be crisp throughout. The flavor seems to come through better when they're crunchy. I ended up liking the spiciness of this cookie as well, crunch and all.

Lemon Curd Linzer Sandwich Cookies from Pretty Life Girls

Lemon Curd Linzer Sandwich Cookies - made dough December 2, 2023 from The Pretty Life Girls

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar plus more for topping cookies

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons lemon curd

1. Combine butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy and well combined.
2. Add flour, mixing at low speed until combined.
3. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a ball; flatten slightly into thick disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Roll out dough between two large sheets of parchment paper to 1/4-inch thickness. Emboss with embossed rolling pin or cookie stamps and cut with 2-inch cookie cutters. Cut out center from half the cookies using a smaller decorative cookie cutter.
6. Evenly space cookies on prepared baking sheets, 1 inch apart. Bake 7-9 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on baking sheets before transferring cookies to wire rack to cool completely.
7. Place cooled cookies with center cut-outs onto parchment paper; sprinkle with powdered sugar.
8. Spread bottom-side of cookies without the cutouts with 1/4 teaspoon lemon curd. Top with center cutout cookie, powdered sugar-side up.

I took these cookies to a holiday cookie exchange party earlier this month and they seemed to be a hit. Can you believe that I've never been to a cookie swap? Back in the Bay Area, most of my friends weren't bakers so I was the one supplying baked goods. When I moved to Nevada, well, I didn't have local friends, lol.

But I joined a local women's group that plans various activities so people could meet in person and form connections. I have to admit, after several years of Covid-quarantine/isolation, it's been nice to socialize. And I say that as an introvert.

Just like with the baking meetups I've hosted at my house, the party gave me a chance to try out a recipe I normally wouldn't bake since I can't send these in my military care packages for my volunteer work with Soldiers Angels. The filling and the delicacy of the cookies would never survive overseas or military mail.

A slight digression before I go into the recipe. One of the challenges I have with my cookie stamps and cutters is some of them, primarily the Anis Paradeis ones, come with specialized cutters that fit the stamped impressions. Try keeping them together without getting them mixed up with other stamps? A bit tricky. Until now. Thanks to other cookie stampers, I discovered using these photo storage containers were perfect. They're the perfect size in length, width and depth to hold most of my cookie stamps that don't have handles. And an easy way to keep everything organized.

Back to the cookies. Although they're called "linzer" cookies, a true linzer cookie typically has ground hazelnuts in the dough and are filled with some kind of jam, usually raspberry. Plus the tops are covered in powdered sugar before sandwiching the jam.

As you can see, I broke all those rules. Since I had stamped them, I didn't want to hide the impressions by sprinkling powdered sugar over them. I also don't like raspberry jam or any kind of jam or jelly which is why I deliberately picked this recipe that uses lemon curd. Lemon curd is supposedly easy to make but I didn't have time to make it from scratch so I went with the ready made stuff in a jar. Which turned out to taste pretty good. As was the whole cookie. The cookies themselves are light in texture and a little crisp, a perfect foil for the tart lemon curd. They're not too sweet either so they also don't clash with the curd. I liked these cookies. They took more time to make but were worth the effort.