Cinnamon Sugar Snowball Cookies from MMM Cookies

Cinnamon Sugar Snowball Cookies - made dough December 2, 2025 from MMM Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus extra for coating

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup nuts, lightly toasted and finely chopped, optional

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

extra cinnamon and powdered sugar for rolling

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, mixing until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon and salt. Add to butter mixture in 2 additions, mixing on low speed until just combined. Add nuts if using, mixing on low speed until evenly disbursed.
3. Portion dough into 1-inch balls, cover and chill for 30 minutes.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. 
5. Evenly space dough balls on baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are brown and cookies are lightly set. Remove from oven. While warm, roll cookies in sugar-cinnamon mixture, coating completely. Once cookies are cool, roll again.

I didn't love this cookie. I wanted to as the pictures from the original blog made the cookie look so soft and fluffy. Mine didn't turn out that way. They were a little dense and never achieved fluffy stage. Maybe I didn't bake them long enough? I also misread the directions for the first batch and rolled the first dozen cookies in the cinnamon-powdered sugar cookie mixture before baking rather than after. So...user error. Which isn't the recipe's fault but mine.

I liked the idea of finding a good snowball cookie recipe that didn't have nuts, in case I was giving something to people with nut allergies. Alas, I belatedly realized the best thing I like about snowball cookies aka Mexican Wedding Cakes aka Russian Tea Balls are...the nuts. The flavor and texture they add to a snowball cookie are what makes the cookie. So this one was a miss for me. Next time, I'm adding toasted pecans.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Shugary Sweets

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough July 26, 2025 from Shugary Sweets 

1 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups semisweet chocolate, chopped into chunks

1. In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Continue heating for about 5 minutes, swirling the pan gently to see the butter browning without stirring. The butter will begin to foam and stop bubbling. Remove from heat when you see browned bits in the pan. Let cool for at least 10 minutes.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together browned butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat for about 2 minutes until well combined. 
3. Add vanilla and eggs, beating until just combined.
4. Add flour, salt and baking soda, mixing on low speed until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chunks until evenly disbursed.
5. Portion dough into golf-ball-sized dough balls, cover and chill for at least an hour or overnight.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough balls. Bake 12-14 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove from heat and let rest on baking sheets for several minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

One of the small silver linings in all the authoritarian and fascist madness going on around the United States is you find out who aligns with your values and who doesn't. Who you want to support and who you don't. I was grateful early on that one of the artists I've loved for many years, Mary Engelbreit, is one such person and company. I've cross stitched her designs for more than a couple of decades, I've bought her desk calendar for years as it's my favorite and so on with her address labels, stickers, stationery and mugs. I've always been mindful of exercising whatever economic privilege I have to "vote" with my dollars, even more so in the past year. I continue to do so now more than ever. 

Another person who early on used her platform to unequivocally state her support for democracy and against fascist atrocities is Aimee Shugarman of Shugary Sweets. I've made recipes from her blog on and off over the years and they're fantastic recipes. But even more than that, I appreciate her using her privilege and her far-greater-reach to stand up for what's right.

When I say great recipes, you can add this one. It's everything a chocolate chip cookie recipe should be: crisp edges, chewy middles, caramelized brown sugar flavor serving as the perfect backdrop for those melt-y chocolate chunks. Okay, that was an awkward pivot but I'm still having a hard time writing these posts, especially after the kidnapping of 5-year-old Liam Ramos, the murders of Keith Porter, Renee Good, Alex Pretti and so many others we don't hear about. All by a government agency funded by our tax dollars and terrorizing people like me who now "carry my papers" to prove my US citizenship.

I'm still trying to find my balance between rocking back and forth in the fetal position weeping at what the US has become and saying "hey, enjoy this cookie". As I wrote in a response to someone who commented on one of my posts, it's a struggle to find the joy and not simultaneously feel the guilt in finding joy in something so small when other people's lives have been so torn apart. But at the same time, what fascism and dictators want is for people to feel despair, cynicism, surrender and to not find joy in anything. Part of resisting is not giving them what they want. Actually, that's all of resisting. 

So while it might seem insignificant to find pleasure in a warm chocolate chip cookie ten minutes out of the oven, use that respite to rest, to keep your capacity to feel joy, to use it as fuel for that resistance and to know your ability to feel happiness in even the small things is exactly what you don't want to lose or give away to those who would gladly take it. Use it for the hope that one day we can all go back to just talking about cookies because the biggest thing on our minds is how long to bake them and whether those calories are really worth it or not. 

Crumbl Cookies review #103 - Dubai Chocolate Cookie

Crumbl Cookies review #103: Chocolate Dubai Cookie - visited January 22, 2026

If you liked Crumbl's Dubai Chocolate Brownie, you would probably like the Dubai Chocolate Cookie.

Truthfully, both taste the same to me. The only difference is one was baked in cookie form and the other was baked as a brownie. But same fudgy texture and flavor. The crunchy kataifi topping was the same and still delicious.

The milk chocolate topping was dense and chocolaty, also good. What was also the same is I didn't really get any pistachio flavor from the pistachio cream. It wasn't a deal breaker though as I've found I rarely taste any pistachio in anything labeled Dubai chocolate.

What I did like better in the cookie version than the brownie was the price. There was a $1.49 surcharge for this on top of the regular cookie price of $4.99 so with taxes, this came to $6.78, marginally better than the >$8 of the Dubai brownie. It's still expensive for a cookie though so for my wallet's and my waistline's sakes, this is a sometime-treat food, not an everyday occurrence. It leaves the Crumbl weekly menu tomorrow so if you want it, you have one more day to get it.

Crumbl Cookies review #102: Brownie Batter Cookie, Raspberry Cheesecake Cookie, Sticky Toffee Pudding

Crumbl Cookies review #102: Brownie Batter Cookie, Raspberry Cheesecake Cookie, Sticky Toffee Pudding - visited December 2, 2025

It's been awhile since I've posted anything new. My mom died a couple of months ago and I didn't have the heart to write anything and, sometimes, to even eat or find enjoyment in what I used to. The last 3 posts before this one I had written before she died. I posted them "on schedule" but seriously, didn't feel like keeping up with my blog.

The grief still remains and I'm still trying to find my footing as "life goes on". So forgive me in advance if some of my writing is more stilted. I'm just trying to get through life at the moment; the happenings of the world around us haven't been helping lately either. Blogging about cookies doesn't seem all that important right now.

But, as I remind myself daily, joy will come again one day, sincerely and fully. Until then, giving in to despair and sadness and anger isn't who I am or what I stand for. Or what my mom would want for me. So I may fake it until I make it. And soldier on.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

I got this 6-pack so long ago and during my fuzzy-headed period so I don't know if I can do this review justice. I very rarely get a 6-pack unless I'm bringing it to share with a larger group. In this case, this larger group was a sliver of a cookie for my older grand nephew, both my nieces and some freeze-for-later treats.

Raspberry Cheesecake Cookie

Out of the 6-pack, I only ate the Sticky Toffee Pudding. I am fortunate enough to have experienced real sticky toffee pudding in England when I've traveled to London. And, although I'm not a fan of dates, I love sticky toffee pudding. The Crumbl version wasn't as good as the real British dessert but it wasn't bad. The cake was dense and the moistness came from the dates and the caramel. I wasn't a huge fan of the big pile of vanilla bean mousse on top but it was still good. 

Sea Salt Toffee Skillet Cookie

I've already had the Sea Salt Toffee Skillet Cookie (click on the caption for the link to my original review) so I left that one to my nieces.

Brownie Batter Cookie

I am not a fan of raspberry or cheesecake so I can't comment on this one since I didn't try it. I believe both my nieces liked it though.

I think I tried a sliver of the Brownie Batter Cookie but truthfully, I can't remember. Not just because it was over a month ago but also because I don't remember much of that period. So, sorry, this isn't much of a Crumbl review. Next time I go, I'll try to post it sooner and have a better memory.