Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from Kroll's Korner

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough May 28, 2023 from Kroll's Korner 

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cake flour

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter, cubed

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon molasses

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups milk chocolate chips

Glaze

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, cake flour, rolled oats, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cold, cubed butter for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and beat for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar and beat until incorporated.
4. Add egg, egg yolk, molasses and vanilla extract; beat until combined, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl to keep mixture even textured.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients in 3-4 additions, beating until just combined after each addition.
6. Portion dough into 6-7 large dough balls. Flatten slightly and evenly space on baking sheets.
7. Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes. Let rest on baking sheet for 15 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
8. Glaze: whisk confectioners' sugar, milk and vanilla extract until combined. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

I didn't make these the way they were supposed to be made so I'm doing them a disservice by saying I didn't like them as much as I had hoped. They were still good but they didn't stand out.

For one thing, I didn't make them as big as Kroll's Korner did since I was shipping out for military care packages and I went for quantity (smaller size to stretch out the number of cookies I could get from the batch). And for another thing, I also didn't glaze them like you're supposed to since the glaze wouldn't have survived the mailing time and desert country temps. A glaze would've added a bit more sweetness and a nice contrast to the heartiness of the oats.

The flavor was good, although I could taste the molasses in the first bite. Which I normally wouldn't mind but for some reason, I wasn't feeling it this time. And that's odd because my new favorite recipe for oatmeal cookies (skip the raisins, sub in chocolate chips) from Sally's Baking Addiction also has a tablespoon of molasses and I didn't mind it in there.

These cookies do not spread at all so shape the dough balls the way you want the final cookie to look. Mine turned out like little mounds of cookie and that's fine except a little harder to package. I should've gone with mini hockey pucks for the dough balls. 

When you bake with old-fashioned oats, I recommend chilling the dough balls overnight in the refrigerator before freezing or baking. It gives the liquid in the dough more time to soften the oats and the flavor to develop.

Crumbl Cookies review #41 - Pineapple Whip (mystery cookie)

Crumbl Cookies review #41 - Pineapple Whip, visited June 2, 2023

Pineapple Whip

 Last week was mystery week at Crumbl which was a good thing as nothing on the regular menu interested me. I've already tried the Cookie Butter Ice Cream and didn't want to get again. Not into sprinkles or jams so pass on the Confetti Cake and Triple Berry Cobbler. And no temptation to get anything peanut butter which I think Crumbl does too often.

I've heard raves about the Pineapple Whip and how it tasted "like the Dole whip". Personally, I've never had Dole Whip so I had no clue whether I would like this cookie or not. I love pineapple but mostly in its pure form and I'm not a big lover of pineapple-baked things. So I was a little skeptical if I would like this or not.

Ha, I'm glad I overcame my skepticism to try this cookie as I loved it. The cookie itself, mostly. It was like a big sugar cookie that wasn't too sweet. It wasn't very pineapple-y but that's still fine by me. If there were pineapple chunks in the cookie (it didn't seem like it), I didn't notice. The topping was okay but a little too much for my non-frosting self. Still, the thickness of the cookie, the texture and the flavor was enough to overcome my bias against frosting. I almost regretted only getting one. Fortunately I limited myself to a third of the cookie and put the other two thirds in my freezer so I can enjoy the rest of the cookie later.

Oh and this is supposed to be served chilled but as usual, I don't like chilled cookies so I let this come to room temperature first. Maybe I would've liked the frosting better if it was chilled but then I don't think I'd like the cookie texture as much. I'll optimize for the cookie over the frosting any day.

Crumbl Cookies review #40 - Dirt Cake, Chocolate Milk, Chocolate Peanut Butter ft Oreo (tester), Banana Bread (revisited)

Crumbl Cookies review #40 - Dirt Cake, Chocolate Milk, Chocolate Peanut Butter ft Oreo (tester) and Banana Bread (revisited)

Dirt Cake, Chocolate Milk, Chocolate Peanut Butter ft Oreo, Banana Bread

This was the week I was only going to get one flavor. HAHAHAHAHA *wipes tear*. Let's go down the path of my pretzel-twisty justifications in getting a 4-pack.

Dirt Cake

But first, the Dirt Cake. I often say I find Crumbl's chocolate cookies too rich for me, with the exception of the Oreo-based ones. I had no interest in getting the Dirt Cake but after I had found justification for getting 3 flavors, I *had* to get a 4th as getting 3 singles cost almost the same as getting a 4-pack. I see you, Crumbl finance people who figured that out and encouraged the upsell.

Surprisingly, the cookie itself wasn't as rich as I expected. From the darkness of the chocolate, I suspect some black cocoa or Oreo-ness going on. The cookie was pretty good. The frosting did me in, though. It brought back childhood memories of the canned frosting at the grocery store. I shudder now but as a kid, I loved those things atop a birthday cake. So I enjoyed (small) bites of the Dirt Cake as a walk down memory lane and I'm glad I tried it because now I know but I probably wouldn't get this one again - still too rich for me.

Chocolate Milk

The chocolate milk is the (one) flavor I had actually planned to get this week. It was new in the Crumbl lineup and had been a test cookie in weeks past although my store didn't test this one (that I saw). Although I'm not a fan of the whipped cream toppings, I did like that this was a milk chocolate cookie. Despite Crumbl trying to pit semisweet lovers against milk chocolate lovers (eye roll), I stay out of the online fray about it and simply buy milk chocolate-based cookies to vote with my dollars.

I liked this cookie overall, despite not being a cream or custard-y type dessert person. The cookie base was good and reminded me of a milk chocolate version of the cookie crust of the banana cream pie. I liked the chocolate topping and hardly minded the whipped cream filling sandwiched between the cookie and the chocolate topping.

Chocolate Peanut Butter ft Oreo

Then we come to the tester cookie. In all honesty, if this hadn't been a tester and had just been part of the regular line up, I would've skipped it based on flavor profile alone. Rich chocolate cookie plus peanut butter cream frosting are not my thing. I've realized I don't mind peanut butter when it's in cookie form, although it still wouldn't be my first choice. Why do I keep getting peanut butter things then? Yeah, I don't know either. 

If you're a peanut butter lover, this cookie is for you. If you love chocolate and peanut butter together, this is also for you. The cookie itself was pretty good although I could've done without the peanut butter chips inside it. For me, it's another reminder to "stop getting peanut butter-frosted cookies, you're not as open-minded as you think you are." Lesson learned. Again.

Banana Bread

I was not going to get the banana bread cookie at all. I'd had it from a Crumbl in Vegas and thought it was too dry and bready. But then I thought of how I hadn't liked the lemon poppyseed in Vegas and how I gave it another chance at the Sparks Crumbl. Would this be something like that where I would like it better from a store that made it better?

I'm glad to say that was exactly the case. This time, the banana bread cookie was perfectly (under)done and the texture was soft, dense, chewy and not dry at all. More importantly the banana flavor came though. It was slightly more dense than the banana bread I make but the flavor was just as good.

So it turns out (not surprisingly), the store you go to really matters and how well they make it is all that matters. The Sparks. NV store is now 2 for 2 in elevating my review of certain flavors and revising my opinion of them.

To recap, I only meant to get the Chocolate Milk cookie. Then I wanted to try the Chocolate Peanut Butter ft Oreo because it was the tester cookie. Then I got curious to see if the banana bread cookie would be better at the Sparks store. Once I had talked myself into 3, I had to scramble to pick a 4th and I went with the Dirt Cake. Another reminder that I can justify anything when it comes to cookies and dessert. Good thing I started a new strength training regimen for my exercise routine. *whispers* "not a non sequitur".

Super Fudgy Homemade Brownies from House of Nash Eats

Super Fudgy Homemade Brownies - made May 22, 2023, modified slightly from House of Nash Eats

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In the top half of a double boiler set over hot water, combine bittersweet chocolate and butter. Whisk together until completely melted and combined. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder until smooth and combined.
3. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar, whisking well to combine. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well until combined. Stir in flour and salt with a wooden spoon and beat in until combined and glossy. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Spread batter into prepared pan in even layer. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

I made 2 minor changes from the original recipe which are reflected in the recipe above. First, I only had unsalted butter so that's what I used instead of salted butter. And second, after I had mixed up the batter, I wasn't sure there was enough batter to make the thickness of the brownie I wanted so I baked it in an 8 x 8-inch pan instead of a 9-inch one.

Both tweaks worked out fine. I never time the brownies since I go by the toothpick test but this took closer to 40 minutes than 30 minutes before I was satisfied that it was just the right point of underbaked but not fully baked or dry.

It's best to let these cool completely to get a nice fudgy texture that isn't mushy. Taste-wise, I thought it was good. Not overwhelmingly richly chocolatey but still a good chocolate flavor. 

Crumbl Copycat Red Velvet Cookies from The Palatable Life

Crumbl Copycat Red Velvet Cookies - made dough May 20, 2023 from The Palatable Life

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

4-5 drops red coloring

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. Add eggs, vanilla and red food coloring, mixing until just combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Add in several additions to butter mixture, mixing on low speed after each addition until just combined. Dough should be soft but not sticky.
4. Portion into 1/2 cup dough balls and flatten slightly to thick discs. Chill for several hours or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Evenly space dough discs on baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Let rest on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
6. While cookies are cooling, make the frosting. Combine cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl and beat for 2-3 minutes until well combined. Add vanilla and powdered sugar and mix for an additional 2-3 minutes. Add frosting to a piping bag. Pipe frosting onto each cooled cookie.

These aren't an exact Crumbl copycat since I didn't make the frosting they're supposed to be topped with. As usual, I was making these for military care packages and cream cheese frosting definitely wouldn't survive the trip, given the longer mailing times overseas not to mention the triple digit heat many of the desert countries are already experiencing.

Instead, I pressed white chocolate chunks gently into the tops as soon as the cookies came out of the oven. The white chocolate topping will probably melt when they reach their destination but at least they won't be as messy as the frosting and they'll last longer without spoiling.

I have to say these cookies were amazing. Not sure if they're exactly like Crumbl's but they were delicious and the texture was perfect, just how I like it with a dense chewiness. I didn't use a lot of red food coloring so they're a bit darker and not as bright as a regular red velvet but that's okay by me. The taste and texture were what mattered. I might even like these better than the Crumbl original.

Chocolate Coconut Blondies from Handle the Heat

Chocolate Coconut Blondies - made May 20, 2023 from Handle the Heat 

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted

1 3/4 cups (350 grams) light brown sugar

2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour

1 cup (80 grams) sweetened shredded coconut

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped into chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar, stirring together until smooth. Add eggs, egg yolk and vanilla; stir until combined. Stir in the salt and flour until combined. Fold in 3/4 cup coconut and 6 ounces of the chocolate chunks.
3. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining coconut and chocolate chunks over the top, pressing gently into the batter. Bake for 40 minutes or until set but still gooey. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

I've mentioned this before and I'll say it again: in my experience, most people either really love coconut or really hate it. To date, I haven't met anyone who says "Coconut? Meh, I'm indifferent." Nope. There are typically strong feelings about coconut. 

I'm in the camp that loves coconut and bake with it often. And fortunately for me, I found this recipe and thought it was superb.

That's a little superlative for a blondie but it genuinely was that good. These bars baked up nice and thick and smelled so good baking in the oven. At first I was afraid I had overbaked it as I baked it for 50 minutes, not 40 that the recipe guided to and the coconut on top was getting really brown.

But it turns out that it wasn't overbaked. It wasn't too underbaked either and was actually just right. Let it cool completely first so you get that fudge-like texture. The coconut gives it a great chewiness and the semisweet chocolate cuts some of the sweetness and adds flavor. I'll definitely making this one again, especially for care packages as they're sturdy enough to ship well.