Crave Cookies review #10: Banana Bread and Red Velvet Whoopie Pie

Crave Cookies review #10: Banana Bread and Red Velvet Whoopie Pie - visited February 1, 2025 

Banana Bread

Although at the time, I still had a freezer full of pieces from the 4-pack I'd already gotten from Crave, I was "in the neighborhood" after a shift at the food bank so I stopped off to get the two flavors that interested me this particular week: the banana bread and the red velvet whoopie pie.

The banana bread had excellent banana flavor and also a chewy cookie texture rather than a cakey one, which is hard to achieve with banana. The banana chips added a nice crunch. I could've done without the nuts, to be honest, but that's a personal preference.

I liked this cookie as a new flavor to try. But I'm not sure I would get it again since I've already tasted it and there are so many other flavors to try. But if you like banana, this is a good choice.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pie

I ended up liking the Red Velvet Whoopie Pie even more. There was a little too much filling for me so I ended up scraping some out but the cookies themselves were delicious. Fudgy texture and good flavor. This one's a keeper.

Banana Crumb Cake from Live Well Bake Often

Banana Crumb Cake - made February 13, 2025 from Live Well Bake Often

Crumb topping

3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 tablespoons (85 grams) cold unsalted butter

Cake

2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups mashed banana (4 medium ripe or 3 large ripe bananas)

1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Crumb Topping: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cube the cold butter into small pieces; add to flour mixture. Using a pastry blender, two knives or your hands, cut the butter into the mixture until it starts to clump together and is crumbly. Chill while you make the cake batter.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Make the cake: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar for 2-3 minutes until well combined and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition. Add in vanilla.
5. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions, mixing on low speed until just combined. Add banana and mix on low speed until combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan. Remove crumb topping from refrigerator and sprinkle evenly on top of batter, squeezing handfuls of crumb topping to make large crumbs.
7. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

If you have overripe bananas (and buttermilk) to use up and you're tired of banana bread, this is an excellent alternative. 

The streusel crumb topping makes this cake. Squeeze large handfuls of it before you put it in the refrigerator to chill while you make the cake batter. Then when you sprinkle it over the cake batter in the pan, don't break the crumbs up too finely. You want them large and chunky. They'll crisp up during baking and add both sweetness and texture to the soft cake.

The mashed banana adds a lot of moisture to the cake so this isn't something you want to underbake or you'll end up with a gummy texture. I could've probably left this in the oven a few minutes longer but it still turned out well, albeit a little bit dense. But it still tasted good. The sweetness comes from the topping but you also want to use bananas that are as (over)ripe as possible to enhance the flavor of the cake.

Crumbl Cookies review #90 - Banana Caramel

Crumbl Cookies review #90: Banana Caramel - visited February 26, 2025

Banana Caramel

When you've eaten Crumbl cookies for as long as I have, you eventually ended up tasting and reviewing most of the offerings each week. This week included Strawberry Cupcake, Biscoff Lava Cookie, Butter Cake and Red Velvet White Chip. I didn't have any interest in the French Silk Pie since I typically don't like custard-y or mousse-y desserts or whipped cream but I did want to try the Banana Caramel.

This seemed like a new offering or, if it's been on the menu before, I missed it. I've tried Crumbl's Banana Bread cookie before and, when made properly, enjoyed it. 

This week's version had good banana flavor but, since it was chilled, the texture was more dense, even after I let it come to room temperature. It was good but I think I preferred the other banana bread cookie a bit better. There was also a weird smell to the frosting. At least I think it was from the frosting rather than the cookie. The taste was fine and the smell wasn't overpowering or like it had gone bad. It was just...different. I'm glad I tried it but I prefer a more fluffy texture to my cookies and not the chill denseness of this one. 

One of the best things about Crumbl is their caramel so rather than a drizzle, I'd suggest or prefer if they spread a pool of caramel over the top and then "drizzled" the cream cheese frosting instead.

Crave Cookies review #9: Choco Caramel Blondie, Cookies 'n Milk, Horchata Churro and Chocolate Cupcake

Crave Cookies review #9: Choco Caramel Blondie, Cookies 'n Milk, Horchata Churro and Chocolate Cupcake - visited January 30, 2025

I'm way behind on my reviews for Crave Cookies, partly because I got a 4-pack at the end of January and it took me awhile to go through them (1/4 cookie a day means finishing a 4-pack takes me a couple of weeks). My usual MO is to portion each cookie into fourths (sometimes thirds), wrap each piece in plastic wrap and put them in a freezer bag to reside in the freezer then take out a piece each day to enjoy.

I ended up getting a 4-pack this particular week because I wanted to try 3 of the flavors and added the 4th to make it more economical.

Horchata Churro

I've never had horchata before but I'm a big fan of churro cookies (Crumbl's is my favorite) or anything in the snickerdoodle family. Crave's version was fabulous in terms of the cookie itself. Turns out I'm not as into horchata. Or maybe I just didn't like all that creamy filling in the middle. The horchata was milky like it's probably supposed to be but I don't like milk, don't drink it, don't care for the taste or texture. I ended up taking out some of the filling and just enjoying the cookie only.

Choco Caramel Blondie

The Choco Caramel Blondie is the kind of cookie Crave does really well. Drizzled with caramel and white chocolate instead of having a mountain of frosting is always the way to go for me. The cookie is domed and thick, has a great brown sugar caramel flavor and the perfect chewy texture I like in my cookies. This one was a winner.

I was more curious about the Cookies and Milk than actually wanting to eat it but it turned out to be a good cookie as well. I'm a fan of Crave's vanilla cookie dough, no matter how they dress it up. I'm not as big a fan of cereal garnishes as, given the way I portion out, freeze and eat the cookie pieces later, cereal doesn't survive my temperate approach and is best consumed the day of purchase.

I also wasn't wild about all the filling inside. I get why they do it for the concept of the cookie and anyone who likes creamy filling will like this cookie. I still like the cookie, especially the melted milk chocolate on top, but I confess to taking out some of the filling and just eating the cookie. 

The chocolate cupcake cookie was the plainest of the four and the 4th cookie I added to upgrade to a 4-pack. It's a pretty straightforward cookie for people who don't like a lot of fuss and just want a chocolate frosted cookie. I've gotten used to Crave's more elaborate over the top combinations so this was just a "nice" cookie for me. The chocolate texture was nice and fudgy and the frosting wasn't overwhelming so those were pluses. But otherwise, probably not worth the price as an individual cookie to my fussy taste buds.

Kentucky Butter Cake from Susan Recipes

Kentucky Butter Cake - made February 8, 2025 from Susan Recipes

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

Butter sauce

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter, cut into cubes

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition.
3. Beat in vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, mixing on low speed until combined.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake 55-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
6. Cool 5-10 minutes and run a thin spatula around the cake, loosening from the mold. Invert onto a serving plate.
7. For the sauce: combine the sugar, butter and water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract, whisking to combine.
8. Poke holes in top of hot cake, pour 1/4 cup sauce over cake. Let stand until sauce is absorbed then brush remaining sauce over cake. 

I had buttermilk to use up and I've had this recipe on my pinterest board for just such an occasion. Plus I also had eggs nearing their best by date and although eggs will last awhile even after that date, I was taking no chances on letting them expire, not with the cost of eggs these days.

I like pound cakes for their texture and this was no exception. Surprisingly, this wasn't as rich as I had expected, given the amount of butter sauce slathered over it. It's a nice cake, especially if you want a straightforward, no fuss vanilla cake. I did think the recipe made too much butter sauce as I couldn't get enough to absorb into the cake so I ended up with a generous amount spilling to the sides of the cake.

Next time, I would probably make half the amount of butter sauce and brush more over it while the cake was warm to help it absorb better.