Crumbl copycat - Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cookie Madness

Crumbl copycat - Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough July 30, 2021 from Cookie Madness

It's National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! And by a not-that-strange coincidence, I have a chocolate chip cookie post to put up. Not only that but it's a new favorite and given how many chocolate chip recipes I've tried, that's saying something. Remember my last two favorite Crumbl copycats that I didn't really consider that close to the genuine Crumbl cookie but were good nonetheless? There was the copycat recipe from Cooking with Karli and the top contender from my compilation, the version from Salt & Baker. 

I might have to eat my words (and these cookies) as I think this copycat version from Cookie Madness came pretty darn close to Crumbl's version in terms of the texture. It doesn't look quite the same as the genuine Crumbl cookie in that the one I made wasn't of uniform thickness but I think that was more due to how I made it than the recipe itself.

This is the inside of the cookie while it was still warm enough to look gooey. I know people will think it's "raw" but if you let it cool completely, the texture does set and instead of being too gooey/mushy raw cookie dough, it becomes the perfect soft texture of a Crumbl cookie.

I have to admit, I like this even better than my previous favorite of Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies which had been the recipe I'd been using when I (temporarily) stopped trying out different recipes.

The flavors were equally good but what gave this the edge for me above all the others is the texture. There's a lightness to the crispness of the edges but they weren't too crispy and the rest of the cookie had more of that uniform soft but dense and chewy texture I liked in the Crumbl cookie. Mad props to Cookie Madness for an amazing cookie.

2 cups all-purpose flour (260 grams)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

15 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed (100 grams)

6 tablespoons granulated sugar (80 grams)

1 large egg

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups Guittard milk chocolate chips plus more reserved for pressing onto baked cookies

1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until creamy. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar; beat until well combined. Add egg and vanilla; mix to combine.
3. Add dry ingredients in two additions, mixing until just combined after each addition. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl to keep dough even textured. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Portion dough into 4-6 ounce dough balls and flatten slightly. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space thick dough discs. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven and gently press reserved chocolate chips on top of hot cookies (use as many as you like). Let rest on baking sheets for several minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Crumbl copycat - Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cooking with Karli

Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies (Crumbl copycat) - made dough July 20, 2021 from Cooking with Karli

I'm back with another Crumbl copycat because, hi, big milk chocolate chip cookies and any excuse to try one. After I mixed the cookie dough, it was a bit soft so I was concerned it would spread thin, even if I baked it from frozen dough. Fortunately, that wasn't the case. It did spread but not "thin". It wasn't as thick as some of my other chocolate chip cookie recipes but still was a respectable thickness.

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The flavor was also delicious. Having now had a genuine Crumbl cookie, I'm not sure this would be a close copycat but I've discovered, after trying multiple copycat recipes, how extremely difficult it is to create a copycat, not just with the "right" ingredients in the "right" amounts but also the "how" of making the dough as well as the oven and the baking of it. 

All of my cookies bake with crisp edges and chewy middles. That's just how they turn out from my oven. Crumbl's cookies have a more consistent texture throughout the whole cookie. One isn't better or worse than the other; the genuine and the copycats have all been pretty fantastic and so is this one.

In fact, *cough*, the eagle-eyed among you might notice I'm actually showing two different cookies. That's right. I enjoyed the first taste test cookie so much, I baked a second one on a different day to have it again. And that's about the highest compliment I can pay a cookie recipe.

Inside shot of the first cookie while it was still warm so it looks like "raw" dough

Inside of the second cookie after it's completely cool and set - not so raw after all

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups large milk chocolate chips or chunks plus more for outside of baked cookies

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until well combined and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla, mixing briefly after each addition.
4. Add dry ingredients in 2 additions, mixing until just combined, after each addition. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Portion dough into large (4 to 6 ounces) balls and flatten slightly into thick discs. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough balls (you can fit 5 to a sheet) and bake 15-17 minutes or until edges are set and middles are just barely past the "raw" stage. Remove from oven. If desired, immediately press reserved chocolate chips into hot cookies (use as many as you like). Cool for several minutes on baking sheets then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Porto's Bakery - (online) bakery review

Porto's Bakery - ordered March 28, 2021, received April 9, 2021

I'm shamefully late in posting this as I ordered this back in March and got it in April. But trust me, I still remember the order as it was just that good.

I'd heard about Porto's before, mainly from my cousins and friends in Southern California where they've actually gone to a brick and mortar Porto's. Cheese rolls seemed to be the popular item. I personally am not big on cheese so I felt no particular rush to join the Porto's bandwagon. That turned out to be a foolish outlook.

Unbaked cheese rolls $16.99 for a dozen

In an effort to support small businesses as much as possible, and to reward myself for continuing to work when I was trying to be retired (if you notice the dates on when I ordered this, for back story, I thought I was ending my contractor engagement at work on March 31 but got persuaded otherwise - enter the Porto's order to make it up to myself, lol), I placed an order.

The beauty and sheer brilliance of Porto's online ordering process is it tells you how much more you can order for the same shipping cost. That shipping cost is surprisingly reasonable at $9.99 for 4 items. I don't know if it would've gone higher had I added a 5th item as I figured 4 things were more than enough for 1 person, even if that person eats a lot. *cough* *looks in mirror*

Had to get the cheese rolls, of course. You'll see the other items I ordered through the pictures. But first let's talk about the cheese rolls. Namely....OMG, where have these been all my life and why didn't I get on this bandwagon sooner???

These things were freaking delicious. In my experience, few foods live up to their online hype. This one does. And this is coming from "I'm not really a cheese person". It's hard to describe why I like these so much. Could be the flaky roll itself with its large sugar crystals adding to the sweet crispness and flakiness. I even liked the mildly sweet cheese filling. YUM.

$16.99 for a dozen

The ham croquettes were to satisfy the savory end of my taste buds. It's hard to go wrong with ham and cheese in any rendition. In case you haven't noticed from the pictures, the orders are shipped in an insulated container with dry ice to keep them cold and do arrive reasonably frozen so they can go from the box to your freezer if you're not planning to bake them immediately. (But you might want to bake some of them immediately because cheese rolls....)

The ham and cheese croquettes were good as well and like everything else in my order, they come frozen in a box with a card detailing the instructions on how to bake them. Porto's even thoughtfully provides parchment paper to line your baking sheets with for baking each product.

These were good but I have to admit, a little more typical, and not the epic greatness of the cheese roll.

Besitos $16.99 for 15 pieces

If I'd had to take a bet, I thought the Besitos or Kiss Cookies filled with dulce de leche would've been my next favorite. They were good, a nice shortbread-butter cookie shaped like an oversized "kiss" with dulce de leche stuffed inside.

If you've ever watched the movie "Chocolat", these might remind you of the "Nipples of Venus" confection from the book/movie. Although these seem a little closer to the "nipples" part.

Get past that image, lol. This was a good cookie, no matter what it looks like. Porto's recommends dusting it with powdered sugar before serving. I tried it both ways and actually prefer it plain.

The fourth and final item I ordered was the chocolate twist.

Remember above when I said the cheese roll was epic and I wish I'd discovered it earlier? Double that enthusiasm to gauge my reaction to the chocolate twist. I thought the besitos would be my second favorite but the cheese roll got bumped down to second place.

Unbaked chocolate twist $16.99 for 8 (large) pieces

Because the chocolate twist was unexpectedly my favorite of the 4 items I ordered. The instructions say to brush it with egg wash before baking. That helps with the browning.

This was seriously one of the best things I've ever eaten from an online bakery order. Sure, it helps that you bake it in your own oven and can enjoy it hot/warm and flaky. But it was still extremely delicious. Like I want to order it again and again delicious. Flaky, buttery with the right amount and flavor of the filling studded with mini chocolate chips. I'd order 20 more if I didn't want to re-gain the 11 pounds I'd lost during quarantine. But don't think I haven't considered it.

So if you have a little extra budget to spare, want delicious pre-made baked goods you bake yourself for optimal freshness and want to support a small business, Porto's knocks it out of the park on all cylinders. Make sure you get the cheese rolls and the chocolate twists at a minimum and try their other offerings as well. I intend to.