Crumbl Copycat - Churro Cookies

Crumbl Copycat Churro Cookies - made dough December 17, 2021 from You Bring Dessert 

Churro Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Cinnamon Sugar cookie dusting

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 teaspoon ssalt

1 pound powdered sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until well combined and creamy.
2. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder. Add to butter mixture in two additions, mixing briefly after each addition until just combined.
4. Cinnamon sugar dusting: combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
5. Roll dough into golf-ball-size dough balls and flatten slightly into thick discs. Cover, chill or freeze for an hour (not necessary but recommended). 
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Roll chilled dough discs in cinnamon sugar dusting, coating completely. Evenly space on baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Cool until barely lukewarm before frosting.
8. Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and shortening until combined and no lumps remain. Add vanilla and salt, mixing until combined.
9. Gradually add powdered sugar and water, beating until desired consistency and smooth. Add brown sugar and cinnamon, mixing until well incorporated.
10. Top cookies with frosting. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar on top for additional crunch.

Last December, I had to go to the Bay Area for an in-person work offsite. As always, I take every chance to stop at a Crumbl on my drive. It is on the way, after all. Coming and going. Convenient, right? 

I'm glad I did as this particular week, one of their flavors was a churro cookie. I have to say, it was probably one of the best cookies I've ever eaten. It was frosted and while I don't normally like frosting, it complemented the cookie perfectly. The cookie was warm but not so warm that it melted the frosting. Instead, the lukewarm cookie combined with the cool frosting was amazing. The edges of the cookie were crisp and the middle was the kind of cakey-cookie texture that I liked. Plus, hello, great flavor.

So of course, as soon as I got back home, I searched for copycat recipes on pinterest. I found this one from You Bring Dessert. It's very similar to a snickerdoodle recipe except without the cream of tartar and the cinnamon sugar coating has the addition of brown sugar in it.

As you can tell, I didn't make the frosting. I only wanted the taste test cookie and the rest of the cookies, unfrosted, were going in military and US-domestic friends care packages. Frosting would never hold up in a 2-4 week mailing time so I never frost the cookies I send and I didn't want it to be messy for the domestic care packages either. Plus I didn't need even a half recipe of frosting for the taste test cookie. So I guess I can't claim I made this as a real copycat. I did include the frosting recipe for anyone who wants to try it. 

Overall, this was a great cookie. Not sure I can say it was a true copycat but, like most of the Crumbl copycats I've tried, they still make delicious cookies.

Pictures of the actual Crumbl churro cookie - look at that texture. Delicious and amazing.

Stamped Cookies #17 - Embossed Shortbread Cookies

Stamped Cookies #17: Embossed Shortbread Cookies - made dough December 22, 2021, modified from Food Folks and Fun

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and powdered sugar until well combined and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract; beat until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add in two additions to butter mixture, mixing on low speed just until combined and dough forms. 
3. Divide dough in half and flatten each half into thick discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 15-30 minutes.
4. Tear off a large piece of parchment and lightly flour. Tear another large piece of parchment. Unwrap chilled dough disc (work with one at a time, leaving the second in the fridge while you work on the first), place in the middle of the flour-coated piece of parchment and cover with second piece of parchment. Using a rolling pin, roll out dough to an even 1/3" thickness between the two pieces of parchment. Use flour sparingly to prevent sticking.
5. Remove top piece of parchment. Lightly flour embossed rolling pin and run evenly over dough. Cut embossed dough into desired shapes. Use the scraps of remaining dough to roll into golf-ball-size dough balls, roll each ball into granulated sugar and press with cookie stamps. 
6. Repeat with second half of dough. Cover and chill or freeze embossed, stamped and cut out cookies for several hours or overnight.
7. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space cookies. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

This is going to be a picture-heavy post as I wanted to showcase each cookie stamp separately, both before baking and after baking then show side-by-side comparisons. That's more for my documentation purposes, not only of how the recipe did in keeping the stamped impressions once baked but also to document what cookie stamps I already have, lest I forget and buy duplicates. It's been known to happen. #nolie 

This will give you an inkling that my collection is, er, somewhat growing. In my (slight) defense, the snowflake set from Nordic Ware (the ones pictured above - I'm not affiliated with Nordic Ware and don't get anything if you click on the link) were a gift from my niece. I finally had an answer when she asked me what I wanted for Christmas (yes!). Uh, cookie stamps? LOL

Stamp is Eva's Lace from Kitchen Vixen on Etsy

Then I wanted to use this stamp above, Eva's Lace from Kitchen Vixen, as it has more intricate detail and would be a litmus test on how well a recipe will hold more detailed stamped impressions.

This "homemade" one is my first silicone stamp. Trial and error showed I need to press harder and more evenly when using the silicone stamps.

The sharp-eyed bakers among you will notice I didn't bake these throughout. The giveaway is the middle of the cookie is darker which signals less-baked dough. That was partly on purpose and partly because I baked these only as long as the recipe suggested, rather than going by my visual check of the cookies while they were in the oven.

The on-purpose part is because I don't like dry shortbread and this type of cookie is easy to overbake. Plus, I was sending most of these out in military care packages which can have a 3-to 4-week mailing time. Slightly underbaked cookies will fare better en route as they're less fragile, heavier and more dense in texture and lose less moisture. Or so my experiments have shown when I've played around with my vacuum sealer and left cookies (vacuum sealed) to sit and taste tested them several weeks later to mimic how they might arrive.

In addition to cookie stamps and embossed rolling pins, I've also been getting obsessed interested in wooden cookie molds. With the right dough, they can also make pretty designs. I only fill the taste test cookie and send the rest without a filling in the center. Too much risk of mold, even when vacuum sealed, from the moistness of the filling.

In this taste test cookie. I filled it with cookie butter, which probably would've done okay in long mailing times but I didn't want to take that risk.

In any case, before I forget, since I've been so focused on the stamps and cookie molds, let me say this recipe worked pretty well. The side by side comparisons are below. It was also pretty tasty. Always use fresh butter when making any kind of shortbread or butter cookie. It matters.

To give your impressions the best chance of making it through the oven in decent shape, freeze your stamped, unbaked cookies first and bake directly from frozen dough at a slightly higher temp than the recipe calls for. Most recipes call for baking at 350. I bake at 375. I typically don't go all the way to 400 though as the cookies can burn easily before you know it.

Cream Cheese Brownies (Maida Heatter recipe)

Cream Cheese Brownies - made December 26, 2021 from Happiness is Baking by Maida Heatter

1 cup unsifted, unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 ounces semisweet chocolate

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Mixture

4 ounces cream cheese

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In the top half of a double boiler set over hot water, melt chocolate and butter, whisking until completely melted and smooth.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat eggs until foamy. Add sugar and vanilla and beat on high speed for 3-4 minutes until mixture is lightly lemon-colored and forms a ribbon when beater is lifted. Beat in chocolate mixture on low speed until combined. Beat in dry ingredients on low speed until just combined.
5. Reserve 3/4 cup of chocolate batter and set aside. Pour remaining batter into even layer in prepared pan.
6. In a separate bowl with clean beaters, beat cream cheese and butter together until combined and smooth. Add vanilla extract, sugar and egg, beating until combined. Pour into an even layer over chocolate layer.
7. Dollop remaining chocolate batter over cream cheese layer and run a butter knife or small metal spatula to swirl lightly.
8. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out with a few moist crumbs, not raw batter. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting and serving.

 

First post of 2022. Normally I wouldn't bake or post sweets in January but let's face it, nothing's really been "normal" for a couple of years now, right? Plus, technically, I didn't make this in January when I truly am trying to eat healthier (longest 10 minutes of my life so far). I made several brownies and bar cookies right after Christmas because I was snowed in and literally couldn't leave the house. So of course I baked.

I focused on brownies because I was going to mail them in care packages for Soldiers Angels but I didn't know when I could get to the post office to mail them. Brownies are easy to package up, vacuum seal and put in the freezer until they could go into packages and I can make a run to the post office. I do the same with cookie dough but I don't bake the cookies ahead of time until I can mail them the same day I bake them. Since I didn't know when I could get out of the house, brownies were the logical choice to make ahead of time and be able to box up and dispatched once the snow and ice cleared.

Although, after that big lead-in, I now realize these particular brownies weren't going into Solders Angels' care packages because they have cream cheese in them. Even in cooler winter months in the Middle East, I don't like sending anything with this much cream cheese. A little is okay but not 4 ounces that won't be mixed in enough with other ingredients to hold off spoiling when not refrigerated for weeks.

These went into domestic care packages for friends with a 2-4 day mailing time (vacuum sealed, of course) and that I mailed out yesterday.

I went "old school" and actually used one of my existing baking books for this recipe rather than pinterest. I haven't done that in awhile and need to be better about using my cookbook collection.

As always, Maida Heatter recipes deliver the goods. These were perfectly fudgy and a great cream cheese brownie. Not too rich. It wasn't super chocolaty because the chocolate comes from a semisweet chocolate rather than a dark or unsweetened chocolate. If you want more chocolate richness rather than sweetness, you could try subbing half of the semisweet chocolate with unsweetened while keeping the amount of sugar the same.

Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese

Smoked Gouda Mac and Cheese - made November 30, 2021 from Mildly Meandering 

1 box (12-16 ounces) elbow macaroni or pasta of your choice

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 cups milk

8 ounces smoked gouda, shredded

8 ounces white cheddar, shredded

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper 

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water according to the package directions; drain.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk until well combined. Slowly add milk and continue whisking until it starts to thicken.
3. Reduce heat to low and add smoked gouda cheese, white cheddar cheese, salt, pepper and paprika. Stir until cheeses have completely melted and sauce is smooth.
4. Add pasta to the sauce and toss until well combined. Serve with desired toppings.

Last post of 2021. Yeah, I can't believe another year is over already and we're coming up on entering a third year of a global pandemic. So....let's eat comfort food to process all that. 

Mac and cheese was never a childhood staple when I was growing up. We're Filipino so rice was the constant at meals. When I went to college, mac and cheese was a popular dorm food but I don't recall having it that often then either.

So why I consider mac and cheese a favorite comfort food now (although it doesn't beat spaghetti and meatballs) is beyond me. But I do. Not the bright orange of the boxed mac and cheese variety but honest to goodness "made from scratch" and made with real cheese, not the powdered stuff.

My only issue with mac and cheese is it seems to need protein. So I added sausage to this one. This dish is not the for calorie conscious or those who don't want their arteries to harden. It makes a rich and creamy sauce, so thick you could almost cut it when it's cool. But that just makes it so good. Which this is. I've become a fan of smoked gouda in savory dishes. It adds so much flavor and takes what could normally be bland mac and cheese to sublime mac and cheese. While this is definitely just a sometimes food because of its richness, it's a great sometimes food, perfect for comfort on cold winter nights. If you're like me and have all these grandiose plans to eat healthy come January 1, you might want to make this before then.