Crumbl Cookies review #25: Chocolate Toffee Cake, Peanut Butter Munch, Strawberry Pop Tart, Double Fudge Brownie, Lemon Cupcake

Crumbl Cookies review #25: Chocolate Toffee Cake, Peanut Butter Munch, Strawberry Pop Tart, Double Fudge Brownie, Lemon Cupcake - visited July 16. 2022

I said in my last Crumbl review that I was going to skip Crumbl for awhile. And I had every intention of doing so but my mom, knowing how much I like Crumbl, said her birthday gift to me would be Crumbl cookies. Okay. Who am I to say no? Thanks, Mom.

At least I did let almost two weeks lapse though. Meaning I got cookies on a Monday the week before and on Saturday the following week. Which is the longest period you can go without skipping a week since Crumbl is closed on Sundays. I wasn't interested in all of the week's flavors but I asked my niece which ones she and her boyfriend wanted. They asked for the Chocolate Toffee, Peanut Butter "mystery cookie" (it was the Muddy Buddy the day I went to my local store) and Strawberry Pop Tart. I only wanted the Lemon Cupcake but I also got the Double Fudge Brownie. To round out the 6-pack, I got an extra lemon as I figured either my mom or my niece would want that one.

 

Chocolate Toffee Cake ft Heath

Although I did drop off 4 of the 6 cookies with my niece, I did get a taste of the Chocolate Toffee Cake ft Heath (all in the name of blog research of course). I liked the cookie base of this one in terms of flavor and you can't go wrong with toffee bits. I didn't care for the whipped cream icing and would've preferred either a straight buttercream or a ganache. I wouldn't get this one again because of the whipped cream. You'll also notice from the picture that the toffee bits topping was a little wonky, like they decided to only top half the cookie, lol. I don't sweat the small stuff like that though and didn't ask them for more toppings. The employees at my local Crumbl store are always pleasant and friendly and I care more about that than how loaded my cookie toppings are (or are not).

Peanut Butter Munch ft Muddy Buddies

I can't tell you how the peanut butter cookie was since I didn't try it but here's what it looked like inside and out.

Strawberry Pop Tart

I didn't try the Strawberry Pop Tart either. There seems to be inconsistency across the different Crumbls how much strawberry filling is inside. You can see the one I got didn't have much. My niece's boyfriend said it didn't really taste like strawberry pop tart since it didn't have a lot of strawberry. Both he and my niece thought it was good but "basic".

you can barely see the filling

Double Fudge Brownie

I did keep the Double Fudge Brownie for myself although by the time I tried a piece, it had already cooled. The outer edge of the cookie was fragile and broke off when I picked up the cookie. It was good although it had a slightly dry mouthfeel. Towards the middle of the cookie was fudgy perfection though. I tried just enough to confirm it was a nice chocolatey cookie. Not sure I'd get it again but it was good.

Lemon Cupcake

I did enjoy the Lemon Cupcake. I love lemon cookies and I love cakey sugar cookies. This delivered on both fronts. Mine was nicely tart and lemony. I didn't need all that frosting but I loved the cookie.

Ultimate Chocolate Cookies from Baking with Blondie

Ultimate Chocolate Cookies - made dough July 12, 2022 from Baking with Blondie 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cubed

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, cold

1 tablespoon vanilla 

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 410 degrees F (not on a convection setting). Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar; cream together for 3 minutes on high speed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to keep mixture even textured.
3. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Add flour, cocoa, cornstarch, baking soda and salt, mixing on lowest setting until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Reserve a handful of each type of chips then fold in the rest into the cookie dough.
6. Portion dough evenly into 8 large dough balls. Hand press the reserved chips over the dough balls and evenly space 4 cookie dough balls onto each sheet.
7. Bake for 9-10 minutes then remove from oven and let rest on baking sheets for 1 minute. Transfer to wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Where are my chocoholics? Break out your baking sheets because you're going to want to make these cookies right now. And unlike 99% of the cookie recipes I post, I'm going to give you the good news that you don't even have to chill or freeze these first to get a chubby cookie. Yes, they'll still bake nice and thick.

I made this cookie dough in hot (>100 degrees) weather and the dough still handled beautifully. Not too soft or sticky but just right. Of course you do have to start with butter cold from the refrigerator but even better because you don't have to wait for the butter to soften to room temperature either.

They may not look "that thick" in these pictures but that's just the angle of the photos. Trust me. Or don't trust me but scroll all the way to the last picture of this post to get the full view of the inside and the thickness. And that cookie was the test cookie I baked as soon as I made the dough, without chilling it.

I only baked off one test cookie when I first made the dough. I portioned out the rest and froze those to bake later when I was making up care packages for Soldiers Angels.  I followed the original recipe directions to only make 8 cookie dough balls. Because you want these big.

In fact, each cookie was so big that I only ate half of the test cookie after baking and cooling. Never fear though, I went back for the other half the next day. It was so good. Perfectly chocolate with that thick-cookie texture I love. 

A few cautionary notes: do bake these at 410 degrees. Yes, that's high for cookies but it's how to get the outside to set and have a crust while the inside remains soft and fudgy. The downside is your chocolate chip tips will burn a bit. Either tuck them, tip side in, into the dough or else don't do what I did and stick the chips on top before baking. Wait until after they come out of the oven then swarm those suckers with chips all over their domed tops.

Second cautionary note is you might be tempted to leave them in longer than 10 minutes, thinking the cookies couldn't possibly have baked long enough. I was afraid of that too. But see the fissures in the cookie around the edges (in the picture above)? That's done enough. 

Besides. when the cookies cool completely (and please let them cool to get the fudgy texture), they'll set and give you the best texture. The last picture says a thousand words.

Cookies and Cream Cookies from Kroll's Korner

Cookies and Cream Cookies - made dough July 9, 2022, modified from Kroll's Korner 

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cake flour

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, cold, unsalted

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

15 Oreos, roughly chopped

1 cup white chocolate chunks

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, cake flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk, mixing until just combined. Add in vanilla and mix until just combined.
3. Add dry ingredients in two additions, mixing until just combined after each addition. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl to keep even textured. Do not overmix. Fold in chopped Oreos and white chocolate chunks, reserving a handful of each.
4. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls. Cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough balls and bake 9-11 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven and immediately press reserved white chocolate chunks and Oreo chunks over tops of hot cookies. Let rest on baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

Another good blog to follow if you like great cookies is Kroll's Korner. I've only tried a couple of her recipes, chocolate chip and white chocolate snickerdoodle, but they've both turned out well. Now I can add that I've tried her recipe for Cookies and Cream cookies.

I'm taking a break from Crumbl copycat recipes since so many of them have frosting and I can't ship frosted cookies from the desert (where I live) to another (overseas) desert (where most of my care packages for Soldiers Angels are going).

This was easy to make and tasted good. I didn't make them giant sized since smaller cookies are easier to pack and share but I can see how a giant version would be perfect for cookies and cream fans. The dough handled beautifully and the white chocolate and Oreos worked well in the cookie. Her original recipe used Hershey's cookies and cream chocolates but I didn't have those so I went with white chocolate chunks and Oreos alone; those worked just fine.

Red Velvet Oreo Cookies from Baking with Blondie

Red Velvet Oreo Cookies - made dough July 2, 2022 from Baking with Blondie

1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, cold

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoons red gel color

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup mini milk chocolate chips

1 cup Oreo crumbles

1. Preheat oven to 410 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter for 1 minute until it's light and fluffy. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar and cream together for 3 minutes on high speed.
3. Scrape down sides of bowl to keep mixture even textured. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla, mixing well after each addition.
4. Add cocoa powder and red gel coloring, mixing well. Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt, mixing on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Reserve a few handfuls of the chocolate chips and Oreo crumbles. Fold in the remaining into the cookie dough. Portion dough into 8 baseball-sized balls. Place 4 dough balls on each baking sheet and press the reserved chips and Oreo crumbles over each dough ball.
6. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Hey, look, a cookie recipe that has nothing to do with Crumbl or any of its copycats. I know I've been a little obsessed focused on Crumbl lately, like no other cookies exist in the world.

I'm happy to say not only do other non-Crumbl-based cookies exist, but some of them are - dare I say it - even better than Crumbl's? Hear me out. Or rather, test these out. 

I came across Baking with Blondie's blog via pinterest - where else? Namely the sight of these Red Velvet Oreo cookies lured me in. The original post has them as big. Like, one batch only makes 8 cookies big. 

Since I was making them for military care packages, I went a bit smaller. They still baked up nice and thick though. The dough mixed up easily and was perfect for handling, not too soft or sticky, not dry or crumbly.

Make sure your butter is straight from the refrigerator, especially in this summer heat. Cut into tablespoons and cube for easier mixing. You don't want your butter to get too warm during mixing.

Also, I suggest using regular Oreos, not double stuff or mega stuffed. I'm a purist and prefer the very original Oreos before they jumped the shark and came out with a bazillion different renditions and flavors. In the case of cookie baking, too much filling in the Oreos can affect the appearance and texture of your cookies as they bake and spread out. In other words, messy, greasy, melted filling taking over your cookies, especially since these bake at high heat.

These don't spread much at all which is another reason why I love them. Plus look at the perfect texture of the inside. The flavor was also good. The white chocolate provides a nice sweetness to the red velvet (you know I'm not a big white chocolate fan) and the Oreos add a crunch to the texture. I'm so glad I discovered Baking with Blondie's blog as she's got other mega-sized cookie recipes I'll be trying out - stay tuned for the others.

Bakery-Style Brownies from Shugary Sweets

Bakery-Style Brownies - made July 14, 2022 from Shugary Sweets 

1 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 9-inch pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In the top half of a double boiler set over hot water, melt butter over medium heat. Add chocolate chips, whisking until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and add granulated sugar, whisking until combined.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition until combined. Add vanilla.
4. Add cocoa powder, flour, salt and baking powder, stirring with a wooden spoon until combined and glossy. Do not overmix.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, not raw batter. (Mine took 45 minutes in my oven.) Let cool completely before cutting.

I'm back to trying out new brownie recipes, specifically ones that don't use a lot of or any unsweetened baking chocolate. I'm running low and I don't have any faith that any online order would reach me intact, not with the consistent daily triple digit temps we have at the moment.

I admit to a bit of bias against brownie recipes that use only cocoa powder as the chocolate base. Those brownies tend to be more cakey and I want chewy. This is a good compromise as it uses chocolate chips as well as cocoa powder for the chocolate flavor.

It also turned out pretty well. I probably could've baked it a couple of minutes more as it was just a trifle more underbaked than I normally prefer so the texture was a bit more soft edging towards mushy rather than fudgy. Fudgy gives you more chewiness. Mushy is, well, just mushy.

But that was operator error as the flavor itself was rather good. Not too cloyingly rich but just a good strong chocolate flavor. It helped that I used a rich dark cocoa, formerly known as Pernigotti.

Crumbl Copycat: Snickerdoodles from Salt & Baker

Crumbl Copycat: Snickerdoodles - made dough July 3, 2022 from Salt & Baker

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

Cinnamon sugar coating

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
2. Add eggs and vanilla extract, mixing until combined.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture in 2 additions, mixing after each addition until just combined.
4. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls, flatten slightly, cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. In a small bowl, mix together granulated sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough balls in mixture, coating completely. Evenly space on baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

These are supposed to be a copycat for Crumbl Snickerdoodles but I can't say they were that. I didn't make them big enough to be Crumbl size but given how much the regular size dough balls spread to a reasonable thickness (not Crumbl thick), I'm glad I didn't or I might've ended up with large, not-thin-but-not-that-thick cookies.

However, copycat-ness (yes, I make up words) notwithstanding, this was a really good snickerdoodle. Great texture, perfectly balanced cinnamon sugar flavor. I made these with Kerry Gold butter which tends to impart  richer flavor but also cause more spread so that may be why they weren't as thick as Crumbl's. But that could also be why they tasted so good. 

Crumbl Copycat: Birthday Cake Cookies from Lifestyle of a Foodie

Crumbl Copycat: Birthday Cake Cookies - made dough July 3, 2022 from Lifestyle of a Foodie 

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon cake batter extract

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons sprinkles

Cream cheese frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/4 teaspoon cake batter extract

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, granulated sugar and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
3. Beat in the egg, cake batter extract and vanilla extract, until combined.
4. Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt until just combined. Do not overmix. Portion dough into 6 equal-sized portions and roll into balls. Flatten slightly to 1-inch thickness
5. Bake cookies for 11 minutes the cool on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Frosting: in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and fluffy.
7. Add in the powdered sugar and cake batter extract; whip for 3-5 minutes or until fluffy. Place the frosting in a piping bag fitted with a large round piping tip. Frost each cooled cookie by piping in a spiral. Sprinkle with extra sprinkles if desired.

Raise your hand if you didn't know "cake batter extract" was a thing. Just me? Seriously, my world of extracts is mostly vanilla. I know almond and coconut extracts exist but I don't like them so I don't use them. Orange and lemon extracts I use sparingly and it depends on the recipe. But cake batter extract? Who knew? 

Now I know. I found two recipes that used them so of course I had to buy a bottle so I could try them out. Michaels sells different extracts as does Amazon. This recipe only uses a little in both the dough and the frosting so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. And despite my not liking sprinkles, I added some to stay true to the recipe.

The results are a bit mixed for me. I liked the texture of these - soft-dense and cakey but not fluffy. The sprinkles didn't bother me too much but if I made these again, I'd probably leave them out of the cookie and just keep them as sprinkles on the frosting.

Flavor-wise, I'm a little uncertain about these. There wasn't that much flavor to them. They weren't overly sweet but they were a little bland. Next time I think I'd amp up both the cake batter extract as well as the vanilla extract. Texture was on point, flavor needs a little more. These are good frosted though to add that extra flavor.