Crumbl Cookies review #59 - Chocolate Swiss Roll and Nutter Butter Brownie Sandwich (tester)

Crumbl Cookies review #59: Chocolate Swiss Roll and Nutter Butter Brownie Sandwich (tester) - visited November 7 and 8, 2023 

Chocolate Swiss Roll

 Now (December 4), it’s National Cookie Day and what better way to acknowledge it than by talking about the cookie shop I’ve been going to most often? Although, in all honesty, I've been out of the country for a few weeks with no access to Crumbl and I just got back a few days ago. If I've been slacking off on the Crumbl Cookies reviews, it's because I've been slacking off on eating Crumbl Cookies. But it hasn't just been because I've been gone. Lately the flavors have either been ones I've already tried or ones I haven't been interested in. Plus I was still working down my freezer stash.

But I finally got back into the Crumbl game before I left and the week these two flavors came out. The Chocolate Swiss roll was a new one to the line up and the Nutter Butter Brownie Sandwich was a test cookie.

I got the Chocolate Swiss Roll first as I "just happened" to be driving by my local Crumbl (okay, I was at Costco and the Crumbl was across the street) and it wasn't test day yet. Since I only planned to get the one flavor plus the test cookie, I was fine getting a single cookie on separate days. 

The best part of Crumbl cookies is eating them warm and since I try not to eat more than 1/4 of a cookie a day (okay, sometimes half a cookie or two 1/4 cookies if I had a lot of workouts on tap that day), it's just as well to get them as a single purchase on separate days. That's more expensive in the long run but a more moderate and enjoyable cookie experience.

I don't normally get Crumbl's chocolate cookies as 90% of them are too rich for me. But I've found I like the brownie ones better and they don't send me into chocoholic overdrive. So I ended up liking the Chocolate Swiss Roll just fine. It's more like a soft brownie without the crusty edges. I liked the ganache on top as well. It was like a set chocolate glaze. The swirl of marshmallow frosting was a tad too sweet for me so I ended up scraping most of it off and just enjoying the cookie base. 

Glad I tried it. Don't think I need to get it again unless there was no other flavor I wanted to try but as chocolate cookies go, I preferred this one along with the chocolate cookie featuring Oreo.

The Nutter Butter Brownie Sandwich was the test cookie this particular week and I almost passed on it because peanut butter cookies are wasted on me. But it was a sandwich cookie which I tended to like and I figured the chocolate part would sweeten the deal. Plus I like to support test cookies as much as I can so my store can continue to be a tester store.

Nutter Butter Brownie Sandwich

I think I like the concept, the execution and the look of this cookie more than the actual taste of it. If you're a peanut butter chocolate lover, you'll think I'm crazy for being so lukewarm about it and that this cookie would make your top 5.

But I'm back to "I like the cookies but I'm just not a big peanut butter fan". Actually, I think I would've like the cookie sandwich and even the filling better without the peanut butter drizzle over the top cookie. I get they do the drizzle to make the sandwich look prettier and to amp up the peanut butter flavor but that's exactly why I didn't like it. The drizzle made the cookie messy when I broke it into pieces and I could've used less peanut butter flavor, not more. But that's a personal preference. For all you chocolate peanut butter lovers, this sandwich cookie is for you.

Bakery review: Grand Traverse Pie Company

Bakery Review: Grand Traverse Pie Company - received November 2, 2023

December 3 is National Apple Pie Day so it seems like the perfect time to do this review of the Grand Traverse Pie Company, especially since I ordered 2 pies from them, both apple based.

I love pie but rarely make it myself because I've yet to master pie crust and don't have enough of an eating audience to consume multiple crust-making attempts. It's just easier to buy pies, preferably from good bakeries, not the freezer aisle at the grocery store. 

Goldbelly is my go-to for trying out small businesses and new bakeries that ship across the country. It can be a little pricey though so I have to pick my moments. Fortunately, they ran a promo that offered $20 off any purchase and Grand Traverse Pie Company was offering a buy 1, get 1 free deal. Plus, hello, free shipping. All that helped my justification efforts in paying "so much" for a couple of pies.

I went with the Apple Crumb with Pecans and Caramel and the regular Apple Crumb Pie. Before you ask how I could possibly consume 2 pies....I can't. But I was hosting another baking meetup at my house the day after I received these and all the extras go to the employees of a local nonprofit so it was a good way to try a slice from both pies and not have the rest go to waste or (my) waist.

The Apple Crumb with Pecans and Caramel was freaking amazing. I'm very picky about my pies since those calories have to be worth it. This one was. The apples were not too soft or too hard, their slight tartness was offset by the sweetness of the caramel and the not-too-soft texture of the apples went perfectly with the crunch from the pecans. Soooo good.

The crust was good too, both the bottom pie crust and the crumb topping. I'm a big fan of pie crust and it's to my eternal sorrow that I haven't been able to consistently make a good one. This one was flaky and tender.

I had tried the caramel pecan apple pie first and had the regular apple crumb pie after the baking meetup. Granted, I was already shot full of sugar by the end of the evening so perhaps I didn't have the same level of receptivity to this one. But, since I forgot to even take a picture of the apple crumb pie slice I ate, you can see I wasn't as into this pie. It was still good but compared to the pecan caramel one, this one was a little plain. If I'd had it first, I would've waxed more poetical. For the purists, this is an excellent choice. For a little pizzazz, go with the one with pecans and caramel. Either way, you can't go wrong. Happy National Apple Pie Day!

Nestle Crunch Oatmeal Cookies from Eat Move Make

Nestle Crunch Oatmeal Cookies - made dough November 9, 2023 from Eat Move Make 

1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups oats

1 1/2 cups Nestle Crunch bars, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat 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 together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed until creamy and well combined, 1-2 minutes.
3. Add eggs and vanilla; mix to combine.
4. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt on low speed, mixing until just combined.
5. Add oats and mix on low speed until combined. Add chopped Nestle Crunch bars and mix on low speed until disbursed.
6. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls and evenly space on baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Let cool 1 minute on baking sheet then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

I've been able to use up my leftover Halloween candy bars at a fairly good clip (thank you, pinterest, for all the recipe ideas). This one is essentially an oatmeal cookie with chopped up Nestle Crunch bars.

If you don't like your oatmeal cookies overly spiced, this one is a good option. It's only got cinnamon and nutmeg and those are in reasonable quantities. If that's still too much for you, omit the nutmeg. 

This has my hallmarks of a good oatmeal cookie recipe. It has more oats than flour and not too much spice. The dough was easy to work with and the cookies didn't spread much so they stayed reasonably thick.

I like to send oatmeal cookies in my military care packages for Soldiers Angels as they ship well and don't dry out too easily. Plus the oats give them a heartiness beyond the regular sugar-sweetness of a chocolate chip cookie.

The chopped up Nestle Crunch bars also worked well in this cookie. They provided both sweetness and a little crunch to the cookies. The chocolate didn't melt or puddle as much as I expected. Instead they behaved more like chocolate chips which were soft and melty while the cookies were warm but solidified again once cool.

I'll have to remember all these recipes for next year if I end up with a lot of excess Halloween candy bars again. So far all the recipes I've tried for using them up turned out pretty well. This one was no exception.

Reese's Overloaded Peanut Butter Cookies from Tastes of Lizzy T

Reese's Overloaded Peanut Butter Cookies - made dough November 10, 2023 from Tastes of Lizzy T 

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups quartered mini Reese's peanut butter cups

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together peanut butter and butter until well blended.
3. Beat in the sugar, baking powder and baking soda until combined. Beat in egg then vanilla until combined.
4. Add flour and mix on low speed until just combined. Fold in the peanut butter cups and mini chocolate chips.
5. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls and evenly space onto baking sheets. Press cookies slightly with the bottom of a round glass dipped in granulated sugar.
6. Bake for 10 minutes; do not overbake. Let cool on baking sheets for 3-5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Alrighty, peanut butter and chocolate lovers, step on up. Any good peanut butter cookie recipe will do if you want to use up leftover Reese's peanut butter cups but I liked this recipe for how thick they stayed.

They're not as delicate or crumbly as some peanut butter cookies tend to be but they're not super soft fragile either. Actually, they were perfect to send in military care packages as they were sturdy. I vacuum sealed them first and wedged them into the shipping boxes so hopefully they won't arrive as crumbs.

Texture-wise, they're similar to a good chocolate chip cookie but flavored with peanut butter. I wish I was more crazy for peanut butter so I could sing more praises about this cookie. It's good, don't get me wrong, and my niece's boyfriend, who loves peanut butter, would probably love these. 

So if you love peanut butter and chocolate, give these a try.