Biscoff Blondies from Bake & Bacon

Biscoff Blondies - made August 4, 2023 from Bake & Bacon

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons biscoff spread

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 Biscoff cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter and cookie butter until combined. Add brown sugar, egg, egg yolk and vanilla, mixing until completely combined.
3. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt, mixing until just combined. Pour into an even layer in prepared pan. Gently press Biscoff cookies over the top.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few crumbs. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting and serving.

I had high hopes for this blondie but I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. The flavor was fine and it was easy to make.

It was the texture I didn't love. I don't think I overbaked it as I took it out around the 25-minute mark as that's when the toothpick came out clean.

And you can see by the pictures that it doesn't look dry. It actually had a "fudgy" texture but it wasn't as moist as I had hoped. It did have a drier mouthfeel without being dry, if that makes sense.

It was still good and I typically like cookie butter anything. If you make these, I recommend dolloping cookie butter within the blondie before you pour all the batter in. That'll not only amp up the cookie butter flavor but provide pockets of more moisture inside.

Crumbl Cookies review #45: Chocolate Babka (test cookie)

Crumbl Cookies review #45: Chocolate Babka (test cookie), visited August 2, 2023

Every week that isn't a mystery week, on Wednesdays, stores designated as tester stores will "test" out a new flavor in addition to the regular lineup. Presumably if it does well, they'll add it to the regular rotation. Sometimes they test entirely new flavors, other times they tweak an existing flavor and test if people like those changes. Not all Crumbls are tester stores but I'm really glad my store is one of them. 

Although there are some weeks where my store doesn't participate in the test cookie. But this particular week, they did and tested out a chocolate babka. The other test flavor was Chocolate Raspberry Truffle but I don't like berry flavors in my cookies so I was happy my store did the chocolate babka option.

I've never had a real babka before so I don't know what they're supposed to taste like. In cookie form, while warm, I enjoyed this cookie. The cinnamon wasn't too strong and the texture was good Crumbl standard. I also liked that it was only lightly glazed and not smothered in frosting as many Crumbl cookies are.

But I have to admit, even though I enjoyed it warm, not sure this cookie was all that memorable or that I would get it again on the regular menu if there were other flavors I wanted more. And at fully room temperature, the cinnamon flavor was more pronounced and I didn't love the chocolate-cinnamon pairing. So this cookie is an okay-to-good for me but it didn't hit great.

Buttermilk Brownies from The Ultimate Brownie Book

Buttermilk Brownies - made August 3, 2023 from The Ultimate Brownie Book by Bruce Weinstein

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In the top half of a double boiler set over hot water, combine butter, bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate. Stir until completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together sugar, eggs and egg yolks for several minutes until pale yellow and thick. Add buttermilk and vanilla extract, beating until combined.
5. Stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into an even layer into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes then bang pan onto oven rack 3-4 times. Continue baking for another 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
6. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting and serving.

You can tell from the pictures this was a fail. At least from a brownie perspective and that's what these were billed as being. If I was making a chocolate sheet cake, they're fine. Nice and chocolaty, soft cakey-ish texture. I say cakey-ish because they are slightly dense but not dense enough to earn a brownie moniker. There's also the slight tang from the buttermilk that wasn't neutralized because there's no baking soda in them, just baking powder. Which also contributed to the lighter texture. I did rap the brownies on the oven rack a few times after it had been baking for 20 minutes to deflate the brownies and make them more dense. In hindsight, given the end product, I probably should've deflated them after only 15 minutes, not 20, as they didn't deflate much at the 20-minute mark.

You can also see they didn't cut cleanly which drives me a little nuts as I prefer clean cuts. Overall, they're still good. But consider them as dense cake rather than brownies. Or, if you like cakey brownies, then these will suit you just fine.

Crumbl review #44: Chocolate Crumb ft Oreo, Cookie Butter White Chip, Honey Bun, Lemon Cream Pie

Crumbl Cookies review #44 - Chocolate Crumb ft Oreo, Cookie Butter Whip Chip, Honey Bun, Lemon Cream Pie 

Yes, this was a 4-pack week as I wanted all 4 flavors that I got. I'd already tried the Chocolate Crumb ft Oreo and that's probably one of the very few chocolate-based cookies from Crumbl that I actually like so I "had" to get it again.

Chocolate Crumb featuring Oreo

I hadn't tried the Cookie Butter White Chip before although I had made a copycat recipe a couple of years ago and thought it was excellent

Cookie Butter White Chip

The actual Crumbl original was also quite good. I like the thickness of the cookie and the texture. Texture is typically what sucks me into Crumbl, more than the flavor. Cookie butter isn't that strong of a flavor and I wouldn't say this cookie had a strong cookie butter flavor either. The addition of the Biscoff cookie as a garnish is just that, garnish, rather than flavor. Still a good cookie but easy enough to pass next time it comes up as I could make something similar quite easily.

Honey Bun

I've had the honey bun before as well and from my notes, it seemed I liked it so I got it again this time to round out the 4 pack. But I have to admit, it's better (to me) warm. When I ate it at room temperature, the honey flavor was more prevalent. I don't like honey so that wasn't a positive. Now that I've had it twice, I don't think I'd get it a third time.

Lemon Cream Pie

The Lemon Cream Pie is new to the Crumbl lineup so my cookie curiosity decreed I had to try this one. I'm not a fan of creamy desserts or cream pies but I'm such a fan of Crumbl's banana cream pie cookie that I've become more open to trying their other cream pie cookies, especially since I like the sugar cookie crust of the banana cream pie.

Sadly, I didn't like the Lemon Cream Pie that much. The filling wasn't that lemony and - worse - the cookie shell was not as good as the one on the banana cream pie. It had a drier mouthfeel although the shell wasn't overbaked and was still soft. It just felt and tasted like a different cookie shell recipe, like it contained shortening rather than butter. Pass on this next time.

White Chocolate Orange Cookies from All Recipes Tried and True Top 200 Cookies

White Chocolate Orange Cookies - made dough July 15, 2023 from All Recipes Tried and True Top 200 Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 tablespoon orange zest

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups white chocolate chips

1. Cream the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and orange zest.
2. Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt on low speed. Fold in white chocolate chips.
3. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls and flatten slightly into thick discs. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough discs.
5. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove from heat and let rest on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely. 

I'm making another (perpetual) effort to use more of my baking books instead of (also perpetually) trying to clear out my pinterest board of recipes to try. 

There are some baking books I have that are hit or miss, which is partly why I don't use them as often as I should. This particular book is a compilation of "tried and true" recipes from the allrecipes.com site and I got it donkey's years ago. I don't use it often as many of the recipes seem the same and there aren't any pictures in it so it seems less compelling to use. Yeah, don't ask me why I bought it back then. That would've been my acquisitive phase of all books baking.

Regardless, this one turned out pretty well. It's an orange white chocolate combination or what I consider an orange creamsicle cookie. I don't use orange as a flavor very often in my baking. Not sure why as I like an orange and white chocolate pairing. Not so much orange and semisweet or milk chocolate or even dark chocolate but white chocolate sets up the orange flavor nicely.

This cookie was a little crisp but not crispy. It's not as soft and chewy as a traditional chocolate chip cookie but it's a nice alternate if you don't want a more traditional cookie.

Nutella Brownies from Handle the Heat

Nutella Brownies - made July 14. 2023 from Handle the Heat

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup Nutella

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup (96 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In the top half of a double boiler set over hot water, melt together chocolate chips, butter and unsweetened chocolate. Whisk together until melted, combined and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in Nutella. Let cool for several minutes.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together sugar, eggs and egg yolk for 3 minutes, until light and thick. Beat in the vanilla extract.
4. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture, mixing until evenly combined.
5. Add flour, cocoa and salt, mixing until just combined.
6. Pour in even layer into prepared pan. Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Remove from heat and let cool completely before cutting and serving.

I confess I made this recipe twice. Not because I loved it so much and had to make it again but because I think I underbaked it a little too much the first time. 

Normally, underbaking brownies is a safe bet to get the fudgy texture. But you don't want to underbake too much or it'll be soft and mushy instead of dense and fudgy and that's what I felt like I did, even though I let this bake about 5 minutes longer than the original recipe called for; each oven is different so I always take the recipe as guidelines, not an actual "must follow".

I did follow the rest of the directions to the letter, including beating the batter for 3 minutes after the eggs are added. I normally don't do that as I know beating it that much with eggs already included will lead to a meringue-crust topping. I'm one of the few people I know who don't like that crackly top on a brownie. Boxed brownie mixes often have it and bakers like to replicate that in homemade brownies. Me, not so much.

So the second time I made this, I didn't beat the batter as long with the eggs in it and I baked the brownies for almost an hour, yes, an hour. The results were better the second time around, although I have to admit, they were still a little mushy. So maybe that's how the texture actually is supposed to be?

I thought they were good but the Nutella flavor isn't very obvious and texture-wise, I still prefer my go-to brownie recipe. If you want a more obvious Nutella flavor, I suggest dolloping Nutella within and over the top of the batter and swirling it around to incorporate. And don't underbake it too much.

Extra Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies from Beyond Frosting

Extra Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough July 3, 2023 from Beyond Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (220 grams) light brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup (95 grams) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups (420 grams) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons (4 grams) cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chunks

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
2. Add eggs and vanilla extract, beating until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda. Add dry ingredients in 3 additions to butter mixture, mixing on low speed after each addition, until just combined. Fold in chocolate chunks.
4. Portion dough into 6-ounce portions and form into tall, thick dough balls. Flatten slightly. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space 4-6 dough balls on each sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and middles no longer look raw. 
6. Remove from heat and let rest on baking sheets for 15 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

I don't know that I would say these were "extra thick" chocolate chip cookies but that's my own fault as I didn't make them as large as they were supposed to be.

I made this particular batch while I was in Denver visiting my niece and nephew-in-law. Whenever I visit, I always make up some cookie dough for them to bake off later after I'm gone so they'll always have fresh cookies when they want it. We did a test bake of a few of these to enjoy together.

It's a good chocolate chip cookie recipe, although I didn't think they were as buttery-rich as some others I've tried and it's a little more cakey (without being actually cakey) than I prefer. But they had crisp edges and chewy middles and were perfect 10 minutes out of the oven. You can't ask for much more than that. Maybe the texture would've been different or more preferable if I had made them as big as they were supposed to be? But so far, this recipe from Binge Worthy Bites remains my recent and current favorite for chocolate chip cookies in terms of flavor and texture.

Coconut Blondies from Dixie Crystals

Coconut Blondies - made July 4, 2023 from Dixie Crystals 

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter and stir constantly until butter has browned; remove from heat and let cool.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together browned butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined. Add eggs, vanilla extract and coconut extract and beat until combined.
5. Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. Fold in coconut. Pour batter into prepared pan in an even layer.
6. Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Do not overbake.
7. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

Since it's been so hot in many parts of the country, I've been focusing on easy recipes you can take to any summer gatherings that are easy to make and aren't fussy. Meaning no intricate assembly or frostings to make or, in this case, not even any chocolate to melt before you get to your destination. In my case, the destination of care packages going to desert countries overseas.

If you like coconut, this is a nice brown-sugar blondie with coconut. As you can expect with coconut, the texture is chewy. It's a bit sweet for me but that's my jaded taste buds. I still liked it but then, I love coconut, so it's hard to go wrong with a coconut bar cookie.