Tag: Crinkle Cookies

Cookie Palooza: Brown Butter Crinkles

Crinkles are great holiday cookies. You can make them in numerous flavors or stick with a simple recipe and tint the batter red and/or green for Christmas or blue for Hanukkah. In fact, I have been sharing a crinkle cookie recipe for the past couple of years during my Cookie Palooza. Believe it or not there is a science behind crinkle cookies. The cookies get their look and name because the surface of the cookie dries out before the cookie is done spreading and rising while baking. This causes the cookie to harden, crack and pull apart, hence the name crinkles. This is all thanks to rolling the dough in granulated sugar and then confectioners’ sugar prior to baking. I’ve shared quite a few crinkle recipes here on my blog and today I am sharing my favorite thus far, a Brown Butter Crinkle.

To start, you need to make brown butter. To do so I melted a stick of unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once it started to boil, I reduced the heat to medium and let the melted butter simmer until foamy. I stirred it occasionally and scraped the bottom of the pan until the foam subsided and the butter turned a golden brown and had a nutty aroma. I then transferred the melted butter and the brown specks that formed to a large heatproof bowl and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

While the butter cooled I combined the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Once the butter cooled, I mixed in granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and finally the flour mixture until the dough formed. I then transferred it to a piece of plastic wrap and shaped it into a disk and refrigerated it for an hour. The dough needs to be refrigerated because it is extremely soft. Thanks to the brown butter, the dough (and ultimately the cookie itself) had a nice mocha color.

After an hour I removed the dough from the refrigerator and while the dough did firm up some, it was still soft enough to scoop with a cookie scoop. I scooped the dough and rolled it into a ball…

And then coated each with granulated sugar and then confectioners’ sugar.

And baked them in a 350 F preheated oven for about 15 minutes. After letting them cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes I then transferred them to a wire rack to cool completely.

So, why are these my favorite crinkle cookies now? Well, it’s because of the brown butter. Brown butter added a nice nutty flavor to the cookie.

Looking for more crinkle flavors, check out these recipes:

Key Lime Crinkles

PeanutButterCrinkles

Chocolate Walnut Crinkles

Chocolate Crinkles

Red Velvet Blossom

 

Brown Butter Crinkles

  • Servings: 30 Cookies
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Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups unbleached flour

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

 

Directions:

Melt the stick of butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. When the butter begins to boil reduce the heat to medium and simmer until foamy. Continue cooking the butter, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pan, until foam subsides, and the butter has turned a golden brown with a nutty aroma and milk solids separate into brown specks that sink to the bottom of the pan, 2 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large heatproof bowl and let cool for 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl whisk together the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt – and set aside.

Once the butter has cooled, stir in 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar and the dark brown sugar into the brown butter until combined. Add in the eggs and vanilla and finally the flour mixture until the dough forms. Transfer the dough to piece of plastic wrap, shape into a disk and then wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in another small bowl. Scoop 1 tablespoon of the dough and roll into a bowl. Roll the dough in the granulated sugar and then in the confectioners’ sugar. Place on the prepared on the baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 1 inch apart.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes. The cookies will be done when they spread slightly, crackle and are set at the edges. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cookie Perfection

Cookie Palooza: Red Velvet Blossom Cookie

Today’s Cookie Palooza Cookie is a Red Velvet Blossom Cookie. A fun festive twist on the traditional Peanut Butter Blossom Cookie. We all know that cookie, the peanut butter one that has a Hershey Kiss pressed into the center of it and marries that wonderful flavor combination of peanut butter and chocolate… YUM!

I began by prepping the dough for the cookies. In one bowl I whisked together my dry ingredients and set them aside. In another bowl I added in my wet ingredients and beat them until they were well combined. And finally I added in the flour mixture and beat the two together until they were incorporated. At this point the dough was too soft to handle so I covered and refrigerated it for a few hours. Once the dough was firm enough I added about half a cup of confectioners’ sugar to a small bowl and rolled 1-inch shaped balls (I used a cookie scoop to measure the dough) in the sugar before placing them on a cookie sheet I lined with parchment paper. Rolling the cookies in the sugar will give them a nice crinkle effect (another popular cookie around the Holiday’s) and this is reminiscent of a traditional blossom cookie that is rolled in granulated sugar prior to baking. I then baked the cookies in a 350 preheated oven for 9 minutes. While the cookies were in the oven I unwrapped the Hershey Kisses to place in the center of each of them. You need to press these into the cookies while they are still warm before the cookie set so it’s best to have them ready for when the cookies come out of the oven. They might melt a little at the bottom but as the cookie cools the Kisses will firm up again.

And once they cool they are a delicious cookie to enjoy with a cup of hot chocolate. Or pack up in a festive tin to give as a gift, or bring along to a Holiday cookie swap or party.

If you are feeling really festive and ambitious you could easily divide the dough in half and tint one half red and the other half green for Red & Green Velvet Blossom Cookies.

Red Velvet Blossom Cookies

  • Servings: 48 Cookies
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Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon red gel food coloring

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, more as needed

Milk Chocolate Hershey Kisses

 

Directions:

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and set aside.

Using a handheld mixer, combine the butter, both sugars, and salt in a large bowl and beat on medium speed until creamy. Add in the eggs, vanilla extract and food coloring and continue beating until the ingredients are well combined. Add in the flour and beat on low speed until mixed in. Cover and refrigerate until firm, at least two hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Unwrap the Hershey Kisses and set aside,

Using a cookie scoop shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in the confectioners’ sugar and then place on the prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake in the preheated oven for 9 to 10 minutes, untilt the edges of the cookies are set. Remove from the oven and immediately place an unwrapped Hershey Kiss in the center of each cookie and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Land O Lakes

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