Thursday, July 25, 2013

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

I bought a box of Duncan Hines Red Velvet Mix at S&R as one of my presents for Mike for his birthday. We were supposed to bake it some time during his special week, but for a ton of reasons, we kept pushing it back. It's been over two months since - so today, I decided to stop procrastinating and try something new for a change. Well, not completely new, since I baked a lot when I was in high school. But that's more than 8 years ago - so I guess this should count, right?:P

Mike and I planned on making cupcakes (he loves those!), but when I looked up "cream cheese frosting recipe" online - they all seem so complicated, especially since I don't have an electric mixer. So I decided that I'd make something else and ended up with this:
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Well, the recipe actually says "Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies," but I wanted to call mine Crookies because they can steal your heart with just one bite (get it, CROOKies??)! Haha! Sorry if that sounded lame. The truth is, I named them Crookies because every batch I made was different - some were more like crinkles and some were more like cookies. I mixed them all up so I decided to just call them Crookies!

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 box Duncan Hines® Red Velvet Cake Mix
2 large eggs

Instructions:
  • Preheat oven to 375°F. Melt butter; set aside to cool. Place powdered sugar and cornstarch in shallow dish. Mix with a fork to blend.
  • Place cake mix, cooled butter, eggs and lemon zest in large mixing bowl. Mix by hand until well blended and a dough forms.
  • Form dough into 1-inch balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place on cool, ungreased baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
  • Bake, 1 sheet at a time, in center of oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
  • Store in airtight container with wax paper or parchment separating layers.
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Note to self: must really buy wax paper for future use. My test batch of two Crookies got slightly burnt when I greased the pan so the dough wouldn't stick. As much as I like the added crunchiness, the burnt taste is a big no-no.

The smaller/thinner you form your dough, the more cookie-like they become (don't leave them in the oven too long so they remain soft and chewy). To make crinkles, be sure to form the balls at least 1 inch in size :)

And now for the pictures! As hard as it was for me to take these with hands mixed in dough, I still did it - for the sake of this blog post. So no complaints, please!:p
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My first Crookie!
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Forming dough into balls - really messy
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I flattened them because I didn't want to end up with red velvet balls :p
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Our (small) abused pan - I only made 9 Crookies per batch :pRV5
My first real batch turned out great though! :)RV7
They looked so yummy so I took lots of pictures :pRV8 RV10 RV11 RV12
Packed some for the boyfriend, of course :)RV13
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Personally, I'm not a big fan of red velvet, but I'm extremely happy because my brother, my boyfriend, and my boyfriend's family really liked my Crookies! :) Already thinking about what to make next!

May all my days be as productive and fulfilling as this! :)