cookie butter-cream cheese NY style crumb cake

Every year on January 10 I ask the husband what kind of cake he wants for his birthday tomorrow.
And every year, like clockwork he responds with "crumb cake".
What kind of crumb cake I ask.
He says "ahh, it don't matter"
:::thud:::
Sometimes I hate being married to a non-foodie.
The answer I'm expecting is:
"Oh I would love a kicked up devils food cake with toasted marshmallow frosting, crunchy honey nut-peanut butter filling....all with dark chocolate-caramel ganache and freshly whipped cream!"
Right?
Good answer indeed.
So I ask him if I can kick up the crumb cake with something new and fun, yet totally flavorful?
He says, "you won't make it savory will you?"
Of course my mind goes "ohhh what a great idea!"  LOL
I respond, like I do every year, with 'no, it will tastes great--you love it every year and never complain'.
And there is where the idea of cookie butter in the crumb cake came in.
Hubby hasn't a clue what cookie butter is--he thinks its just peanut butter anywho.
Did he love it?
Yes he did.
Did he know it was cookie butter?
No.
But he knew there was cream cheese in there.
Progress for a non-foodie.....




We will put down rows of cream cheese, then cookie butter, swirl the two a bit, then fill in the gaps with crumbs!

Swirl or not.  It's up to you.

Fill in the gaps with crumbs.
Make sure there are crumbs on all gaps!

Looks good enough to eat raw doesn't it?

Mmmm, can you see the perfect ratio of cream cheese to cookie butter to crumb?


So, yeah, this would be the ultimate indulgence in NY style crumb cake.

cookie butter-cream cheese crumb cake

print recipe

Cake:

¼ cup canola oil, plus more for pan  

½ stick unsalted butter, melted.

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan  

½ cup + 2 TB granulated white sugar  

1 ts baking powder  

½ ts coarse salt  

1 large egg  

½ cup + 2 TB half & half   

2 ts pure vanilla extract  

Crumb Topping:

1 cup flour

1 cus packed light brown sugar

¾ ts coarse salt

½ TB ground cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter, melted & cooled

For the crumb topping:

In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients, pour melted butter over mixture, and toss with a rubber spatula until large crumbs form. Set aside.

cream cheese mixture

8 ounces cream cheese, room temp.

1 large egg yolk

4 ts white sugar

For the cream cheese mixture:

Mix all in a bowl (really well) until ready to use. Set aside.

For the cookie butter:

½ - ¾ cup cookie butter

Cook Notes:

The crumb topping makes a lot.  If you don’t like a lot of crumb on your cake, then half it. 

The cake dough is sticky and thick; so it will be hard to spread into pan.  I use patience and wet fingers to spread the dough.  Make sure to get all the corners.

Also, the cake when baked is thin.  This is a NY style cake, which means more toppings than cake.

The cake cooks up quick because the batter is thin.  Please check at the 20 minute mark.

Looks for light golden edges.  It will be hard to tell if this is done because of all the cream cheese and crumbs.  But I’ve found after baking this several times that 20-23 minutes is really all it needs.

For cake:

Place rack in center of oven, and heat oven to 350°.

Lightly butter a 9 x 13 baking pan and dust with flour, and tap to remove excess. (I’ve also used the Pam with Flour and it worked just fine). Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together 2 ¼ cups flour, add in the granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a second bowl, whisk together egg, butter, half & half, canola oil, and vanilla.

Using a rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture.  

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan, and set aside. (to keep batter from sticking to your hand or spoon, just wet or oil your fingers or a spoon and spread evenly throughout pan). 

The batter should be about half an inch high.  It will cook/rise to an inch thick.

Next put on the cream cheese mixture; I did this in vertical lines in the pan.

And on the other sides of the cream cheese lines I added in a line of cookie butter. 

If you want to pipe the cream cheese mixture on that’s fine.  I just used my hands.

If you want slight swirls, take a chopstick and gently swirl the opposite of the lines.

Next add on the crumbs.

I added the crumbs in the areas where there were no cream cheese lines or cookie butter lines (see photo).

Then transfer pan to oven, and bake for 12 minutes, rotate pan. Then cook another 10- 12 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Check cake at 20-23 minute mark for sure. 

Let cake cook completely before slicing.

Using a serrated knife or bench scraper, cut into 3-inch squares.

Store in an airtight container for up to two-three days.   

friday links

Sorry the friday links have been m.i.a. for a while.
But I have lots to share with you!
Let's get right to it!

onion, bacon and butternut tart from whole foods market recipe box.

freezer friendly: homemade oatmeal pucks.
isn't that the best idea?  from williams kitchen.
pink & white layered sprinkle cake topped with macarons from raspberri cupcakes
homemade tootsie rolls from food52
bala do coco (coconut candy) from sugarcubedblog
thai fish cakes from mongolian kitchen
homemade pimento cheese from kitchen riffs
chocolate flake pudding from a cake bakes in brooklyn (never heard of this, you?)
lime & ginger cookies from cupcake muffin
sparkling red velvet bundt cake from alaska from scratch
smores macarons from bakers royale
smoky irish eggnog from married an irish farmer
gluten free winter grapefruit cake from serious eats
eggnog muffins with streusel topping from very culinary
homemade gravlax from mark's daily apple
almond butter bostock from serious eats
how to make your own sprinkles! from theKitchn
mason jar herb garden from camille styles (I LOVE this)
5 foods to eat for happiness from mind body green
face exercises (do you think this works?) from erupting mind
6 ways to fight SAD from greatist
should you ever be stranded in the wilderness, here are tips for eating for survival from outside mag
DIY hand drawn cappuccino cups from lipstick & a white tee
healthy new years resolutions from outside magazine
adorable backpacks from sherpani sonoma (I want one!)
8 natural foods to eat for pain relief from greatist
setting up a photo studio on the cheap from apartment therapy
staying awake as the days are shorter from apartment therapy
best ways to reduce stress from Dr. Weil
benefits of yoga for veterans from arianna huffington from intent (love this!)
this video made me cry (happy tears) from youtube
how to tell if you're inflamed (chronic inflammation) from marks daily apple
$66.00 kobe beef pizza from Domino's Japan from serious eats
donut foodporn from serious eats
appletini from serious eats
new hot cocoa mixes from Starbucks get taste-tested from serious eats: drinks
gluten free ring dings! from gluten free canteen
buffalo chicken pull apart bread from host the toast
barefoot running shoes made of medieval armor from greatist (hmmm)
8 best physical therapy methods from greatist
interview w/ christina tosi of momofuku from grandbaby cakes

Jessica Segarra of The Novice Chef blog has a new cookbook out called Mini Donuts: 100 Bite-Sized Donut Recipes. 

It's actually quite good.  I was not expecting it to be this creative.  Recipe like: white chocolate red velvet, pineapple upside down, S'mores, brown butter-bourbon.
They were kind enough to share a recipe with us.

Lemon–Poppy Seed Mini Donut

from Mini Donuts: 100 bite-sized donut recipes

print recipe

FOR DONUTS

2⁄3 cup whole milk

2 tablespoons sour cream

11⁄2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

11⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1⁄2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

Zest of 1 large lemon

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

FOR ICING

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 11⁄2 cups powdered sugar

Notes: While it’s not okay at parties, when you’re icing donuts, it is totally acceptable to double dip. If you are a big fan of lemon, circle back around after your first donut dip . . . and dip them again! Just allow a little extra time, about 5 minutes, for the icing to set up after your second dip.

1. If using an electric donut maker, preheat according to manufacturer’s instructions. If using donut pans, preheat oven to 350°F and grease donut pans.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together milk and sour cream. Set aside. In a separate small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl or a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy— about 1 minute. Add egg, lemon zest, and poppy seeds. Beat for 30 seconds, scrapping down the bowl as needed.

4. Then, alternating flour mixture and milk mixture, combine all ingredients until just blended. Transfer batter to a piping bag, or to a Ziploc bag with the tip cut off.

5. If using mini-donut pans: Carefully fill each donut indentation 3⁄4 full. Bake for 7–9 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a donut comes out clean. Transfer donuts to a cooling rack and cool completely. If using an electric mini-donut maker: Carefully fill each donut indentation 3⁄4 full.

Bake according to manufacturer’s instructions or until a toothpick inserted into a donut comes out clean. Remove donuts from appliance, transfer to a cooling rack, and let cool completely.

6. Place wax paper under a wire rack to collect any drippings for an easy cleanup. Then, in a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth.

7. Dip the top of each donut into the icing, transfer to a wire rack, and let set for 5 minutes. Serve immediately; donuts can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days but are best served fresh.

Yields: 24 mini donuts

sweet potato and sausage soup

Or better yet, let's call this post "clean out your cupboard".
I asked on facebook if you wanted a few of my quick & easy dinner fixes (nothing fancy).  I knew a few of you would say yes because I'm sure you're just like me, and want to use up stuff sitting in your cupboards, freezer, fridge, etc...
Anyone can throw together a quick and tasty soup.  If you look in your fridge and your cupboards I'm willing to bet you have the right ingredients for a quick and tasty soup.
That is how this sweet potato and kielbasa soup came about.
I made it on one of those winter days where the temperature outside didn't get above 30 degrees.
You can imagine how excited I was to go home to this hot and hearty soup stewing happily away in the crockpot.
Next time you go to Trader Joe's stock up on this sweet potato bisque--I'm telling you it's the perfect vehicle for soup add in's, AND the best way to use up leftovers in your fridge.
Nothing fancy, but it sure is satisfying.

You don't have to follow this exactly, you can create your own ad in's.
I just want to try and show you that it's quite easy to get creative in the kitchen even when it comes to leftovers.

And soup is the perfect vehicle to use up leftover veggies, leftover take out, and if you want to get your kids to eat more veggies.

I gave the veggies and sausage a quick stir fry/browning before going in the crockpot--you don't have too.
You can just throw them in there.
But I love a browning on my sausage.


Man was this tasty.
I know I already said this, but stock up on that sweet potato bisque from Trader Joe's.
It is so good!

sweet potato & sausage soup
print recipe

1-2 boxes of Trader Joe's sweet potato bisque
12 ounces (more or less) of cooked kielbasa, chopped
1 jar of roasted red peppers, chopped
1 medium sweet onions
1/2 - 3/4 cup diced drained tomatoes or leftover plain salsa
dashes of hot sauce
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

cook notes:
the beauty of this recipe is that you don't have to follow it to a tee.
you can add in or take out what you don't like.
I just want to show you how easy it is to get creative with leftovers.

I gave the veggies, onions and chopped sausage a quick stir fry to get them all browned.
Then put them in a crockpot with a bit of olive oil. Got those heated through.
Then added in the sweet potato bisque, some chopped or diced tomatoes, and the chopped
red peppers.
Heat on low for a few or couple hours.
Taste test to see if you want to add hot sauce and salt & pepper.
Feel free to add in anything else like: leftover rice/pasta, leftover veggies, kale, corn, etc...(endless list).
Use hamburg or ham or shrimp if you don't like sausage.
I left this in the crockpot for about 5 hours on low, and it was fine.
I would NOT use the high setting for this.

 

vanilla sandwich cookies w/ spiced rum buttercream

After my creation of double chocolate-mint filled Oreo's, I've wanted to do a "vanilla" version.
But to be honest, vanilla was just so boring.
I had to spice it up a bit.
Not wanting to mess with the vanilla cookie, I thought about adding peanut butter or maybe a spicy-savory version to the filling.
Seriously?
Nothing was jumping out at me to use until literally the bottle of captain morgan's spiced rum fell out of the cabinet and into my hands.  
Knowing how good this is with Coke, with root beer, somehow someway the food creations memory cells kicked in and said 'use this in your vanilla sandwich cookie'.
Pretty cool right?  I just love when ideas like that happen.
This filling, do I even need to stress to you how 'crack-like' addicting this taste is?
The spiced rum, mixed with the creamy butter, salt, and the sugar---serious flavor combination.
This spiced rum buttercream is going on a cake next!
Expect that recipe soon!

Are these crunchy like the double chocolate mint Oreo's I made?
No, not as crunchy.
BUT, I am fairly certain that if you slice the cookie dough very thin (the opposite of what I did--see photos below) you should be able to get them crunchier.


If you don't want to use alcohol what is a good substitution 
Can I just stress to you that the spiced rum is what makes this cookie amazing?
But if you had to, I guess you could try a splash of butter extract and a splash of root beer?


Yeah my rolling bites here.
Please do better than I did, for I had to re-roll the cookies.

See?  They were not round.  So I had to re-roll each slice into a ball, then gently press down.
So next time, remember to roll a nice ROUND log, wrap in plastic wrap, chill, then slice with a very sharp knife.
And as I stated before, the thinner the slice, the crispier the cookie.

vanilla sandwich cookies with spiced rum buttercream

print recipe

vanilla cookies

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 ts cornstarch

¼  ts baking powder

½  ts baking soda

½  ts salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 egg yolks, room temp

2 ts pure vanilla extract

spiced rum filling

8 TB unsalted butter, room temp

1 cup + confectioners' sugar (might need a bit more)

giant pinch of salt

1 oversized Tablespoon of “Spiced Rum” (captain morgans has the best flavor)

Cook Notes: 

I’ve found the thinner you slice your cookie dough the crispier you can get your cookies.  This will lend itself to an almost vanilla Oreo cookie-like texture.  Of course the thicker the cookie the less crunchy; so do what you feel is best.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on med-high until well mixed.

Add in 2 egg yolks and vanilla extract and mix.

Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.  Please do not overmix.

Scrape the cookie dough out onto a very lightly floured surface.

Form it into a two long logs.  Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerator at least 2 hours or overnight.  I find that once the log is wrapped its easier to form it into a more even log by rolling it back and forth as if it were a rolling pin.  Get it as uniform as you can since we will be using this to slice out round cookies.

When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Remove one log of cookie dough from the fridge, place on lightly floured wooden board, and using a sharp knife slice cookies as thin as you can get them.  Place on cookie sheet about two inches apart.  If your cookies slices didn’t come out as thin or round as you like, then do what I did (see photo above) and roll into ball and gently press down into circle.

Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes, or until they have puffed and the tops look set. Remove the sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for about 8 minutes before transferring them to cooling rack.  Cool completely before adding the filling.

For the filling:

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer mix all ingredients until well combined.

Do a taste test and see if it needs more salt or rum.  Chances are it won’t.

Using a plastic bag with edge snipped off or a pastry bag, place filling in bag and pipe onto cookies.

I don’t remember how many these made, sorry, but I think it was 20-25 sandwich cookies.  I know there was enough filling for all. 

gluten free pb-chocolate chip cookies

Have you, when financially times were tough, ever gone to a "cheaper" dentist to have semi-major work done?

This would be me about five-six years ago when hubby was in between jobs and money was tight--extremely tight.

And this is of course was the time that a tooth of mine decides to present a cavity.

For years having found the best dentist possibly on cape cod, who I love, admire and truly adore his craftsmanship for staying on top of the newest advances in dental work.  

Sadly this was the time I could not afford him.  

He is a lot pricier than other dentists and of course my dental insurance does NOT cover people like him.  

Which brings me to another point: why can't we go and get dental or other medical work done where we want?  The whole reason I'm going to a better dentist is so that it lasts longer/permanent and that its done RIGHT the first time.

Out of all the work I've had done with my good dentist, I've never once had any problem, nor will I ever have to have any of his work re-done later on in life.  

Whereas with the crappy dentist, every single tooth that I've had done I've only had to go to the good dentist to RE-DO!  Plus they still use unsafe materials (mercury).

Doesn't dental insurance want me to be fixed the right way the first time and save them money?

Or do they want me to keep going so that they make money--I know it's painfully obvious which choice it it.

So my day (yesterday) was spent at my good dentist fixing a problem tooth that was done as I said, five to six years ago.  The tooth couldn't handle the crown anymore; the crown was put on wrong (I knew this and lived with it, knowing I would have to at some point go back and get it done again).

But the pain it was causing was unbearable, so I spent most of the day at the dentist, dreading the six different needles I'd get.  

As I sat there waiting I became so enraged at the dental insurance and the fact that I'm supposed to use "one" of their approved dentists in the plan.  And on top of that, I think I'm allotted a mere $900.00 per year for dental work?  

Unreal right?  

I vowed to write the dental insurance a letter voicing my complaint, but I'm sure it would just fall on deaf ears.

As part of my "blogging new year" promise to you, I am finally going ahead, as per your with hundreds of requests of creating more 'gluten free' baked goodies.

And as luck would have it, my first attempt at baking gluten free came out perfectly.

I knew I wanted to use peanut flour, but it's so hard to find, and Trader Joe's doesn't carry it anymore sadly.

So I used coconut flour, which is wonderful, but a little pricey.

But the flavor the coconut flour lended to the cookies, mixed with the peanut butter....oh heavenly.

You must try these cookies!

You would never know they were gluten free.  Even my fussy husband loved these.

They are an odd shape, but who cares when they are just the tastiest lil nuggets.

gluten free peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies

print recipe

1 cup all-natural chunky or all natural smooth peanut butter (oily is ok, just not too oily)

¾ cup dark brown sugar (NOT packed)

1 large egg, room temp

1 egg yolk, room temp

1 ts pure vanilla extract

½ cup coconut flour

1 ts baking soda

1 ts sea salt

½ cup Bittersweet chocolate chips, optional

Cook notes:

This is very dry dough, so forming into cookie dough balls is a bit of work.

So what I did was just leave them as balls. They don’t spread at all when baking.

They are delicate and tend to break apart if you make them big.  Make the dough balls bigger than a tablespoon size.   You need to use this dough right away; leaving in fridge overnight will dry out the dough even more.

This recipe makes a small batch (about 12-15), if you want more, just double all the ingredients. I used bittersweet chocolate, semisweet was just too sweet and milk chocolate was way too sweet.

In a small bowl add the coconut flour, baking soda, and salt and mix, set aside.

In a small bowl mix the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.

In a mixer or by hand, combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined.

Add egg to the cookie mixture, mix well.

Add in the flour mixture, by sprinkling it over the cookie dough, not just depositing it in one large dump. Mix till just combined.  (I used my hands to combine this—it was much easier).

Cover bowl with plastic wrap well and let it sit in fridge for about an hour to come together. Do not let this sit overnight as the dough becomes very dry!

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 365 degrees F.

Roll into tablespoon sized balls and place on non-stick cookie sheets or greased cookie sheets. If you can flatten them without breaking then go ahead.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. These cook up very fast, so I really wouldn’t go past the 15-minute mark.  To tell if they are done, there should be a slight crisp of the edges and a light golden brown color on the edges as well.

Cool on a baking sheet for a while. Do not try to lift them off the cookie sheet; they need to harden

Should make about 12-15 cookies (small batch). If you want more, just double all the ingredients.

They lasted about 3 days, covered.