Reverse Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

It's that time of the year again. No, not the whole drinking a hot apple cider and laying in a pile of crispy orange leaves in the cool fall air fantasy ordeal. Midterms are here to ruin my life!!! 

October is the best month, but it's one of those months that's always insaaaanely busy. I've got a lot on my plate at the moment: I'm trying to do the whole school thing without missing class (too) regularly, we're opening a new restaurant at work, I've officially succumbed to the pumpkin gods so I'm always baking lots of fall things, dragging myself to the gym at obscene hours due to said pumpkin things, and now I'm getting everything ready for a crazy exciting New York trip this weekend. As if my teachers didn't get the memo that my life is busy, now I have to find time to study? No thanks.

 If someone were to ask me how I'm feeling about everything right now, I'd tell them that I'm feeling like that emoji of the girl that looks like her impending mental breakdown is just about to hit, but she is totally unable to react to it yet. (Siri just notified me that this is the "woman with downcast face" emoji. The more you know!) Is it sad that I've become this addicted to emojis that I've begun to think of my moods as emojis, and not in usual emotional terms? Please don't answer that. 

When I'm stressed out, I do some pretty weird things in the name of relieving some tension. Right now, my therapy of choice is spending hours avoiding my problems in the aisles of Target or World Market or Michael's. I think it's something about all of the festive decorations and Halloween candy for purchase, but I find myself in this position multiple times a week. Generally, I peruse the baking aisles for an obnoxious period of time and take the time to examine every single item I could possibly waste my money on. 

Last weekend, I found myself back in this routine, this time aimlessly searching through the aisles of my local Michael's. After convincing myself it was way too early to buy Christmas cupcake liners, I stumbled upon this Red Velvet Bakery Emulsion. I've used the LorAnn bakery emulsions in the past and they're pretty damn near excellent at penetrating anything you're baking with crazy amounts of flavor. I was interested in seeing what the red velvet variety would taste like, so I snagged it up with my coupon. (Craft stores seem to always have crazy coupons available, right?)

I've always dismissed red velvet as one of those flavors that everybody thinks is special, but really isn't. Call me a douchebag, but I was quite the flavor elitist before discovering how well junk food could translate into more refined desserts. Since then, I've been relearning everything I knew about flavor combinations and pushing myself to rediscover, mix and mash different flavors. 

I've been super into red velvet recently. It all started a few weeks ago, when Sucre unveiled a red velvet macaron that rocked my world. Days later, I was eating one too many Sprinkles' red velvet cupcakes that I'm desperately searching to recreate for my personal pleasure. In the meantime, I've been testing out some recipes for reverse red velvet creations; cream cheese as the base, red velvet as the frosting. I wish I could say I was the first to do this, but I thought it was a pretty genius idea when it popped into my head. 

Elizabeth already made a reverse red velvet cake, so I wanted to switch things up. Plus, I haven't been baking cookies lately, and cookies are my thing. The base of these cookies is adapted from my extra special sugar cookie recipe, but with extra cream cheese added to the base for proper reverse red velvet authenticity. These soft and chewy sugar cookies are then filled with red velvet frosting, double doozie style. This way, you can eat more cookies and feel like you've only eaten one! How's that for getting a bang for your buck? :-) 

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CREAM CHEESE SUGAR COOKIES 

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream or whole milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• sanding sugar (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the sugar, cream cheese, and melted butter in a large bowl and whisk. The mixture will form a smooth paste. Mix in the vegetable oil. Stir in the egg, cream, and vanilla. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Gently fold in the dry ingredients.

Refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes. 

Scoop out tablespoons of dough and roll in sanding sugar. Place on baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies cool completely before icing with red velvet frosting. 

RED VELVET FROSTING 

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 1 tsp. white or cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. Red Velvet Bakery Emulsion (optional)
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• red food coloring

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the milk, buttermilk, vinegar, and extracts. Gradually add the cocoa powder and confectioners' sugar and beat until smooth. Add food coloring until desired color is achieved. 

Stroopwafel Cheesecake + Hagelslag Cookies

That's right, today you're getting not one, but two Dutch-inspired recipes! And a really long post about the book that ruined my life and why Amsterdam is the greatest place on earth. Read on! 

Embarrassing confession time: I've only read three books. Seriously, how sad is that. Outside of all required school reading, the only books I've ever read for pure personal pleasure have been The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Hunger Games, and The Fault in Our Stars. As you can tell, I'm really into dramatic young adult fiction, which is pretty fitting considering that I'm a dramatic young adult. Okay, maybe I'm a little older than 18, but we can let that slide. 

Let's talk about The Fault in Our Stars. The alternate title of this book is The Book I Read in Four Hours Flat. Also: The Book that Left Me Sobbing in my Seat on a Transatlantic Flight and Confused One Too Many Air France Flight Attendants. Or how about: The Book that Killed Me and Made Me Feel All of the Feel Ever to be Felt. Yeah, that one. 

Just in case you have been living under a rock for the past two years, TFIOS is the magnum opus of the brilliant John Green and is the most genuine of love stories of two cancer-stricken teens that meet in a support group. Sounds dreary, right? It's not. I mean, you'll cry about six or seven or fifteen times, but it transcends the usual sappy cancer plot that you're used to. It's wonderfully charming and smart, teaches a lot about both the importance and fragility of life, and makes you want to love the way Gus and Hazel love. It's pretty great. The book was adapted into a major motion picture this summer and was released on DVD this week. I watched it last night and cried... again. (All of the feels, remember?)

I will refrain from posting spoilers on the rare chance that you're one of the few people that aren't familiar with the story/didn't read the book/didn't even bother to see the movie, but a good chunk of the film takes place in Amsterdam. Coincidentally, I bought this book in the Amsterdam airport and read it on the day I left Amsterdam, which left me more emotional damage than I would've liked to boarded a nine hour flight with. Fate, right? 

Simply put, Amsterdam is my favorite place in the entire world. Never in my life have I been in an environment more perfect. No really, it was like my biggest fantasy had unfolded itself and materialized right before my eyes. The vast history, the unsuspectedly amazing food, the masses of people buzzing past canals on pretty matte black bikes, the beautiful architecture, the boutiques of the de 9 straatjes, everything — it was like my Pinterest boards had come to life. Most importantly, the people. How the hell is everybody so attractive in Amsterdam? No really, it was like the ultimate representation of my "type" appeared before my eyes every time I passed somebody on the street. Hot damn. Get me back there, ASAP. 

In the meantime, let's focus on the food. Since my visit, I have been dreaming up the perfect Dutch-inspired desserts. I've been developing and testing recipes since June and finally found two that I have fallen in love with. Considering the release of The Fault in Our Stars this week, I couldn't think of any time to share my recipes and my love letter to the city that stole my heart. 

First, I decided to make a Dutch-inspired cheesecake, complete with a Daelman's Amsterdam cookie crust, a cinnamon and stroop infused whipped cream, and plenty of stroopwafels for garnish. In case you're unfamiliar with stroopwafels, they are two ultra-thin wafer cookies filled with stroop (a Dutch syrup) or caramel. They serve these hot on the street throughout the city and they are absolutely stupid delicious. Throw them on top of the perfect cheesecake et voila!

But I didn't stop there. (Don't you know me by now?) Amsterdam is full of amazing chocolate shops that sell chocolate anything and everything. But the real star of the Dutch chocolatiers is hagelslag, which is essentially just the Dutch's answer to the chocolate sprinkle. I know what you're thinking, "Graham, they're just sprinkles." Blasphemy! Number one, what's wrong with sprinkles?! If you don't like sprinkles, we can't be friends. Shame on you! Secondly, hagelslag aren't just sprinkles. They're of a much higher quality than the tradition chocolate jimmies available in America; they're actual chocolate, over 35% cacao by law. Essentially chocolate crack. The Dutch traditionally put hagelslag on their morning toast, but I decided that they'd be even more delicious acting as a sprinkly envelope for my favorite sugar cookies.  (Y'know, or straight out of the palm of my hand.)  I can't even begin to express how amazing these cookies are.

Thanks to the geniuses behind World Market, these traditional Dutch ingredients required for recreating these recipes are readily available essentially anywhere. So no excuses, I challenge you to rent The Fault in Our Stars, have an emotional breakdown, and then stuff your sorrows with one (or both!) of these Dutch-inspired desserts. Okay? Okay. :) 

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Stroopwafel Cheesecake 

Amsterdam Cookie Crust:

• 2 cups finely ground Daelman's Amsterdam cookies (a little over one box)  
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling:

• 16 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 pint sour cream
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon Maple Whipped Cream: 

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• stroopwafels 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour an 8-inch springform pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter, ground cookies, and cinnamon until homogenous. Press the crust mixture into the bottom and an inch up the sides of the prepared pan. Refrigerate crust while making the filling.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure the mixture is thoroughly combined between each addition. Gradually add the sugar and beat until smooth, about two minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the sour cream, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Pour the filling into the prepared crust. 

Wrap the bottom and sides of the springform pan with aluminum foil. Place pan in the center of a wide rimmed baking sheet. Fill the baking sheet with boiling water, making sure the water reaches about halfway up the sides of the pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until set around the edges but still a bit jiggly in the center. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes before transferring to the fridge to set for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip together all ingredients until the whipped cream forms desired consistency. Remove the cheesecake from the pan and top with whipped cream and stroopwafels. 

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Hagelslag Sugar Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• hagelslag for rolling 

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the sugar, sour cream, and melted butter in a large bowl and whisk. The mixture will form a smooth paste. Mix in the vegetable oil. Stir in the egg, milk, and vanilla. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Gently fold in the dry ingredients.

Refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes. 

Scoop out tablespoons of dough and roll in hagelslag. Place on baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool. Eat. Repeat. 

The Best Sugar Cookies

Let's get something straight: I cannot stand when people title their recipes "The Best" whatever. In all honesty, think it's a cheap way to package an otherwise boring, traditional recipe. Here at Glazed and Confused, I'm not the biggest fan of promoting recipes without some sort of differentiating element. Everything I post, I try to make sure something is a bit off. Check out my newly-renovated recipe index: there's no straight up chocolate chip cookies (both are based on famous bakeries I love), no basic yellow or white cakes. That's just not how I roll. 

Today, I'm breaking my own rules. Call me hypocritical, but sometimes even I crave simple traditions. 

Growing up, every trip to the mall was incomplete without a stop in the food court to one of the cookie kiosks. (Or the pretzel place. Or both.) In the midst of an intense mental discourse about whether I should get a slice of cookie cake or one of those super greasy sugar cookies covered in rainbow sprinkles, I was forced to make a decision. The sugar cookie always prevailed. 

I don't know what I really liked so much about those cookies. Maybe it was the multiple size options? Or the fact that I could get two of them sandwiched together with a pool of vanilla icing overflowing from the middle? Whatever it was that made me routinely crave these cookies was a mystery. 

Once I started baking from scratch, my cravings for these rainbow sugar cookies vanished, so I stopped getting them. Last year, one of these cookie shops (dare I call it a bakery) opened in town. Even though I figured that my palette had advanced far beyond food court sugar cookies, I decided to give one a shot. Yep, it did nothing for me.

I didn't understand. How could my childhood obsession just totally disappear? Still, the nostalgia of these sugar cookies was there. I could even taste their deliciousness. I had to do something about this.

(Can we stop for a second and take a moment to acknowledge how absurdly obsessed I am with sugar? I'm practically writing a saga about $2 cookies. I digress...)

For a while, I tested a handful of sugar cookie recipes to no success. I even tried out numerous apparent copycat versions of the objects of my childhood desire. Nope, nothing. And then finally, I found the one.

These cookies are perfect. They are creamy, buttery, sugary, vanilla-y, delicious-y, amazing-y, etc. Dare I say it, but they are worlds better than anything you can get in a mall. (Gasp!) The secret? Melted butter, cream cheese, and heavy cream. Even better, there's no mixer required, just a little elbow grease. Roll the balls in some rainbow sanding sugar et voila! "The Best" sugar cookies ever. 

The Best Sugar Cookies 

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup (3 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• rainbow sanding sugar or sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the sugar, cream cheese, and melted butter in a large bowl and whisk. The mixture will form a smooth paste. Mix in the vegetable oil. Stir in the egg, cream, and vanilla. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. Gently fold in the dry ingredients.

Refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes. 

Scoop out tablespoons of dough and roll in sugar. Place on baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool. Eat. Repeat.