#43. Caramel Apple Skulls

When I’m not baking, eating, and cycling, I work in the neurosurgery department of a local medical school.

No, they do not let me crack open people’s skulls (YET); rather, my role as a PhD (fake doctor) is to help the physicians (real doctors) write articles, grant proposals, and sometimes, even whole books! It’s rewarding in a thousand different ways and I love geeking out over rare conditions and crazy-ass (that’s a technical term) procedures.

Therefore, it’s highly appropriate that at some point during Year of the Cookie, I make some edible skulls. The interim week between Thanksgiving and the grand baking blitz that will be December seemed like the right time.

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 oz) pkg. Pillsbury caramel apple cake mix

• 1/2 cup flour (ish)

• 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Using a hand-held mixer, blend together butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract.

3. Gradually add in cake mix and flour until thoroughly combined. Dough should just verge on crumbly.

4. On a floured surface, roll out dough. Punch out skull shapes using cookie cutters you bought at Halloween clearance.

5. Bake for 12 minutes

6. Cool completely and frost with Pillsbury caramel apple frosting.

#21. Harry Potter Pumpkin Cookies

Here's a statement that irritates me: Enjoy the fall flavor of pumpkin cookies made with Pillsbury™ Pumpkin Cookie Mix.

Now, I have nothing against Pillsbury. Quite the contrary, in fact, if you are familiar with my well-documented history of obsessing over the doughboy. Nor do I have anything against box cookie mixes, though homemade is always preferable. 

It's the inevitable tethering of "pumpkin" to "fall" that gets my goat because of the implicit assertion that pumpkin-flavored baked goods should only be enjoyed during autumn. Obviously, that practice arose from the fact that pumpkins are in season during those months, but, thanks to the good people at Libby's, there's really no reason why this ingredient, so lovely in its versatility, can't be incorporated in cooking and baking year-round. End of rant.

Isn't his orange checkered apron the best???

My Harry Potter house crest cookie cutters from Williams-Sonoma, which I bought heavily discounted during a recent stress-shopping binge, arrived simultaneous to my discovery of a Pillsbury Pumpkin Cookie Mix I bought last November in the back of the pantry. At the time, I remember thinking, "Your Future Self will thank you when you're craving pumpkin at an 'off' time." Well, you were right, Past Self.

Now, technically, pumpkin JUICE cookies would be the most appropriate medium on which to test Harry Potter cookie cutters, but that's a labor-intensive project for another day. 

I was disappointed that the resulting cookies' surface lacked the clarity I was hoping for in the house crests, whose finer details blurred in the fiery heat of the oven. Additional testing with recipes expressly designed for thick, contoured cutters is definitely in order.

Ingredients

• Pillsbury Pumpkin Cookie Mix

• 1 stick butter

• 1 egg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Combine cookie mix, softened butter and egg in medium-sized bowl. 

3. Mix with spatula until a supple dough forms.

4. On a lightly floured surface, press dough by hand into large flat rectangle. Apply cookie cutters. Combine scraps and repeat until you have as many cookies as you want.

5. Bake 9-11 minutes. Cool completely and enjoy with your favorite muggle.

#8. Peanut Butter Coconut Sandwich Cookies

It's so hard to say goodbye...to my giant roll of Pillsbury peanut butter cookie dough. But this day had to come because even processed dough has a shelf life. I was very pleased with how my PB S'mores Cookies turned out, and the classic Peanut Butter Blossoms failed to disappoint.

I knew I wanted to experiment with sandwich cookies for my final recipe and just slathering some grape or strawberry jelly in between two cookies was too lazy even for me. Some sort of sugar fruit pairing seemed appropriate, but I also wanted to test the potential compatibility of peanuts with coconut, which are infrequent bedfellows in the Western baking world. (South Asian savory fare: an entirely different story.)

And Jimmies, because, why not?

Ingredients

• 1/3  roll Pillsbury™ refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough

• 1/2 cup sprinkles

• 3/4 cup shredded coconut

• 3/4 cup (or so) cherry pie fillings

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Using a spatula, combine dough with sprinkles and shredded coconut.

3. Shape dough into an even number of balls. 

4. On ungreased cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, place balls 2 inches apart.

5. Bake 9-13 minutes until golden brown. COOL COMPLETELY.

6. Top underside of one cookie with approximately 1 Tablespoon of cherry pie filling. Top with another cookie to form sandwich.*

*If you can't handle this instruction, you probably should not be allowed to use an oven.

I found the coconut added a certain cream flavor that complemented the slightly tart cherries and balanced the strong peanut taste, akin to how that cool glass of milk pleasantly tempers a a thick peanut butter sandwich.  

In my Marvel movie, I am the Queen of the Universe and only my opinion matters. Barring the release of that film, I want to hear what you think. Honesty is welcome. Alternative facts are not.

#6. Peanut Butter S'Mores Cookies

As promised in my previous recipe post for Peanut Butter Blossoms, I am using one roll of Pillsbury peanut butter cookie dough to churn out three different types of cookies. #aimhigh And because it's Fat Tuesday, I think something decadent is appropriate.

Herbes de S'Mores

If peanut butter cookies weren't by themselves sufficiently rich, let's move farther toward the cloying end of the spectrum by adding what I call to call herbes de s'mores, i.e., chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers.

Ingredients

• 1/3  roll Pillsbury™ refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough

• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 3/4 cup mini marshmallows

• 1/2 cup (or so) graham cracker crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Using a spatula, combine dough with chocolate chips and marshmallows.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in graham cracker crumbs.

4. On ungreased cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, place balls 2 inches apart.

5. Bake 9-13 minutes until golden brown.

Consume while still warm with a cold glass of milk adjacent. 

#5. Pillsbury's Peanut Butter Blossoms

Guys, I have this thing about the Dough Boy. The Pillsbury Dough Boy, that is, not a specific member of the U.S. military forces who served in the Spanish-American War. His endearing giggle and various charming facial expressions can easily persuade me to buy any Pillsbury product, no matter how unnecessary. I am especially susceptible to purchasing anything with a package that features him sporting a terribly cute costume. Although I am loathe to admit blind adulation for any corporation, even one historically devoted to baking, I make an exception for Pillsbury and its native son, the Dough Boy. 

So, Pillsbury cookie recipes that use Pillsbury products are going to be a part of Year of the Cookie. Brace yourself, if necessary, and please check your snobbery upon clicking your mouse. I bought a ginormous roll of discounted Pillsbury peanut butter cookie dough and plan to use it to make at three different types of cookies in the spirit of diversity and versatility.  Peanut Butter Blossoms are a Pillsbury classic and remain one of their most popular cookie recipes of all time. Via its credited inclusion of Hershey's Kisses, this recipe also represents a collaboration between two of my favorite companies.  A most profitable one, I'm sure, that required thousands of dollars in attorney fees. 

*Note: the slightly edited recipe represented below is for full batch. In practice, I scaled it down by about 2/3 because I am using only part of the roll.

Ingredients

• 1  roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury™ refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough

• 3 Tbs sugar

• 36 Hershey's® Kisses® Brand milk chocolates, unwrapped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 36 (1-inch) balls; roll in sugar. On ungreased cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, place balls 2 inches apart.

2. Bake 9-14 minutes until golden brown.

3. Immediately top each cookie with 1 milk chocolate candy, pressing down firmly so cookie cracks around edge. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely before storing.

Tip: Store Hershey's Kisses in freezer prior to incorporation in order to ensure they don't melt immediately all over cookie.