Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Pt 1 Cherry Almond Cake Mix Cooky, Inspired by HEB's Mon Cheri Cookie


HEB's Mon Cheri Cookie--it's a big hit in the household! The product inspired me to make a cherry almond cooky, which includes Betty Crocker's Cherry Chip Cake Mix, chopped maraschino cherries, and slivered almonds.

My video walks the viewer through the cooky recipe, from ingredients, equipment, mixing, dispensing, and baking. The dispensing is notable for showing four ways, two using a cooky press, one using a cooky scoop, and one using a spatula and measuring spoon.

Cherry Flavored Pieces

An text item on the cake mix caught my eye "with cherry flavored pieces". Thus, I wondered what they could be. I sifted the cake mix. The remains (a smidge more than 1/3 ounce) resembled pink nonpareils and maybe soy bits. The list of ingredients didn't mention soy. Thus, I Wondered if BC was fudging terminology, such as "corn cereal". Something seemed clearly non water-soluble.

Very Sticky Dough

Weirdly, the dough behaved differently than numerous past cake mix cooky doughs. It came out very sticky and difficult to handle. I needed help using fingers, butter knife edge, and spoon to drop dollops. I noticed the dough weirdness even before adding the cherries and almonds.

Baked Cookies Hugging Pan

Another oddity about the dough was its tendency to stick to the pan for the first batch. Past cake mix cooky dough, besides dispensing easily, seemed to have enough fat for the baked cookies to easily lift off the pan. For the second batch, I spray-oiled the pan before dolloping. Easier cookies liftoff!

Cooky Results and Looking to Make 2.0 Version

The home cookies were softer, chewier, sweeter, and stickier to the touch. Yield was 44. (Mon Cheri cookies come 18 to the box.)

Future attempts will include adding one two two tablespoons of flour after mixing in the cake mix powder. I might or might not adjust the fat. Maybe add more fat to see if the dough is easier to dispense, and the cookies easier to lift off the pan. Plan B is to spray oil the pan anyway. Plan C is to try making cherry almond cookies using a different cake mix.

To address the sticky-to-touch baked cookies, lowering the temperature to 325 and adding more baking time should tend to make them dryer and crunchier. Hoping for perfection the next time.

Calories and Sodium

The calories and sodium amounts are similar to those numerous cake mix cookies I've made. Because of the difficulty in dispensing, individual cooky sizes and stats might vary.

Closer Looks

Visit "Pt 2 Cherry Almond Cake Mix Cooky, Closer Looks" (article, video) for following details:

  • Seeing the "cherry flavor pieces" that are in Betty Crocker Super Moist Cherry Chip Cake Mix, which I used for making the cake mix cookies
  • Using a blender to chop maraschino cherries, then draining and weighing them before they go in the cooky dough
  • Using four ways to dispense the cooky dough. Two of the ways include using a cooky press to push out such add-in-ingredients dough.

Pt 1 Cherry Almond Cake Mix Cooky, Inspired by HEB's Mon Cheri Cookie

Pt 2 Cherry Almond Cake Mix Cooky, Closer Looks

Cherry Almond Cake Mix Cooky 2, Improved Dough Dispensing

View more cooky recipes.

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