Cherry Almond Cake Mix Cooky 2, Improved Dough Dispensing

Ingredients, equipment, and mixing, dispensing, and baking info for this cheery cherry almond cooky are in the the video. This recipe go-around is my second attempt at making a version of HEB's Mon Cheri Cookie. The cookies I made in August came out pretty well, but dough dispensing had been challenging. August's Closer Looks video shows the dough stickiness hampering my dispensing.

This batch of dough was less-sticky and dispensed neater and faster. Two variables could have made the difference(s) in dolloping ease.

• Trying a cake mix brand/flavor other than Betty Crocker™ Super Moist™ Delights Cherry Chip Cake Mix (15.25 oz). I used my supermarket-brand yellow cake mix (16 .5 oz).
• Using more effort in removing maraschino cherry fluid—yield of 4.59 ounces cherries then and 2.65 ounces this time.

To compensate for less cherry flavor, I added one envelope of Cherry Kool-Aid.

Dough Dispensing Emphasis

The four dough dispensing methods I used this time are as follows:

• Cooky press with DIY funnel (cut-off top of shampoo bottle) and spoon
• Cooky scoop (1 1/3 T)
• Spoon and rubber spatula
• Tablespoon measuring spoon and rubber spatula

The cooky press method saves on travel effort between bowl and pan. Downside is that the tube doesn't hold enough dough to dispense all in one session. The other three methods are one-dollop-at-a-time, rather tedious for the repetitive bowl/pan back and forth.

Calories and Sodium

The yield was 50 cookies, varying somewhat for size. I did have some awkwardness in using the four dispensing methods.

Post-recipe Thoughts

The cookies came out tasty with cherryish flavor. They were soft, almost cake-like.

 Softer vs. Crisper Cookies

For next time, I'll aim more for crunchier—baking at lower temperature (325) and longer, as recommended in "What Makes Cookies Chewy or Crispy? — from Cooking for Geeks" and "How to Harden Soft Cookies".

 Color

The Cherry Kool-Aid might have made the color a bit deeper than I'd intended. And I missed seeing cherry bits that were more evident in the August cookies. Possibly I overpulsed the cherries in the blender. Next time, I might try dehydrated ones and halve the amount of Kool-Aid.

 Cherryness

Maybe the main reason for improved dispensing could be less moisture—getting rid of more cherry fluid than August's batch. This time, after pulsing the cherries, I drained AND blotted the remains. The yield was 2.65 ounces instead of 4.59 ounces. Pretty expensive item, considering they were 10-ounce jars of cherries! Thinking of trying chopped dehydrated cherries, but chopping and adding only half the pack.

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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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Pt 2 Cherry Almond Cake Mix Cooky, Closer Looks

This article is an accompaniment to Pt 1 Cherry Almond Cake Mix Cooky, Inspired by HEB's Mon Cheri Cookie. During the project, some items piqued me.

What kind of "cherry flavored pieces" would be in the cake mix? Cherry flavor without cherries? The list of ingredients didn't assure me of treasure. Wanting to increase cherry visibility, I added drained, pitless, stemless maraschino cherries that I chop-pulsed in my blender.

The cake mix cooky dough was unexpectedly sticky and difficult to handle. And the baked ones from the first batch didn't lift off the pan as easily as most other cake mix cookies in the past. Furthermore, they came out soft, rather than crunchy like the Mon Cheri cookies. But what yummy taste and sweetness!

View the 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. (View guidance on DIY nozzle and disk modification.)

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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.

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.

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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.

Pt 2 Cooky Pressing Choco Chip Cooky Dough, Closer Looks

 

"Pt 1 Cooky Pressing Choco Chip Cooky Dough, Not One-at-a-Time Dolloping" primarily describes using a cooky press to push out chocolate chip cooky dough. As presses don't gracefully dispense dough having add-ins, my method incorporates a DIY food bottle funnel. Let's look more closely.

Closer Looks at Cooky Presses

I looked on the web for a means to push out chocolate chip dough. I spotted some presses that included piping nozzles in addition to dough disks. Amazon displayed a few such devices, the magic find word being "biscuit", which British commonly refer to stateside "cookies" Another site is Ebay. Weirdly, seems many US companies sell cooky presses and icing decorator guns separately.

I actually own Wilton Dessert Decorator Pro Stainless Steel Cake Decorating Tool So far, I tried it once, thinking I could pipe nice angel food cakelets. Big fail, as the oven temperature totally collapsed the edges. Interesting discovery: the screw-on collar fits my Wilton cooky press. Some day I'll try the decorator collar with my press and see about squeeze-triggering chocolate chip cooky dough.

Funnel Formations

The following slides from "Cooky Pressing Choco Chip Cooky Dough, Not One-at-a-Time Dolloping" video explain just about everything needed to DIY cooky press funnels.

In the cooky dough dispensing stage (squeeze trigger, pinch dollop, deposit), I decided to skip on trying the soda bottle funnel. I favored the other two because the diameters were bigger, and the distances from dough tube to spout were shorter.

Mini and Regular Chocolate Chips

For thIs recipe, I've used most of the same type dough. I varied on using mini chocolate chips for one batch, and regular chocolate chips for the other. Notice side-by-side contrast for size and quantity between them.

"How Many Chocolate Chips in a Cup? (standard, mini, jumbo, & chunks)" contrasts quantities of chocolate chips per cup portions depending on the size of the chips. Minis are much smaller than regulars—"About 6½ mini semi-sweet chocolate chips equal 1 morsel-sized chocolate chip."

"How to Measure Chocolate Chips Correctly (2022)" further states: "Chocolate chips are measured by weight, volume, or count. The most accurate way to measure chocolate chips is to weigh them on a kitchen scale."

A related link is "How Many Chocolate Chips in a Tablespoon? (Depends on chip size)" provides details about factors that affect counts, including molds, ingredient variations and chocolate type. The table lists "1 Tablespoon (14 grams)". My mini chips bag (Nestle) lists one serving as 1 T (14 g), 70 calories. My regular chip bag (Hill Country Fare) lists one serving as 1 T (15 g), 70 calories.

The article shows a table for chips per tablespoon (14 grams). The minis count is 135, and the regular chips (standard) count is 28. Thus, a mini weighs a smidge more than .1 gram, and a standard weighs .5 gram.

More Chocolate Chip Nibbles

"0.1-3g Chocolate Chips Making Machine Fully Automatic" looks to be a marketing site that describes a chip-making machine's capabilities, with spec overviews. I'm thinking the machine is likely able to make chips as small as minis. FWIW, I never see fractions or tolerances for grams in nutrition tables.

"How are Chocolate Chips Made in a Factory? 4 Steps" summarizes the chip-making process that starts with melting the ingredients together and ending with creating the morsels. Both sites have the same embedded YT video of the machine in action.

"How Hershey's Chocolate Is Made and Packaged HD" shows interesting details for variety of their products., especially WRT mass manufacturing and packaging.

Cooky Bitefuls

I got curious about cooky mass production. Lookit those cookies go!

• "How It's Made: Chocolate Chip Cookies" provides details about "puck" dimensions and baking time near the 4-minute mark.
• "COOKIES PLANT" starts showing dispensing (extruding) pieces onto trays starting about 1:25 (6 rows). Note some nozzles rotate to form some cooky types. About 3:10, the shows wire-cut drop cookies.
• "TerraSana visits cookie factory" provides an an abbreviated look at huge-quantity cooky production.

Potentially Squishy Calories Calculations

The calorie counts were problematic for this recipe primarily because of stats for chocolate chips. Nutrition tables for my bags of mini chocolate chips and regular chocolate chips stated calories per tablespoon. One brand stated a tablespoon as 15 grams, and another brand stated a tablespoon as 14 grams. Formulation can affect stats. Imho, gram weights and small serving sizes for items as teeny as chocolate chips can leave lots of room for inaccuracies.

The stats in the Calories and Sodium section in "Pt 1 Cooky Pressing Choco Chip Cooky Dough, Not One-at-a-Time Dolloping" is theoretical. I don't really know how much tolerance is in gram weights per tablespoon. Another big factor in stats "slop" is the size of my cookies. They're not factory-made exact; some are undersized, some oversized. All were yummy!

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"Pt 1 Cooky Pressing Choco Chip Cooky Dough, Not One-at-a-Time Dollopin"

"Pt 2 Cooky Pressing Choco Chip Cooky Dough, Closer Looks"

"Low-effort Choco Chip Cake Mix Cookies"

View more cooky recipes.

Pt 1 Cooky Pressing Choco Chip Cooky Dough, Not One-at-a-Time Dolloping

 

Cooky press users, use your press to pump out chocolate chip dough by using a DIY funnel made from the top of a food bottle. Dough scoopers and other one-at-a-time dollopers, you can reduce the tedium and repetitive travel between dough bowl and pan. Squeeze the press trigger, pinch/deposit dollop, move to another spot on pan, repeat.

 

Rec: Use cake mix cooky dough for ease and doability. View the video for the recipe start to finish and guidance for making and using your own funnels.

At the end of April, I published "Low-effort Choco Chip Cake Mix Cookies", my go-to cooky dough recipe using cake mix, oil, eggs, and chocolate chips. The actual base dough is without chips, and suitable for using a cooky press.

For thIs recipe, I've replicated most of the dough. I varied on using mini chocolate chips for one batch, and regular chocolate chips for the other. Notice side-by-side contrast for size and quantity between them.

Funnelling Cooky Dough with Cooky Press

At the end of May, I published "Pt 1 Revisiting Simplest Scratch Oatmeal Cookies, Plain and Chocochip Batch". By the time I got to dollopingthe second pan, I wearied of scooping, and used an icing spatula to shape mostly squares. An idea for less tedious dolloping percolated—a funnelly attachment.

The main process difference from my previous cake mix cooky dough recipe is dispensing, using a cooky press and funnels made from tops of food bottles. Each DIY funnel shape has a larger end that fits between a cooky press dough tube and screw-on collar, with the narrow end aimed toward the pan.

Cooky Press, in Case You Don't Have One But Might Consider One

Typical cooky presses come with stenciled disks (often seasonal themes) for fast, consistent-size dough dispensing. Chocolate chips are no-gos because they're oversized for the stencil openings. BTW, cooky press mechanisms tend not to be strong enough for oatmeal cooky doughs or similarly thick doughs.

Seems many cooky presses resemble each other for looks and functions. I myself have "wilton preferred press cookie press", but don't remember when I got it. Some disks look different than ones I have.

Two articles with images/videos that show my use of cooky press:

• "A Convenient Cake Mix Cooky Batch"
• "Kool-Aided Cake Mix Cookies Combo Batch" 

Some resources for cooky presses:

• "Tips on Buying and Using a Cookie Press"
• "How to Use a Cookie Press"
• "How to Use a Cookie Press"
• "Best Cookie Presses for Thick Dough: Buyer’s Guide for 2022"

If you get really hot to trot on speed and ease, electric cooky presses are available.

Calories and Sodium

This recipe's numbers are very similar to the ones in "Low-effort Choco Chip Cake Mix Cookies". The yield for that recipe was 40 (from using a scoop and icing spatula for dolloping).

This recipe using DIY funnels for dispensing yielded 55 cookies, 28 in the first half batch, and 27 in the second half batch. The caloric totals deviated from the previous recipe because, this time, I adopted nutrition table info from the chocolate chip package.

Actually, another wrinkle is having obtained 28 cookies in the mini chips batch and 27 in the regular chips batch. If I'd been smarter about the eventual dolloping, I would have eked out one more dollop for the latter batch.

Dividing the dough for 2 batches:
Calories = 2715/2 = 1357 C for each half batch
Sodium = 3020/2 = 1510 mg for each half batch

Mini chocolate chip cookie yield: 28
Calories: 1357 + 567 = 1924 divided by 28 cookies = 69C/cooky
Sodium: 1510mg/28 cookies = 54mg/cooky

Regular chocolate chip cooky yield: 27
Calories: 1357 + 530 = 1887 divided by 27 cookies= 70C/cooky
Sodiurm 1510mg/27 cookies = 56mg/cooky

For the regular chocolate chip cookies, if I had squeezed out 28 instead of 27, calculations would have been easier. In any case, the numbers would have been 67C and 54mg sodium.

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"Pt 1 Cooky Pressing Choco Chip Cooky Dough, Not One-at-a-Time Dollopin"

"Pt 2 Cooky Pressing Choco Chip Cooky Dough, Closer Looks"

"Low-effort Choco Chip Cake Mix Cookies"

View more cooky recipes.