Tag: L.A. County Fair

Homemade Twix Shortbread Cookies

We admittedly got a bit addicted to these Homemade Twix Shortbread Cookies. I personally grew up a fan of Twix, the caramel and milk chocolate cookie bars…and the peanut butter version. A variation on this recipe won “best new entrant” at the 2014 L.A. County Fair. We used the recipe Nellie won with as our inspiration for our own version.

We ended up making these cookies a second way also, as creative thumbprint cookies.

They turned out tasty both ways, but the thumbprint version did a bit better holding the caramel center.

Baking Tips/Tricks:

The top tip for making these homemade Twix shortbread cookies is to make the indents deep in the cookie dough, as they spread out and puff up quite a bit when you bake them. We didn’t do this in the first version but wished we had.

For the caramel, be sure to use a low shallow pan inside a larger one when you are turning the sweetened condensed milk to caramel. While you can buy premade caramel or dulce de leche, this simple version is oh so yum and easy if you have the right pans. Another option for the caramel filling, is to boil the whole can of sweetened condensed milk, unopened for two hours. This has become my go-to way since it requires less attention to detail.

Once you taste the richness and perfect texture of these cookies, you will go crazy for them too. The recipe makes a pretty large batch…about 40 cookies. The quantity is enough, so plenty to share with others, if they last that long.

If you’re looking for more candy-bar inspired sweet treats, check out our Butterfinger blue ribbon winning cookies.

Enjoy!

-Cyndi

Bourbon Molasses Sandwich Cookies

Bourbon Molasses Sandwich Cookies: these blue-ribbon-winning cookies are made with Bulliet brand bourbon, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and molasses. The bourbon meringue buttercream filling morphs them into a creamy, dreamy dessert. They are perfect for National Bourbon Day, which is June 14th. However, you need no excuse to make these.

Recipe credit goes to Gigi D’Amore of Burbank. She won 1^st place at the L.A. County Fair with them. (Gold Medal Flour, best cookie contest, 2016)

Cookie Texture Transformation

Two other great things about these Bourbon Molasses Sandwich Cookies: one, the ease of the recipe, and two, how they transform in texture after they sit for a few hours. They become even more tender, even more creamy and dreamy. They literally melt in your mouth. The meringue in the middle permeates the cookie itself and brings the bourbon flavor forward. And by “ease of the recipe” I mean that it’s straightforward. Yes, there are a lot of ingredients but that packs in the flavor.

Bourbon Meringue Buttercream Tips

A heads up: the meringue filling whips and fluffs up beautifully. When you add the bourbon, don’t be alarmed when it softens. Whip the filling more, then chill it before assembling. If you refrigerate the assembled cookies, the filling further thickens. As your own tasting experiment, you might want to test one right after they’re made, then another the next day. Taste the transformation for yourself.

To sum things up, we really love these award-winning Bourbon Molasses Sandwich Cookies. Highly recommended!

Love Sandwich Themed Cookies?

Don’t miss these Double Chocolate S’More Cookies, another L.A. County Fair winner
Be sure to try these Potato Chip Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, another all-time favorite of ours
And these show-stopping Iowa State Fair winning Dulce de Leche Sandwich Cookies

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles: this award-winning recipe is a delicious, fun spin on classic snickerdoodles, with cayenne, cocoa, and baking chocolate kicking up the heat and yum factor. You end up rolling the dough in sugar, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and sea salt, making the flavors bloom with your first bite. They’re equally soft and chewy with a slightly crisp texture. One taste and you’ll know why it won top honors.

Choose Your Hotness

If you like a bit of heat in your baked goods, try these spicy snickerdoodles “as is” or choose your “hotness” by adjusting the cayenne (up or down). I actually added the cayenne because, frankly, I love all things spicy. You can certainly leave it out. Recipe credit goes to Kim Dame who won 1^st place in at the L.A. County Fair with this recipe. (Gold Medal Flour, best cookie contest, 2014)

Inspiration, Preparation

Kim’s Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles were inspired by a favorite coffee cream flavor. When she won, Kim shared that in preparation for the recipe contest, she baked a huge variety of cookies. The flavors ranged from coconut to molasses and orange. Her co-workers and friends were the lucky taste testers. They were most wowed by the Mexican Hot Chocolate, and the rest is history.

Bake these Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles. You’ll be wowed as well.

More for Chocolate Lovers

Double Chocolate S’More Sandwich Cookies, another L.A. County Fair winner

Potato Chip Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, another must-make cookie recipe

Double Chocolate S’more Sandwich Cookies

Double Chocolate S’more Sandwich Cookies: S’more inspired treats are so much fun. So decadent. So delicious.

Barrie Linberg at the 2013 L.A. County Fair won a blue ribbon for these sandwich cookies; 1st place, Gold Medal Flour best cookie contest. The young baker grew up baking with her mother, who is also a blue ribbon baker.

Barrie named her creation “S’Mookies” for S’more cookies. She said they were inspired by cupcakes she saw on TV. She took the concept and morphed it into an entirely new recipe. Barrie’s Double Chocolate S’more Sandwich Cookies are a delight to bake and taste.

There is both cocoa and chocolate chips in the cookie dough. They end up soft and almost cake-like in texture, but also chewy. So delightful. Inside you have a rich marshmallow/vanilla cream and graham cracker crumb filling.

Wow. Don’t miss out on making these tantalizing treats.

-Cyndi