Ritz Cookies

The other day, I saw that Momofuku Milk Bar put out a Ritz Cookie. It sounded amazing! Buttery Ritz in cookie form with an explosion of salty, sweet, and chewy. Too bad I couldn't get my hands on them, and the recipe is not in the cookbook. So I decided to try to create them on my own - even though I don't really know what the real thing tastes like. Oh well, it'll be fun.

Just did a quick search and apparently the Ritz cookie came out 2 year ago. I am a bit slow.

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Ritz Cookies

Makes 18 large cookies

Inspired from Milk Bar.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup bread flour

1 1/2 cup Ritz crumbs - from 40 crackers (see directions below)

1/4 cup milk powder

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 baking soda

Directions

1. Make Ritz crumb by pulsing the crackers in a blender or food processor until fine and crumbly. Set aside.

2.  Beat butter and both sugars in a bowl until fluffy, 3 minutes.

3. Add egg and beat for 4 minutes.

4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add vanilla, and beat to combine.

5. In a separate bowl, mix flour, Ritz crumb, milk powder, baking powder and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture and mix slowly just until combined.

5. Portion dough with an ice cream scoop onto a baking sheet. Cover with foil and let marinate in the fridge for 2-3 days.

To bake

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

7. Place 4 on a baking sheet and press down to slightly flatten. Bake for 14 minutes until the edges are golden.

8. Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

 

Before baking.

After baking.

Verdict: These cookies turned out buttery, rich, and chewy! They were delicious and I'll definitely be making them again - maybe with some larger chunks of Ritz for a variation in texture.

Seven Layers of Sin Bars

I’ve come across another awesome baking book: The Sugar Cube!  The recipes in this book are totally up my alley, with flavor combinations with big personalities – my favorite being the sweet and salty combination. I’m obsessed with combining sweet and salty, and not in a subtle “salted caramel” sort of way, but the in your face, “potato chip cupcakes” sort of way.  Surprisingly (and by surprisingly I mean, not so surprisingly) I decided to start with the Seven Layers of Sin Bars that included potato chips. I changed the recipe a bit by swapping the graham cracker crust with Ritz crackers!

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Seven Layers of Sin Bars

Adapted from The Sugar Cube and Momofuku Milk Bar

Ingredients

1 ½ cups shredded coconut

1 cup salted, roasted cashews

110g Ritz crackers

½ cup sugar

¼ cup milk powder

7 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

1 ½ cups crushed ruffled potato chips

¼ cup toffee bits

1 can sweetened condense milk

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Toast shredded coconut by spreading on a cookie sheet and baking in oven for about 7 minutes (keep an eye on it!).  Set aside.

2.  Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper.

3.  Roughly chop cashews and set aside.

4.  Put Ritz crackers in a bag and crush with a rolling pin.  Add sugar and milk powder and mix in a bowl.  Add butter, mix, and press into the bottom of the baking pan.

5.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips, then cashews, then coconut, then potato chips, and then toffee bits.

6.  Drizzle with condensed milk.

7.  Bake for 15 minutes, rotate the pan, and bake for another 10 minutes.  Cool before cutting.

Toasted coconut.

Ritz layer.

Chocolate layer.

Cashew layer.

Coconut layer.

Potato chip layer.

Toffee bits layer.

Topped with condensed milk.

After baking.

Verdict: These bars were awesome! I brought them to work and my colleagues loved them.  My friends loved them even more!  Even those who don’t like coconut really enjoyed them.  I obviously liked the salty-sweet combo.  This recipe is so easy to put together with a huge impact.