I’ve never been one to hop on the decadent spreads bandwagon. For me, there’s something that feels wrong about the idea of spreadable cookies – pureed carbs mixed with fat and carbs, spread on more carbs? As some Minnesotans might say, uff da!!
Even Nutella seems just a little too naughty. Natural peanut butter or unsweetened preserves are about as adventurous as I get in that realm.
Well, that was until I found myself with 2 dozen chocolate chip cookies that weren’t all that great on their own (thanks to a recent oven fiasco – more on that later) but weren’t mediocre enough to be thrown away. I spent a good week trying to figure out what to do with them, and eventually, after they’d dried out a bit, decided that I was going to put them into the food processor and make crumbs to freeze and stash away for a pie crust. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice the small amount of moisture left in my freshly washed food processor bowl, and what I ended up with was some sort of cookie goo. I was about to toss it out, when I realized that what I was looking at was basically cookie butter! After a quick Google I added some coconut oil, and the rest is history.
I mean it when I say I’m not one for the cookie butter concept – I’m very careful with my calories, and it just seems like turning cookies into a condiment is wading into very dangerous waters. I know how hard it is to stop when I start dipping veggies into a creamy dip. What’s going to happen when I start dipping cookies into cookies?!
That said, this stuff is pretttttty darn tasty. I tried spreading it on toast and dipping celery into it, and enjoyed both.
Inspired by a successful first run, I also grabbed some soon-to-be stale peppermint pinwheel Christmas cookies and made some Peppermint Cookie Butter with them. It turned out a really neat pink color, and it’s yummy, but I’m not sure what I’d put it on except more cookies! Ice cream, maybe? 🙂
The Trader Joe’s fanatics in my life tell me that the TJ’s Cooke Butter is a huge hit, and often sold out. So, when I came to them with my jelly jar of chocolate cookie goo and asked for taste testers, they welcomed me (well, mostly it) with open arms.
The feedback I received on the chocolate chip batch was that it tastes perfect, but that it’s a little grainy (though some time in the fridge did smooth it out slightly), so on my peppermint cookie batch I kept the crumbs spinning in the food processor a little longer, and that seemed to have made a difference.
What’s cool is that you can use just about any cookie for this. I’d skip super moist and chewy cookies (like peanut butter) but oreos, gingersnaps, amarettis, or sugar cookies all would be fair game. Girl Scout cookies, maybe?
- 10 ounces cookies of your choice less-moist cookies - chocolate chip, sugar, and thin mint all work well
- 1/2 cup oil of your choice vegetable, canola, or coconut are all appropriate, steer clear of strong flavored oils like EVOO
- 1/4 cup water depending on consistency of cookies
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar optional depending on consistency of cookies
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Blend cookies in a food processor until they are a very fine powder - not blending well enough will lead to a gritty (but still tasty) texture. Add oil, then blend until well mixed. Some cookies are more moist than others, so if necessary, add water or powdered sugar to adjust thickness.
