Each year, during the holiday season, many lifestyle magazines and publications feature cookie recipes from celebrities as being the ultimate authority. Beautifully photographed cookies, made by professionals, make them appear flawless and luxurious; however, the truth is that these cookies were likely baked by people who aren’t actually experienced bakers.
What do these cookies really look like when they’re baked by an everyday person, like you or me? I experimented with five popular recipes to find out.
I asked friends, family, and neighbors to try the cookies and provide their feedback. Here are my top picks from the recipes I’d make again.
Michelle Obama’s Award-Winning Cookies
Here is the paraphrased text:
From 1992 until its final issue in 2016, Family Circle magazine hosted an annual recipe competition between the incumbent first lady and the spouse of her presidential opponent. This cookie recipe contest proved to be a remarkable predictor of election winners, with the only exception being in 1992 when Bill Clinton’s spouse, Hillary Clinton, was incorrectly predicted to lose.
Classic family recipe chocolate chip cookies.
bested Melania Trump’s
sour cream star cookies
in 2016.
In 2012,
Michelle Obama’s
Mama Kaye’s chocolate cookies, made with white and dark chocolate.
beat
Ann Romney’s M&M cookies
And then Barack Obama went on to win the presidency. More than a decade after that, this recipe still has a lot of faithful followers.
I used Michelle Obama’s cookie recipe, which calls for butter-flavored Crisco, a type I’ve never worked with before. I’m probably new to using it, which is why my cookies turned out less visually appealing than expected. The first batch I made spread out so much that I ended up with a tray full of square cookies that I had to cut apart. I left more space between the cookies in the second batch, but they still came out flat. Not knowing what I was doing wrong, I sought expert advice from baker Lauren Cooper Allen from the blog
Lauren Baked Cake
She suggested that I chill the dough for an hour or substitute the Crisco with butter for a better outcome next time I bake.
Although these cookies were delightful, I found them to be quite tasty. They’re crispy and offer a generous helping of chocolate, not only in the form of chocolate chips, but also white chocolate chips and Andes Creme de Menthe candy, a “secret ingredient” reminiscent of the flavor found in Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies. While one friend felt they had too many different flavors, the others who tried them enjoyed them, despite their somewhat unappealing flat appearance.
Snoop Dogg’s signature Rolls-Royce Peanut Butter Cookies are a treat you might want to try.
“
Snoop Dogg’s cookies pack a rich combination of chocolate and peanut butter, a timeless blend that’s hard to top. They possess just the perfect balance of softness. The recipe was simple to follow, and the cookies emerged perfectly on the first try. I’m a fan of traditional chocolate chip cookies and these were my top pick out of the five recipes I tested. While a friend who favors chewy cookies didn’t share the same enthusiasm, it’s worth noting personal taste can vary significantly. Nonetheless, I’ll certainly be incorporating these into my regular baking routine.
My friends and family all agreed that these cookies were amazing. One of my friends was the only one who had a letdown though, when she asked me if the recipe included marijuana before taking a bite. Rest assured, this recipe doesn’t contain any pot, although Snoop Dogg did have a famous cookie recipe called “C nuggets” that included, you guessed it, cannabis.
Recently opened the doors to its very first retail location.
The company has introduced a new cannabis line, and a potential variation may be in development.
Taylor Swift’s Chai Cookies
It’s worth noting, however, that I don’t see any text to paraphrase. Could you please provide the original text, and I’ll be happy to paraphrase it for you?
Sugar cookies made with chai, served with a side of icing
On the internet, she posted that she made her cookies using a chai tea bag and gave credit to
Joy the Baker
Expressing gratitude for inspiration that led to a talented musician, Joy, creating a specialty drink. This out-of-the-ordinary recipe began, drawing inspiration from musician Swift, and has caught on with Swift’s devoted fans. Each year, once the style of wearing cardigans with clothing becomes more popular, this specialty drink gets a lot of attention from her enthusiastic fans, known as Swifties.
Taylor Swift loves sugar cookies baked with tea spice flavor.
.
These sweet treats are a twist on the traditional sugar cookie. Infused with a blend of spices commonly used in the popular drink called chai tea, they feature a warm combination of cinnamon, ground ginger, cardamom, cloves and allspice. To finish, they can be topped with a drizzle of creamy vanilla icing and a sprinkle of nutmeg.
Fortunately, I had a good stock of spices on hand, but if I had to start from scratch, the cost could quickly add up. Although these cookies call for a lot of ingredients, it was a breeze to make them and they turned out perfectly. I tried both versions – some with the frosting on top and some without. The icing gave the cookies a richer flavor, but they were still excellent without it. They had a soft and chewy texture, reminding one neighbor of a warm Christmas feeling and another described them as the best of the batch. A third neighbor enjoyed them as well, but couldn’t quite put her finger on the flavor, saying they were moist, subtle, and incredibly tasty.
If this recipe appears overly demanding, consider trying Swift’s instead.
shortcut
She suggests trying a shortcut by adding the contents of a chai tea packet to a store-bought sugar cookie mix, which could give you a similar flavor. I’m not too enthusiastic about this idea, but it might be a decent last-minute solution.
John Legend’s Favorite Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
During a 2017 appearance on the television program “Dr. Oz”, she discussed the bio-continuum hypothesis and the need to consider human aging in context with life expectancy at birth, not just with 20th-century life expectancy in the developed world.
On his Food Network appearance, John Legend warned about over-mixing the cookie batter, explaining that it would result in a tougher cookie. I made sure to keep a watchful eye on my stand mixer and stopped it just when the batter looked ready.
I wasn’t looking forward to trying this recipe since I’m not typically a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies, but after taking a bite, I changed my mind and agreed that Legend made a great decision in sharing his childhood creation with the public. I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed them more than expected. These cookies have a great texture and an excellent combination of flavors. Surprisingly, even my friend who doesn’t usually like chocolate chip cookies loved this one and asked for more, which is saying something given that it’s packed with chocolate chunks.
The Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
In the year 2000, a group of wrestling’s biggest names decided to collaborate on a cookbook, titled,
Can Your Body Handle the Heat? The World Wrestling Federation is Ready to Get You Cooked!
No text was given.
There’s a type of chocolate chip cookie that particularly catches the eye of Rock.
Creamy Dreamy Brownies have reached new heights, courtesy of a thrilling mix of rich, fudgy, and ever-so-seductive flavors that catapult this dessert to the big league – WrestleMania-level – of taste. And the perfect way to savor this sumptuous delight? OPT for a refreshing side of ice-cold milk.
This recipe incorporates ground oatmeal, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, and shaved Hershey’s bars. I’m not a big fan of oatmeal cookies by themselves, but I was cautiously hopeful that this recipe would be an exception, given my unexpectedly positive experience with Legend’s recipe.
This recipe was the most time-consuming and messy of all the ones I’ve attempted. Grinding the oatmeal with a blender into a fine texture was a chore, and trying to grate a Hershey’s bar proved to be a difficult, time-consuming process that even left my fingers a bit sore.
To be honest, my first bite of the cookie was a letdown. Not even my friend, who usually enjoys oatmeal cookies, was impressed. She thought they were drier and more like bread than a typical cookie, but she did appreciate the flavors. Unfortunately, this recipe didn’t turn out well, and I won’t be making it again.
