If cozy Sunday mornings conjure up thoughts of espresso, cinnamon, toasted sugar, and chocolate chips then the Sunday Morning Cookie is you!
Cozy Sunday mornings are a thing of magic. Whether it’s breakfast in bed, French toast in PJ’s, or brunch with family and friends, I think we can all agree Sunday mornings are magic. It’s the smell of French toast, cinnamon, coffee, and sometimes chocolate that makes me think of a cozy Sunday morning. It’s the other six days of the week that make me long for Sunday. But if I smell cinnamon, in my heart I am back on Sunday. My goal with designing this cookie was to capture the magic of cozy Sunday mornings.
As soon as you bite into this Sunday morning cookie, you will taste espresso and cinnamon, quickly followed by toasted sugar and chocolate chips. There is a sight cereal crunch giving this cookie texture and sweetness.
We loved these cookies so much that we ate 20 over the course of three days. Once we were done we decided to detox and ate my favorite vegan salad, Strawberry, Dried Apricots, and Pistachios Salad (Spring Mix Salad Recipe).
Sunday Morning Cookie Origins
The inspiration from this cookie comes from the Corn Flake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookie sold by Milk Bar. The Sunday Morning Cookie is based on the same technique used in the Cork Flake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookie (that’s a mouthful). I have to admit, this technique is mind-blowing good!
Techniques to Make your Cookies Great
Making this cookie follows the same technique as most cookies, but with a couple of extra steps (or lack of). These techniques take this cookie from good to great and are worth the extra work.
Technique #1 – Cinnamon Toast Crunch -crunch: To give these cookies an extra edge, the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal is tossed with milk powder, cinnamon (yep, I added more), sugar and butter. The mixture is then baked for 20 minutes. By following this step, you are creating a crunch texture and intensifying the flavor within your cookie. This step might seem too extra, but trust me, it is worth it!
Technique #2 – Creaming butter and sugar for 10 minutes: When making cookies it is important to cream the butter using a stand-up mixer and sugar for 2-3 minutes, then add the liquid (egg and vanilla extract) and continue creaming for another 6-7 minutes. This step is key to creating a lighter cookie. Because the Sunday morning cookie is heavy in flavor, this step is very important for the overall texture of the cookie.
Technique #3 – Mix the dry ingredient until just barely mixed: This technique is true for all types of baked goods. By just barely mixing the flour you are restricting the stretching of gluten in the flour. Something we all want (right?)
Specific Ingredient Notes
Cinnamon Toast Crunch – This cereal contains the Sunday morning flavors I wanted to capture within this cookie recipe.
Espresso Chips – These chips have a strong espresso flavor. I love it, however, it might be too much for some. If that is the case, increase the number of grams of mini chocolate chips and reduce espresso chips in equal portions.
Mini Chocolate Chips – I strongly recommend using mini chips to ensure equal distribution of chips within the batter. These chips will help to sweeten and offset the bitterness in the espresso chips.
Unsalted Butter – Two things about butter and baking…. 1. Always use unsalted butter. This will allow you to control how much salt is in your recipe. 2. Use cultured, also known as European, butter if possible. This butter is slightly more expensive, however, it adds a richness to your bakes that is unmistakable.
Non-Fat Dry Milk – Milk powder or powdered milk is milk in its most concentrated form. This powder allows you to add all the extra flavor, without changing the liquid content in a cookie.
- This excerpt from Epicuirous sums up why using non-fat dry milk makes a BIG difference…. Chef Christina Tosi, author of Momofuku Milk Bar and Milk Bar: Kids Only, says she can’t think of a dessert that milk powder wouldn’t improve. “Milk powder has an amazing way of adding a terrific baseline flavor,” she explains. “It can make ice creams milkier, denser, silkier—and cookies chewier.” It’s the sort of “secret weapon ingredient” that doesn’t taste like anything special straight out of the container, but works magic when it’s included in a recipe. Tosi says you can experiment, adding a tablespoon of milk powder to your dry ingredients in any baking project: “It just makes things taste better.”
Sunday Morning Cookie Video
Sunday Morning Cookie (Milk Bar style) by lifeonwesterlycreek on Jumprope.
Storage
There are a couple of different ways to store this cookie and its components. The first is the crunch, the dough, and then the baked cookie.
- The Cinnamon Toast Crunch.- Crunch should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for one week or the refrigerator or freezer for one month.
- The cookie dough should be stored in an air-tight container in your refrigerator for three days or in your freezer for one month. If you freeze the cookie dough, roll the cookie dough into balls and store the balls in a sealed ziplock bag. Place that bag in an air-tight container in your freezer. When you’re ready to bake, place the cookie dough balls in the refrigerator overnight to bring to the correct temperature before baking.
- Baked cookies stay fresh at room temperature in an air-tight container for five days. If you want to freeze the cookies, place them in an air-tight container and store them for up to one month. (Warning, we tried that at our house and we ate them frozen. They are that good.)
Great British Baking Show Bake
Season 2, Episode 4, Signature – Biscuits
If you’re reading this and wondering why I am crediting a cookie bake as a biscuit bake, it is because a biscuit in England is a cookie in America. To make things more confusing a scone in England is a biscuit in America. But we all agree that cake is cake.
About this bake: At the start of April, I began taking a Milk Bar baking class. My first assignment was a cookie. To create this cookie the class focused on creating a “flavor story”. The story can be about a day, date, or period in time and associated flavors. I wanted to capture Sunday morning because I have always loved brunch or breakfast in bed. In this cookie, I set out to create those flavors.
What I loved/learned about this bake: Through the class, I feel like I grew and stretched myself to expand my options. I am so excited about how this cookie turned out because it is unlike any other cookie I have ever had.
GBBO Count: 20 down, 260 to go!
Sunday Morning Cookie
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Baking Sheets
- Kitchen Scale
- Small and medium bowls or mixing containers
- Spatula
- Parchment paper
- Cookie Scoup (I used 2 ¾ oz sized for large cookies)
Ingredients
Cinnamon Toast Crunch – Crunch
- 130 grams Cinnamon Toast Crunch
- 30 grams non-fat milk powder
- 30 grams sugar
- 3 grams salt (1/3 teaspoon)
- 100 grams butter
Cookie Dough Batter
- 225 grams unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 250 grams sugar
- 150 grams dark brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 grams vanilla extract (1/2 teaspoon)
- 260 grams all purpose flour
- 2 grams baking powder (1/2 teaspoon)
- 1.5 grams baking soda (1/2 teaspoon)
- 5 grams salt (1½ teaspoon)
- 125 grams mini chocolate chips
- 75 grams espresso chips
Instructions
Cinnamon Toast Crunch – Crunch
- Preheat the oven to 275° F (135° C).
- Pour the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal into a medium bowl. Using your hands crush the cereal into small pieces (about ½ to ? of the orgional size).
- Add the milk powder, sugar, and salt and stir to evenly mix the ingredients.
- Melt the butter and evenly coat througout the mix.
- Spread the mix across a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. The final product should be a golden brown and smell buttery.
- Set aside and allow to fully cool.
Cookie Dough Batter
- Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C).
- Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a pabble attachment cream together on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla. Continue to beat on high for 7 to 8 minutes.
- While the butter and sugars are mixing, prepare your dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, using a whisk combine baking powder, baking soda, and salt together to ensure all the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Add your dry ingredients and set mixer speed to low. Mix just until the ingredients are evenly distributed, or for about 15-45 seconds. It is critical here not to over mix. In fact, the dough should look shaggy.
- Add the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, mini chocolate chips, and espresso chips to your batter. Mix on low speed until mix-ins are just barely incorporated, no more than 30 to 45 seconds.
Preparing your Cookies
- Scoop your cookie dough onto parchment-lined sheet pans 3 inches apart.
- Using your palms, pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat.
- Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 1 week. I
Baking your Cookies
- Preheat oven to 375° F (190° C).
- Bake cookies for 12 – 14 minutes. Cookies should be golden brown when done. There might be some caramelization from the brown sugar.
Notes
- The Cinnamon Toast Crunch.- Crunch can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for one week or the the refrigerator or freezer for one month.
- The cookies are placed in the refrigerator to help with shape. If cookies are baked from room temperature they will spread and flatten.
