Sweet Talk with Francine's Sweets: Episode 16
- Alayna Kendall
- Apr 24
- 4 min read
I’m dropping our newest cookie flavor, talking all about my obsession with salt, and giving you every reason in the book to order cookies.
Let’s sweet talk.
Welcome Dirt Cup Cookie!
As a 4th grader, there is nothing better than the power that comes from bringing in a birthday treat for your classmates. Everyone wants to know what you brought, when they can eat it and if they’ll be chosen to pass out napkins. Now, as a former elementary school teacher, I got handed a lot of birthday treats over my 7 years in the classroom. And, I hate to break it to you, I threw most of them away. A store-bought vanilla cupcake that was handed to me right after the birthday girl sneezed into it? I’ll pass. BUT anytime a student brought in a dirt cup, complete with gummy worms, I dove in head first.
Inspired by that Oreo and pudding-filled children’s dessert, I introduce to you the Dirt Cup cookie version! It’s a thick chocolate and Oreo cookie, topped with creamy, chocolate pudding frosting, crushed Oreos and sour gummy worms! This is a completely new cookie flavor, meaning it’s totally different from our Chocolate Lava cookie and our Oreo Extreme cookie.
Both my husband and my brother have stated that these might just be the best cookies I have EVER made. You be the judge!
Baking Bites: Tips for the Every Day Baker
Flaky Sea Salt
Name a more beautiful sight than a bucket of salt. Flaky sea salt looking goooood on the espresso toffee chip cookie
I’m sure you assume that I am obsessed with sugar. And it turns out, you’re right. But I’m also obsessed with salt. Today we are diving more into why I love it and use it to top most of my cookies. Let’s begin our salty journey together.
I first learned about Samin Nosrat while watching one of my favorite YouTube chefs, Brad Leone. He had Samin on his show to talk about her book, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. In her book, she uses the skills she learned as a trained chef to teach the every day cook (or baker) how to use those four elements (salt, fat, acid and heat) in cooking and baking, as well as explaining WHAT each element does to a recipe. It was fascinating to think about how most everything we bake and cook has all 4 of those elements, but used in different ways. I’ve never been much of a cook (baking is where I shine), but this book taught me so much about the cooking process and has allowed me to enjoy it slightly more. The chapter that really stuck with me was the one on salt. I never thought much about salt, except that I often will-powered myself into thinking I didn’t need to add it to anything. It turns out mashed potatoes, corn, even soup, tastes a whole lot better with a healthy addition of salt. After reading Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, I learned a lot about how, when used in the correct amounts, salt enhances flavor in everything from green beans to hamburgers to cookies.
When you eat a cookie, you are expecting it to be sweet of course, but often, due to the sugar in the recipe plus whatever add-ins are there (think chocolate chips, toffee, Nutella, etc), cookies can often get too sweet too quick. Think about those Lofthouse sugar cookies. As soon as you bite into one, it sets your teeth on edge because it’s SO sugary! So I add flaky sea salt on top of most of my cookies to balance the sweetness, enhance the natural flavors of the cookie (especially chocolate, peanut butter, or Nutella), and add a pleasant crunch. The older I get, the more I crave salty foods in addition to sweets. So being able to make cookies that are both sweet with a lil bit of salt feels like the perfect combination.
This doesn’t just apply to cookies. You can add flaky sea salt to literally anything. A favorite snack of mine at the moment is a slice of sourdough, topped with butter and sprinkled with the good stuff aka Maldon flaky sea salt. Once I took an apple slice, dipped it in peanut butter and sprinkled it with sea salt. I didn’t hate it, I’ll tell you that much.
I’ve always used Maldon to finish my cookies, but I’ve also recently stumbled upon American-made sea salt company, Jacobsen Salt Co. They harvest salt off the coast of Oregon. If you’re looking for an American-made option, check them out!
And if you want to dive deeper into how Maldon makes their sea salt in Maldon, Essex in the UK, check out this Youtube video!
So there you have it, probably wayyyy more than you ever wanted or needed to know about why I love salt. Hopefully this takes you on your own salty journey, or at least gives you a better appreciation for the gorgeous salt flakes sprinkled atop your cookies.
You're Gonna Need Cookies For This
Not that you NEED a reason to order cookies (simply surviving another week of expensive egg prices is enough of a reason on its own), but here are some occasions coming up that would be the perfect excuse to place an order!
Mother’s Day-Sunday, May 11th: Your mom deserves homemade, fresh-baked cookies! Pick-up will be available on Saturday, May 10th only.
Graduation Parties: Grade school, high school, college, doctorate, all of them are reasons to celebrate! A box of cookies would be the perfect way to say “I’ll never see most of you fools ever again!”
Memorial Day, Monday, May 26th: It’s not too early to start thinking about the official kick off to summer! Maybe you’re dusting off the grill and firing up some hot dawgs. Grab a bag of Better Maid chips and a box of cookies and you’ll be ready for high temps in no time.
End of the year teacher gifts: As a former teacher, I can confirm that any educator would love a box of delicious cookies as a thank you for putting up with, er, I mean, sharing the love of learning with your child.
Thanks for reading!
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