Cake Truffles

After a recent baking project, I found myself with a few leftovers - a naked layer of chocolate cake, a few cups of really good quality buttercream, and a cup of cereal crumbs. Rather than throw these items away, I made a fun snack out of them - Cake Truffles!

Here's what I did:  I crumbled the cake layer, put it in my stand mixer, and mixed the crumbs with enough buttercream to make a chocolate truffle-like dough.  Then I used my #100 scoop (affiliate links) to portion out bite-size amounts, chilled them until firm, and gently rolled them between the palms of my hands before coating them with the leftover cereal crumbs. Toasted coconut, sprinkles, or chopped nuts would have been great too.  Don't you love it when you can make something so fun and delicious out of leftovers?

Miette's Homemade Graham Crackers

How do homemade graham crackers sound?  Irresistible if you ask me.  That's why I ran straight to the kitchen to make them when I came across the recipe in the Miette Cookbook.   I had a lot of fun making them.  Flavor-wise they're scrumptious, although the original recipe calls for honey and the honey I used was very strong and a bit overpowering so the next time I made them, I substituted my favorite ingredient, Lyle's Golden Syrup, which adds a beautiful caramel flavor.  The dough can be made up to 2 days ahead and the baked cookies can be stored for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Roll cookie dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper.  I find a ball-bearing rolling pin does the job best.  To ensure all the cookies turn out the same thickness and bake in the same amount of time, use 1/8-inch wooden dowels as a guide when rolling the dough.  

UPDATE:  Rolling guides work even better than dowels because they don't roll away from your work surface.    

Cut your cookies with your favorite cookie cutters.  I love my set of scalloped cutters and my message cookie cutters.

The message cutters are so fun to play with.

Transfer wax paper to a sheet pan and chill until dough is very firm.

When dough is firmly chilled, slide an offset spatula between the cookie dough and wax paper.

Transfer cookies to a parchment or silicone lined sheet pan OR…

After making several batches, I discovered I could speed the process along a bit faster if I chilled the cutouts in the freezer for about 5 minutes.

Partially freezing the dough firms it enough to peel the wax paper away easily.

And the partially frozen cutouts are easier to transfer to a prepared sheet pan for baking.

Keep cutouts chilled until it's time to bake them.  Before they go in the oven, sprinkle them with granulated sugar.

If cutting round shapes, use a skewer or toothpick to poke a few decorative holes - this will help the cookies bake evenly.  This step isn't necessary if you use the message cutters.

Eat 'em plain.

Or turn them into ice cream sammies.  Fun-fun!!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• message cookie cutter set https://amzn.to/3yfyB2V

• Lyle’s golden syrup https://amzn.to/3EMJs6F

• heavy duty stand mixer https://amzn.to/3lRzeuz

• rolling guides https://amzn.to/3yh044d

• round dual-sided cookie cutter set https://amzn.to/3IHEzyf

• Miette: recipes from San Fran’s most charming pastry shop https://amzn.to/3h7ZOzQ

---

Homemade Graham Crackers

makes two dozen 2.5-inch cookies

Printable Recipe 

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (6 ounces)

• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (4 ounces)

• 2 tablespoons Lyle's Golden Syrup (or honey)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)

• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour (1 1/2 ounces)

• 1/4 teaspoon table salt

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• granulated sugar for sprinkling

Directions

To make the dough:

1. Sift dry ingredients together; set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and golden syrup together for 5 minutes.

3. Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days.

To cut cookies:

1. Using a rolling pin, roll dough between layers of waxed paper to 1/8-inch thickness.

2. Use 1/8-inch wooden dowels as a guide.

3. Cut shapes from rolled dough and chill well before transferring to sheet pan.

4. I used these scalloped round cutters and these message cookie cutters.

To bake cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Place chilled cookie cutouts on a cool parchment or silpat lined sheet pan and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

3. Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 10-13 minutes.

4. Cool completely.

5. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Note

• Measuring ingredients like flour and sugar by weight is much more accurate than measuring them by volume so weigh ingredients with a digital scale for the best results.

adapted from the cookbook Miette: Recipes from San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop

(affiliate links)