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I am in love with that pink frosted almond sugar cookie from Crumbl© and I was determined to recreate that same soft yet dense, sweet and slightly almond flavored cookie with a swoop of sweet almond buttercream. It took me months to perfect this recipe because I didn't want to share until it was perfect - and I can finally say I feel confident this might be the best dupe recipe out there!
While the frosting took a couple of tries to get just sweet enough (though a touch less sweet than the original if you know how sweet that one is!) it was really the cookie that took time. That popular pink bakery has ultra thick cookies, and when you get a good one it's incredibly soft and almost dense in the center, and crisp around the edges but not crunchy. I used the list of ingredients from their nutrition label on the website and worked backwards so that I could get it as close as possible. It took me ten, yes TEN, rounds to get it just right. The end result? A cookie that literally tastes better after a day in the fridge, and stays fresh in the fridge for about a week. It's dense, sweet, chewy in the center with perfectly crisp edges and has just the right amount of almond flavor balanced by all of the sweetness. And it might even be better than the original.
While I love this cookie mostly because of the almond flavor, if you have an allergy or simply don't like almond you can absolutely skip the almond extract and replace with some extra vanilla. I love the nostalgic almond flavor but the cookie would still be deliciously sweet without it.
Similarly, the frosting of course will be just fine without food coloring! Using the smallest amount of red food coloring gel though will give you that signature pink look that is just so cute and will instantly remind you and others of the original. You want to start with the smallest drop - sometimes I will put a small drop of the food coloring into a cup or onto a plate and then you can use a utensil to grab just the smallest dab and add to the frosting in super small increments until I get my desired pink. You could of course also use any color your heart desires!
One thing I didn't retain from the original was the size. While I think we all know by now I truly do believe that myself and others living with diabetes can eat and enjoy anything we like as long as we have the right information (which is why I share carb details with every recipe!) I do admittedly sometimes find the size of a Crumbl© cookie overwhelming. You could absolutely make this cookie in a larger size (using a 1/4 or 1/3 cup sized scooper) but I opted to bring this classic down to a more standard sized cookie to match most of my other recipes. I felt like this was also one of the benefits of making these at home, other than them being possibly better than the original, we now have control over making them whatever size we want and I wanted it to be more of a personal size! Though don't get me wrong, it's still not a small cookie by any means.
A few notes on the "specialty" ingredients in this recipe:
Almond extract: This is what gives these sugar cookies their signature almond flavor. I love the flavor, but of course if you don't like almond as much you can reduce it or if you don't want it at all or have an allergy you can replace it with vanilla extract.
Food coloring: While you can buy pink food coloring I always had trouble finding it more readily, and honestly I found that red food coloring did the job perfectly. I ordered this set of gel food coloring and it has worked really well (I used the red from this set for the frosting in this recipe).
Cream of tartar: Admittedly, before developing my own recipes I used to give a bit of an eye roll when an ingredient like this was included in a cookie recipe. I wondered if it was really necessary and so I promise you I only use "extra" ingredients like this when it's needed! This is present in the original pink sugar cookie that I was working on replicating and it really does add a subtle but important flavor depth to this cookie. If you don't have it on hand, you can always use baking powder instead but know that it is not a one to one replacement so the texture and flavor of the cookie may be a bit different.
Ingredients
Almond sugar cookies
12 tablespoons (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (192g) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (80g) powdered sugar
3 tablespoons (34g) neutral oil canola or vegetable
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 2/3 cups (320g) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Almond buttercream frosting
8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups (360g) powdered sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch of salt
Prep time: 30-45 minutes
Bake time: 12-14 minutes
Chill time: 3-4 hours (or overnight)
Servings: 16 cookies
Equipment
Stand mixer
Spatula or large spoon
Parchment paper
Large cookie scoop (about 2 1/2 - 3 tablespoons)
Optional (for measuring your frosting) smaller cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
Cooking instructions
First, make your cookies. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, add your butter, granulated sugar and powdered sugar. Mix for about 2 minutes at a medium to high speed. Pause, and scrape down the sides of your bowl and mixer attachment.
Then, add in your oil. Turn your mixer back on at a medium speed for about 2 minutes until lightened in color. Scrape down the sides of your mixer and mixer attachment again.
Next, add in your egg, vanilla extract and almond extract. Continue mixing at a medium to high speed for about 2 minutes until completely combined and fluffy in texture. Once again, scrape down your bowl and mixer attachment.
Add in your dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Turn your mixer on at the lowest speed and mix until almost fully combined. Pause, scrape down to the bottom of your mixer bowl to ensure no dry ingredients are getting left behind at the bottom. Mix again at the lowest speed until your dough forms.
Onto a parchment lined cookie sheet, use your cookie scoop to scoop your dough into 16 cookie dough balls. Each scoop should be about 50-52g in size.
Cover your cookie scoops with plastic wrap and place into the fridge to chill. It's important that you do this for a minimum of 3 hours but for the best result chill for 6 hours or overnight (up to 12 hours).
When your dough is fully chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Space your cookies out across 2-3 large cookie sheets and bake one tray at a time. Bake for about 12-14 minutes until very lightly golden on the edges. Allow your cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheets, this will take under an hour.
Make your frosting and complete your cookies. Using your stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer, add your room temperature butter to your mixer bowl. Put your mixer on at a low to medium speed and run it until your butter is softened completely. Then, add in your powdered sugar about a cup at a time keeping your mixer at a low to medium speed so that the sugar gets incorporated and you're slowly whipping just a little bit of air into your buttercream mixture. Note: if you want a frosting that is less sweet, I recommend starting with 2 cups of powdered sugar and working your way up from there. I typically find for this recipe that somewhere between 2 1/2 cups and 3 cups is perfect.
Then, add in your heavy cream, pinch of salt and both vanilla and almond extracts. Continue mixing until completely combined and let your mixer run at a low to medium speed for a few minutes.
Then you'll add your food coloring. You'll want to add a very, very small amount of red food coloring and work your way up continuing to run your mixer at a low speed and pausing to ensure you scrape down the sides of your bowl and attachment to make sure your color gets fully incorporated before you add more. You can add a drop of your food coloring to a separate dish and then use the edge of a knife or other utensil to dab the food coloring and add just a small amount to your frosting at a time until you reach your desired pink color.
Once your frosting is done, you'll add about 1 1/2 tablespoons (you can use a small scooper like this one or simply estimate) to each cookie and spread your frosting on however you'd like. I recommend chilling these cookies once frosted for about an hour before enjoying but of course if you can't wait to dive in you can enjoy right away at room temperature! Letting the cookies rest once frosted will allow the frosting to almost melt into the cookies for an even better bite.
If stored in an airtight container in the fridge, you can enjoy these cookies for about a week. You can also freeze the fully baked and frosted cookies and bring them back to room temperature or place in the fridge overnight to defrost and enjoy at a later time. The frosting will harden and stabilize a bit once the cookies are frosted, so it also makes them easy to stack and transport as needed.
Carb and serving info
Servings: 16 cookies
Carbs per serving (1 of 16): 56
Carbs for full recipe: 892
Carbs for cookies only: 531
Carbs for frosting only: 362
Carbs for frosting only (just 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar): 302
Carbs per serving with reduced frosting (1 of 16): 52
Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.
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