Crumbl Pink Sugar Cookies

After developing my version of Crumbl’s Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, I had to tackle the pink sugar cookie as well. The internet is absolutely full of really awful copycats for this one. Most of them involve ingredients that the actual cookies don’t contain at all, and if you’re paying close attention, they’re almost always just recipes from the same blogger’s attempt to copy another bakery’s sugar cookie relabeled to take advantage of Crumbl’s popularity. They don’t even come close.

Mine do. To get here took lots of research, testing, food chemistry, and a few hints from the folks who have worked to make these cookies at the actual stores. In fact, I managed to get a few to confirm that my ratios and methods are close enough that they’re indistinguishable from the recipes they actually use. Sounds like a winner to me.

They’re buttery, if not downright greasy, with an almond frosting that is best described as “powerful.” Worth a try if you haven’t had them from Crumbl, and definitely worth saving yourself a little cash by making them instead of buying them. Also, since you’re making them, you can make them better. For example, replacing the almond flavoring with some orange cream candy flavoring oil is pretty damned amazing, and I’d recommend tweaking this recipe. It’s much more flexible than I would’ve assumed.

Ingredients

Cookies

• 4 oz Unsalted Butter, softened
• 6.5 oz White Sugar
• 4 oz Canola Oil
• 1 large Egg
• 1 tbsp Clear Vanilla Extract - Brown/Real extract will work or 2 tsp flavoring of choice
• 12 oz All-Purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt or 3/4 tsp Table Salt
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 tsp Cream of Tartar

Almond Frosting

• 4 oz Unsalted Butter, softened
• 12 oz Powdered Sugar
• 2-3 tbsp Heavy Cream
• 1/4 tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt or 1/8 tsp Table Salt
• 1 tsp Almond Emulsion or Almond Extract
• Red Food Dye

Directions

Cookies

1. For home convection ovens, preheat to 325°F with the fan. For conventional ovens preheat to 350°F. Crumbl stores use convection, so I recommend convection if you have it.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
4. in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until very fluffy and pale. This should take four or five minutes.
5. Scrape down the bowl and beater with a flexible spatula, then add the oil, egg, and vanilla extract. Continue beating for about a minute until the mixture is well-combined and the consistency is close to vanilla pudding.
6. Turn off the mixer and add the flour mixture. Start the mixer on low until the flour mixture has mostly disappeared into the dough. Turn off the mixer again, scrape the dough off the beater into the bowl, and finish mixing the dough by hand with a flexible spatula to ensure there are no pockets of flour or liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Over-mixing isn’t a huge concern here, but you only need to mix until everything is incorporated.
7. Let the dough rest, covered, for 15 minutes.
8. Using a large 4oz cookie scoop (usually marked #12) portion the dough onto the lined parchment paper. If you don't want to use a scoop, just weigh out 4oz balls. You should be able to fit four balls per pan. If desired, you can gently press down on the domes to make them into a puck shape. This will ensure they spread more evenly, but not all stores do this.
9. If using convection, bake for 12-16 minutes at 325°F, until the edges of the cookies appear dry and set, and the center looks like it’s just barely beginning to dry out on the top. If NOT using convection, bake at 350°F for 12-18 until the edges of the cookies appear dry and set, and the center looks like it’s just barely beginning to dry out on the top. When not using convection, the inside is going to be just a bit less done, but even Crumbl’s cookies vary more than this from order to order in my experience.
10. let the cookies cool on the pan until set, around 10-15 minutes, then transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate. Ideally these should only be stored in a single layer, but you can get away with separating the layers with foil or parchment to support each cookie a little better. This will allow the outer layer of the cookie to reabsorb some of the moisture it lost in the oven, and soften to the texture you expect from a Crumbl cookie. Chill for at least 30 minutes before frosting.

Frosting

1. Mix together the butter, sugar, and salt, then add the dye and extract/emulsion.
2. Add heavy cream as needed to get a spreadable frosting that still holds its shape.
3. Spread 2.5 oz of frosting on each chilled cookie.
4. Allow the frosting to set for an hour, then enjoy. Or enjoy right away.