Cookies
Final Idea + Recipe

My final idea was a cookie that mirrors the classic bubble gum candy, a Blow Pop. This cherry bubble gum cookie, titled “POP!”, consists of three layers. All of the layers are cherry flavored with sprinkles incorporated into the dough, but the middle one has a hole in it to allow for placement of the bubble gum. I feel that it creative because people don’t generally think about gum being in a cookie. It also includes Jell-O, which many look at as an unusual cookie ingredient.

Recipe:
- 1 Package of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix
- 1 egg
- 3 Tbs flour (And more for dusting and rolling cookies)
- 1 1/2 stick of butter (melted)
- 2 Boxes of cherry Jell-O (3oz box)
- 3/4 cup of sprinkles
- Cookie Cutters
- 1 pack of Hubba Bubba bubble gum
- Red food coloring
- Vanilla frosting
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large mixing bowl, pour the package of combine the Sugar Cookie Mix and the flour. Next, add the egg and butter and mix until completely combined. Add in the Jell-O and sprinkles and knead the dough until it is fully incorporated into the batter.

When you are done kneading the dough, dust a surface of a table with flour. Place the dough on the dusted table and being to roll it out with a rolling pin. Use a circle cookie cutter, or your own choice of shape, and begin making cutouts in the dough.


For every two circles/shapes, there must be a circle/shape with a hole in the middle (for the bubble gum).
Place cookie cutouts on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 6–8 minutes. After they are out of the oven, place them on a wire rack and let them cool completely. When they are cooled, assemble them in order:
Top: 1 full cookie.
Middle: 1 cookie with a hole, place gum in the hole
Bottom: 1 full cookie.
Place red food coloring into the frosting and mix until it is your desired color (mine was pink). Lastly, use the frosting as the adhesive between the cookies. For garnish, place a spoon of frosting on the top and sprinkle with sprinkles.
Idea Generation







While generating ideas, I knew I wanted to create a three dimensional cookie that contained an interesting visual appeal. A classical cookie is generally two dimensional and I wanted to break that boundary. I also wanted to replicate a food in real life, but give it a surprising flavor or a literal surprise inside. The first thing that came to my mind was Jolly Ranchers. As a little kid, we would melt Jolly ranchers in the oven to make Jolly Rancher suckers; that sparked the idea of incorporating it as a decoration for many of the cookies. In the end, I decided to test out the glass butterfly and the Blow Pop idea.
Idea Test 1

The first idea that I tested was the rose mint glass butterfly. I used rose and mint extract to try and give it the desired taste.


I also cut the dough in butterfly shapes to fully replicate the idea. With this cookies, I used the melted Jolly Rancher idea. I placed the unwrapped Jolly Ranchers on parchment paper and placed them in the oven at 275 degrees Fahrenheit until they were fully melted. When they were done, I let them cool and then broke it with the back of a spoon. I then attached them with frosting to create the glass wings.

When they were done, I had many individuals try them. The final verdict was that the flavor was not coming through the entire cookie, and overall just not strong enough. Although the flavor was not as I had desired, everyone who tried it enjoyed the design of the butterfly and the visual appearance. In the end, I decided that this cookie was not strong enough to be my final one.
Idea Test 2

The second cookie that I attempted was the cherry flavored Blow Pop cookie. I landed on the cherry flavor because not only is it an unusual cookie flavor, but it is also a classic Blow Pop flavor. With this cookie, I decided to use cherry yogurt as the root of the flavor and dye the dough red so that it was the color of a cherry.

When I was done, I again had individuals taste it. They all enjoyed the flavor but said that it was very subtle. They also commented on the texture of the cookie; the cookie turned out crunchier that expected. The outer appearance of the cookies also did not hold up to the design of the butterfly cookie. Although there were many aspects that needed to be improved on, they really fancied the idea of gum in the cookie. Thus, I knew that this would be my final cookie after some changes.

Iteration
To combat the texture of the cookie, I added more butter. By putting in more butter, the cookie would become softer. I also put sprinkles into the dough before cooking it. The sprinkles were a fun inclusion to try and create a better outward appearance. For the flavor, I decided to switch to Jell-O, not really knowing how it would turn out.


However, the choice to replace the Jell-O with the cherry yogurt was a hit. I had my friend try it and she explained that it tasted almost exactly like a sweet cherry Blow Pop. The flavor was much stronger and the red color came on its own without the use of red dye.

After all the iterations, I knew that this would be my final cookie. It had the desired taste that I was going for and it held a surprise inside.
Timeline:
Tuesday, September 4: Get assignment.
Wednesday, September 5: Post outline and timeline. Get a sketchbook and start brainstorming ideas. Outline and timeline due.
Thursday, September 6: Generate a list of ingredients needed for the cookies.
Friday, September 7: Go to Target and purchase ingredients. Start making the first cookie.
Saturday, September 8: Make the second cookie and document my process. Decide which cookie is the better of the two and make iterations from there.
Sunday, September 9: Include all photos and important information on my blog.
Monday, September 10: Review my blog post and make the necessary changes.
Tuesday, September 11: Finalize blog post and make a dozen cookies for Thursday’s class.
Wednesday, September 12: Work on peer reviewing two other blogs.
- (I like… I wish… What if…) Final blog post due.
Thursday, September 13: Bring a dozen cookies into class. Cookies are due.
Friday, September 14: Finish peer review. Peer review due.
