ooking in front of millions of
viewers would be nerve-racking
for most chefs, but not for
Kalamazoo, MI, culinary instructor
Cory Barrett. Cory appeared on
chef to Michael Symon before clinching the
Spring Baking Championship title last May. The
only tricky part was getting used to the new set:
“The first episode I was a mess—I didn’t have a
feel for where anything was,” he says. But Cory
won the second episode, and his success continued
through the rest of the season, including a team
challenge with chef Kevin Dillmon. The two came
up with a “mookie”—a lemon and blueberry
muffin-cookie combo that won over all the judges.
Here’s a recipe inspired by their treat.
- Make the muffins: Preheat the oven to
350 ̊. Brush 20 muffin cups with vegetable
oil (use two 12-cup muffin pans). Whisk
the flour, granulated sugar, salt and
baking powder in a large bowl. In a
separate bowl, whisk the egg until
smooth. Whisk in the buttermilk,
vegetable oil, vanilla and lemon zest.
Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour
mixture until combined but still slightly
lumpy (do not overmix). - Divide the batter among the prepared
muffin cups, filling them one-quarter of
the way. Bake until beginning to brown,
about 12 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes
in the pans, then transfer the muffins to
racks to cool completely.
3. Make the filling: Combine the cream
cheese, mascarpone, confectioners’ sugar
and lemon zest in a large bowl. Beat with
a mixer on low speed, gradually increasing
the speed to medium high, until fluffy,
about 2 minutes. Refrigerate until ready
to use. Meanwhile, pulse the cookies into
coarse crumbs in a food processor.
4. Assemble the mookies: Remove
the domed tops of the muffins using a
serrated knife. Transfer the filling to a
pastry bag and pipe a ring on half of the
muffins. Spoon about 1 teaspoon blueberry
jam into the center of each ring. Top each
muffin with another muffin, cut-side down,
to make a sandwich. Roll the edges in the
cookie crumbs, pressing to adhere.
BLUEBERRY-LEMON CREAM CHEESE MOOKIES
ACTIVE: 1 hr 15 min I TOTAL: 2 hr I MAKES: 10
Catch the
new season of
Spring Baking
Championship
starting March 9
at 9 p.m. ET.
A Spring Baking Championship
winner proves that muffins and
cookies are meant to be together.
FLOUR
FOR THE MUFFINS
¼ cup vegetable oil, plus more for the pans
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
⅓ cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
FOR THE FILLING
4 ounces cream cheese,
at room temperature
¼ cup mascarpone cheese
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
Grated zest of ½ lemon
15 vanilla wafer cookies
3 to 4 tablespoons blueberry jam
in the know
34 FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE ●APRIL 2020
FOOD PHOTO: RALPH SMITH; FOOD STYLING: ADRIENNE ANDERSON.
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Iron Chef America nearly 20 times as sous
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