Why I don't make fru fru cookies (photos)

14 years ago

Follow up to my jam filled cream cheese pastries post. Didn't take pictures of myself or the kitchen counter covered with sticky jam, stuck dough and flour.

And no helpful posts of how to do better next time, you can be sure there won't BE a next time! I just want sympathy, (lol!).

But at least they taste yummy right? NOT. For all the trouble, taste is meh, which in Yiddish means just about what it sounds like.

:)

First batch:

OK, let's try again:

Oh I give up with the closed kind, let's try the way they are pictured in the cookbook:

How mine turned out vs how the photo looks in the cookbook:

Do you think they are ready for prime time?

It was bad jam. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. . . Literally.

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Comments (20)

marys1000
14 years ago
Awww,
I understand completely. I can't make brownies from scratch.
No worries! They wouldn't taste worth the trouble anyway - there's a better recipe waiting out there!
mustangs81
14 years ago
OMG! Mine turned out the same way! It's got to be the recipe; let's stick to that story.
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JoanM
14 years ago
If I tried those cookies mine would come out the same for sure. My Mom wanted some cookies that were "christmas'ie", meaning wreathes or trees, candy canes. I stood there the other day rolling 1 teaspoon of green dough and 1 teaspoon of white dough into 4 inch logs so I could twirl them together and form a wreath. My back was killing me after an hour and I was thinking of you. I'm thinking, this is why Lpink only does drop cookies. I think I am a drop cookie person myself. The fussy stuff is never worth the effort when I do it.

I would eat that whole plate though. I am sure they taste yummy.
lpinkmountain
Original Author
14 years ago
Next time Joann, drop cookies with green and red M&M's! Or snickerdoodles with green and red sugar on top. I even got a little cookie scooper for drop cookies, so I can get the perfect scoop every time.

The cream cheese pastries taste just so so. And they were not cheap either, used a whole brick of cream cheese. But the main culprit in their turning out so very bad was the jam, because the last batch I made a couple with my apricot pineapple jam and they didn't ooze so bad. But aesthetically they still left something to be desired. I also have a tiny kitchen that is not condusive to rolling, very little counter space and it is right next to the stove so it gets warm quickly.
beanthere_dunthat
14 years ago
Ah, the evils of food photography, luring us into that feeling of rabid Martha Stewartitis. The jelly in the photo is probably Dippedy-doo or dyed rubber cement. Never trust a cookie picture in a cookbook, especially if it has brightly colored jelly or whipped cream in it!
booberry85
14 years ago
Ooohhhhh...I'm so sorry. It's so disheartening to go through that much effort and not have them come out as desired. Confectioner's sugar can hide a world of sins when it comes to cookies. Dads or significant others are made for incidents like these.

My Dad would love it if I burnt a batch of cookies. He would say, "Awe, you burnt them just for me. Just the way I like them." It would make me feel better and he would eat them all!

Ugly cookies are always the first to go because no one feels guilty about eating them!
annie1992
14 years ago
L, sorry about those cookies. Well, especially sorry about the time you put into them.

Drop cookies are good, so are bar cookies. Make these three layer cookies with jam in between layers, very easy and they look impressive:

Now, do the pictures mean you found your lost camera, I hope?

Annie
sooz
14 years ago
lpink, I think you've discovered the origins of the phrase "finger-lickin' good." They may have oooooozed jam, but that wouldn't stop anyone I know from running a finger along the oozed-out part and licking off the goo from the pan or from the parchment paper!
Cathy_in_PA
14 years ago
Sometimes I wonder if there's a grand conspiracy with all these fru fru cookies, lpink? That said, you get an A +++++ for perseverance and effort ... seriously! Each year as we sit around and share what our favorite cookie is, I hold my breath hoping my dad doesn't say "I like those apricot ones." Alas, he's had his thyroid out and I'm not sure he tastes too much ... so

So I've made 'em for years and it still can be a crapshoot. I missed your first post, but if this is the cream cheese recipe, I chill dough, roll thin, use a ravioli cutter, fill with Baker's apricot pie filling and really pinch the dough together in the center. Sorry to all the kifle purists, not only do they not look exactly like kifle, I also add some lemon or orange zest to the dough. All in all, time consuming, get some that deserve the "fru fru" label and to use your words ... meh for me!

Thanks for sharing your pictures ... they could be mine:)

Cathy in SWPA
User
14 years ago
lpink...I feel your pain. I never have much luck at fru fru cookies. Oatmeal and chocolate chip are my high game!

Thanks for sharing, makes me feel better to know I'm not alone.
sally2_gw
14 years ago
Linda, there, there, and a pat on the back, no, a hug for you.

The fanciest cookies I've tried making were Rugelach (I don't remember the spelling), and they were a hassle, too, dealing with the filling. I don't even know why I tried making them, especially since I don't like jams and jellies, but I thought they sounded intriguing, and just because I don't like jams doesn't mean others don't. Well, after all the rolling, chopping and stuffing, they turned out okay, but just okay. I think I threw out about a dozen that never got eaten. They weren't failures, they just looked better in the picture than they actually tasted. Oh, well.

Sally
pkramer60
14 years ago
And thats why I mooch cookies from the neighbor or hit the bakery! I am cookie challenged. Does that qualify me for the handicapped parking sticker?
sffog
14 years ago
no fru fru cookies for me except i like to "try" to make them so i get to sample all those "uglies" yummy, those "uglies" taste the best. if fru fru cookies turned out you'd have to give them away to share but the "uglies" we get to keep all to ourselves, heh, heh, heh,
craftyrn
14 years ago
Bet they tasted good tho ! Rugaluch are my downfall -- they end up looking like a 3 yr old was doing the rolling .
One hint I've found on a blog this year was to NOT use jams in this type of cookie ( unless you thicken it a bit with arrowroot or cornstarch )-- but to use a prepared fruit filling so that's what I did this year-- bought Poppy fillings .
BeverlyAL
14 years ago
Lpink, you were very brave to keep on trying. I would have given up after my first flop. And it makes it doubly trying when it's something expensive to boot.

Totally agree with Renee - the ones that looked so good were made by tricks food photographers use. Ever notice how when you go into a fast food establishment where they sell hoagies, subs, other kinds of sandwiches, they always have pictures of the sandwiches. They always looks so lucious and full of meat, tomatoes, bright, dark green lettuce, etc. Ever notice when you get your sub you can hardly find anything on it and it doesn't look anything like the picture? Same applies here!
Fori
14 years ago
They actually LOOK incredibly delicious, but then I'm not known for my presentation skills. Too bad they're only meh tasting.
proudmamato4
14 years ago
You're funny, Lpink. They actually look very tasty. We had our share of throw-aways this year during my annual cookie-baking party. That's why I stick with the tried-and-trues anymore. My sister, on the other hand, always tries something new and exotic, and we rarely get more than 1/2 dozen each (the goal is to give each baker at least a dozen for cookie platters).
Kudos to you for trying, though :)
Nancy
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
14 years ago
I know you didnÂt want tipsÂbut in case someone is tempted to try this kind of cookie (with a different dough) Â

Like craftyrn saysÂuse the canned prepared filling for these kinds of cookies. I make kolacki occasionally but I do think rolled cookies are a lot of trouble. I have all the ingredients to make some now but have not decided yet if I want them badly enough. Way back in college my boyfriendÂs mother was an expert at this kind of cookie. I wouldnÂt know how to do it at all if she had not written down everything for me in painful detail. When you read this recipe (itÂs 2 PAGES with all the notes), she must have been OCD.

The prepared fillings are engineered to not flow. They are less sweet, though. Different jams vary in their "melt and run" quality. You need a thick one to begin with. I like raspberry jam more than the raspberry filling. So to get around that when using jam: you need to use a lot less filling. Like less than a half teaspoon. I like a cream cheese filling too: so put the cream cheese filling in, then add a dot of raspberry inside the cream cheese, which keeps the jam from running. ThatÂs even MORE trouble.

I hate cutout cookies even more. They always get stuck in the cutters and mangled getting them out. And then itÂs like you HAVE to decorate them to make them look good, and I donÂt like that part. And IÂm an artist, for heavenÂs sake. Plus I have never found a cut out recipe that tasted good. Maybe itÂs because I have to add so much extra flour to roll them out that the proportions are ruined.
lpinkmountain
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the "tips" Linnnea! You are lucky to have learned kolacki from an expert!
The funny thing is, my whole original reason for making these cookies was to use up this "too thick" jam I had made. Yeah, it looked thick before it went into the oven. I guess next time I will add a little cornstarch to the jam, or use something more like a pie filling. Also, I am not crazy about the cream cheese crust. I think I like something a little shorter. I have a recipe for jam filled cookies and the jam thumbprints that I haven't had so much trouble with. It sounds like an interesting idea to fill the cookies with cream cheese filling. Doesn't that stuff go bad. I guess I should be keeping these cookies in the fridge or freezer. Next thing you know they will mold, now won't THAT be fun!
:)
teresa_nc7
14 years ago
Lpink, thank you for the best laugh I have had all week!!! I'm serious, I can't stop laughing at your written descriptions of you "fru fru" cookies. I bet they taste good, but seriously, do you do any writing? You should! You are very funny (whether you meant to be funny or not).

Hugs,
Teresa

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