Chocolate Oreo Crumbl Cookies

Summer solstice. The longest day. Twenty hours of light. Anchorage's annual orgy of midnight tennis and midnight fishing and midnight gardening. I went to the Solstice Festival downtown.

Lourdes is 76. She is slower. She still cooks. She still tells me to find a husband even though I have one.

I grilled fish Saturday. Salmon, marinated in calamansi and soy. The light at nine PM was still strong.

I drafted a blog post on Tuesday and almost did not publish it. I published it Friday. The publishing was the practice.

Pete texted me Saturday. He retired three years ago. He still texts me Saturday. The friendship is the broth.

I took a walk on the coastal trail Saturday. The light was good. The body was tired but moving.

The Anchorage sky was the Anchorage sky. The mountains were the mountains. The inlet was the inlet. The geography was the geography.

The break room had cake Tuesday. Someone's birthday. We ate the cake. We did not ask whose birthday. The cake was the cake.

I cleaned the kitchen Sunday afternoon. I wiped the stove. I scrubbed the sink. I reorganized the spice cabinet. The cleaning was the small reset. The reset was the marker. The marker said: the week is over, the next week begins, the kitchen is ready.

Auntie Norma called Sunday to ask if I had a recipe for a particular merienda from Iloilo. I did not. I said I would ask Lourdes. I asked Lourdes. Lourdes had it. The chain.

I drove home Tuesday evening and the sun set at three forty-five and the highway was already iced at the bridges and the radio was on a station I did not recognize and I did not change it.

The grocery store had no calamansi. I substituted lime. The substitution was acceptable. The acceptable is the working version of perfect.

I made coffee at six AM. The coffee was the start. The start was always the same.

The salmon in the freezer is from August. Joseph's catch. The bag is labeled in his handwriting — "for Grace." I will use it next week.

I took inventory of the freezer Sunday. The freezer had: twelve quarts of broth, eight pounds of adobo in vacuum bags, six pounds of sinigang base, fourteen lumpia trays at fifty rolls each, three pounds of marinated beef for caldereta, and a small bag of pandan leaves Tita Nening had sent me. The inventory was the proof of preparation. The preparation was the proof of love.

A blog reader sent me a photograph of her grandmother's wooden mortar and pestle, used since 1962. The photograph was holy. I wrote her back. The writing back is the work.

I drove the Glenn Highway out to Eklutna on Saturday. The mountains were the mountains. The lake was the lake. The body needed the open road. The open road did its work.

I made tea late at night. The tea was the small comfort. The comfort was the marker.

Pete and I had a long phone conversation Tuesday. We talked about the family — his and mine. The talking was the keeping.

Angela texted me a photo of the kids. I texted back a heart. The exchange took thirty seconds. The thirty seconds was the keeping.

The therapy session this month was about pacing. Dr. Reeves said, "Grace. The pacing is the love for the future self." I am working on the pacing. The pacing is harder than the loving.

I sat on the balcony in the cold for ten minutes Sunday night with a cup of broth in my hands. The cold was the cold. The broth was the broth. The body held both.

There was cake in the break room Tuesday — someone’s birthday, nobody asked whose — and we ate it, and it was exactly right. That is the kind of sweetness I keep coming back to this week: the kind that arrives without announcement, that you receive without needing to understand it first. These Chocolate Oreo Crumbl Cookies are that. They are big and a little ridiculous and frosted generously, and they do not require a reason. After a week of long light and tired legs and the freezer full of August salmon and Lourdes still telling me to find a husband, sometimes the right thing is a cookie you did not plan for.

Prep Time: 20 min | Chill Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 14 cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
15 Oreo cookies, roughly crushed into coarse chunks
For the cream cheese frosting:
8 oz full-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
6–8 additional Oreo cookies, halved or quartered, for garnish

Instructions

Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugars. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 3 full minutes, until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add eggs and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.
Incorporate the dry ingredients. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing just until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix.
Fold in the Oreos. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the crushed Oreo chunks into the dough until evenly distributed. The dough will be thick.
Chill the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This prevents spreading and keeps the cookies thick.
Preheat and portion. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop dough into balls of approximately 3 tablespoons each (about the size of a golf ball). Place 6 per sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart.
Bake. Bake for 11–13 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone. Do not overbake — they will firm up as they cool. Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese and butter together on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sifted powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low to combine, then increase to medium-high and beat for another minute until light and spreadable.
Frost and garnish. Spread a generous swirl of cream cheese frosting onto each cooled cookie using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Press an Oreo half or quarter into the frosting of each cookie. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chocolate Oreo Crumbl Cookies — The Cake We Ate Without Asking