Krispy Kreme Doughnut No-Bake Cookies

 Why make cookies out of doughnuts?

This started as a challenge to me, and an entry in our office cookie baking contest.  I wanted something original.  After a year of trolling Pinterest for cookie recipies, it seemed as if there really weren’t any new cookie ideas left.  The Snickerdoodle had been ding-dang-doodled left, right and sideways, so that was out.  I didn’t want a boring cookie.

Then I remembered Paula Deen, God love her heart.  One of my favorite of her shows was when she made the bread pudding out of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

I grew up on Krispy Kremes.  When I was a small girl, Mama would wake us up before dawn to drive Daddy to work at the chemical plant across the bay in Mobile, Alabama.  Our treat, if we didn’t whine too much was to stop at the Krispy Kreme store on Government Street and get fresh, hot doughnuts right off the line.  This may have been the first tiny spark of my desire to be an engineer, because seeing the mini-assembly line of doughnuts rising and dropping into the hot fat to fry was one of the most fascinating sights of my childhood.

We would load up on sugary goodness then trundle off to Maw Maw’s house (my mother’s mother) to catch a nap and spend the day until it was time to go pick up Daddy.  After supper at Maw Maw’s we’d pile in the old Plymouth for a night time drive home.  I’d curl up on the floor and lay my head on the transmission hump, watch the lights and shadows play across the seatbacks and listen to the tires trip across the gaps in the concrete highway.  Bump bump.  Bump bump.  Before long I would be sound asleep, to be awakened in my Daddy’s arms as he carried me up to bed.  It was a bittersweet day when he told me I had grown too big to be carried, and had to wake up and climb the stairs on my own.

Back to the cookies.

I wondered if it were possible to follow Paula Deen’s lead and make cookies out of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and still get that signature taste, smell and nostalgia to come through.   They would have to be no-bake, and the flavor predominantly “white.”  After a bit of trial, this is what resulted.  I think I got it right.  They **Are** cookies.  Technically.  And I’ll be damned but if they don’t taste like fresh Krispy Kremes.  Yum.

Warning:  they are rather rich.

Krispy Kreme Doughnut No-Bake Cookies

Equipment:

• 3 cookie sheets
• Parchment paper
• Large cookie scoop or tablespoons
• A really big mixing bowl
• Bamboo paddle or other stiff utensil for stirring the stiff cookie mix
• 6 quart saucepan and non-stick stirring spoon
• Measuring cups

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen stale glazed Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
• 1 8-oz bag golden raisins
• 1 5-oz bag Craisins
• 2 cups sliced almonds
• 16 oz Nestle Toll House Premier White Morsels
• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 4 cups white granulated sugar
• 1 cup half n half

2-3 Days BEFORE making the cookies, if possible.

The doughnuts need to be really stale.  Buy them from the grocery store in the box, and if necessary lay them out on a cookie sheet for a day to get even more stale.

Cookie Instructions

When you are ready to make your cookies, dice the doughnuts into 1/4-inch cubes.  Put the diced doughnut cubes into the really large mixing bowl.

Add in the almonds, raisins, craisins and white morsels.  With your paddle or a really large spoon, stir the mixture to mix well.

Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment or waxed paper.

In a 6-quart saucepan, place the butter, sugar and cream.  Stir over medium heat until the mixture comes to a full, rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.  Continue to boil, stirring continuously, for 3 minutes (set a timer).  Remove from heat.  If you have a marble slab or cool counter, set the pot on this to help it coo quickly for one minute, or until all the bubbles have gone, stirring gently.

Pour the (still hot) mixture–which is actually just a fudge base–over the doughnut mixture in the big bowl.  Set the pot aside and quickly fold the mixture to coat the doughnut mixture completely.  Try to avoid over-mixing, as you don’t want to melt all the morsels or destroy all the doughnut pieces.

As soon as the mixture is mixed, remove the paddle and start scooping out cookie portions onto the parchment-lined cookie sheets.  The portions should be about the size of golf balls.  Don’t worry about making them pretty at this point.  Just work quickly and get them all scooped.

After all the cookies are scooped, start with the first ones and, by hand, shape them into neat patties (kinda like hamburgers).  You can make finger impressions if you want.  Don’t freak out if they are greasy at this point.  The butter will seep through.  It’s normal.

Leave the cookies on the sheets until they are completely set, which will take 1-3 hours, depending on temperature and humidity.  Store in an airtight container in layers separated by parchment or waxed paper.