Are you missing Hostess? Maybe not even the snack cakes themselves, but the *idea* of them waiting for you on the grocery store shelf? Me, too.
Add one more thing to the list that our children and grandchildren won't remember: pop tops, 8-track tapes, Hostess. (I realize you 20-year-olds have no idea what those first two on the list are. #imold)
I've never been a big buyer of snack cakes, unless you count the Chocolate Zinger phase I went through in junior high. Here’s what I miss, though: I miss knowing that Hostess snack cakes are there. I miss the idea of Twinkies. I miss seeing them in the convenience store.
I miss that white squiggle on the top of a Hostess Cupcake.
One of my mom’s favorite stories to tell was that when I was in kindergarten, she put a package of Hostess Cupcakes in my lunch box. (Just this part of the story makes me smile since my mother was the type of person whose breakfast consisted of a bowl of Bran Buds sprinkled with Wheat Germ.) Anyway, the story goes that at lunchtime, I brought the cupcake up to my teacher and said, “Can you tell me what this says? I can’t read cursive.”
Today, we have an homage to the Hostess Cupcake. Chocolate cut-out cookies, complete with the “cursive” white frosting… they’re perfect for giving anyone in mourning of Hostess (and their childhood). Hostess… we miss you.
The cookie recipe has a double shot of chocolate...and can be used for ANY cut-out cookie. My boys flipped over them!
Hostess Cupcake Cookies
For the cookies
2½ cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
½ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder 1
cup (2 sticks) salted butter, cut into chunks
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
For the glaze:
1 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3½ cups powdered sugar
4 Tbsp light corn syrup
6 Tbsp milk
For the cookies: Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder together. Set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; beating until combined. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary.
Beat in the melted chocolate. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, beating on low after each addition. Beat just until the dough comes together.
Pat into 2 discs, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough on a surface lightly coated with a mixture of flour and cocoa to about a ¼” thick. Cut with a 2″ round cookie cutter. Place the cut-outs on a prepared baking sheet and place in the freezer for 5-10 min. (This will prevent spreading.)
Bake the cookies for about 9 minutes, or until done. Remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
For the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk the cocoa powder and powdered sugar together. Add the corn syrup and milk, whisking until smooth. The glaze will be very thick, but still pourable.
Transfer to a piping bag, fitted with a #12 tip, or to a zip-top bag and snip the corner. Pipe the glaze in a circle onto the cookies. The glaze will spread, so don’t go too close to the edges. If some spills over the edge, it’s ok. Let the cookies dry for at least one hour before adding the white squiggle.
Options for the white squiggle: If you’ll be packaging and stacking the cookies, hard-drying royal icing is a good bet. Or, pipe a squiggle using marshmallow creme.
This recipe first appeared on Parade when Hostess announced they were ceasing operations. Happily, they're baaaack!
