If you are stopping by from My Sweet Savannah for the Fourth of July DIY party….welcome!
I’m so glad you’re here!
This is not just a post about fourth of July dessert ideas full of red and white and blue topped off with blueberries and strawberries….
…it’s really about life handing you lemons.
And turning around and making lemonade.
Truly.
And in life….when you have big Pinterest plans and you fall flat on your face and your cookie crumbles….
….you pick yourself up….dust yourself off….
….and make dessert. 🙂
You see….I had big plans.
Big.
Of almost gargantuan proportions.
I saw an innovative idea on Pinterest somewhere about making these cookie cups by turning over a muffin pan and placing the cookie dough on the back side of the pan and then baking it and making the cutest little cups.
Brilliant….right?
And everyone that I told the idea to….totally agreed with me. They all told me someone’s great aunt’s uncle’s cousin twice removed on their mother’s side….
….had made the cookie cups before.
And that they were wonderful.
And so I bought a muffin pan and some pre-packaged cookie dough and sprinkled some flour on the dough and rolled it out.
And sprayed the back of the muffin pan with cooking spray.
(total aside: will you please remember that I did this when you read the rest of the post). 🙂
Then I cut circles out of the cookie dough and pressed them on to the back side of the muffin pan.
And added decorative edges.
Seriously.
Look at them….little mini pieces of art.
And then I baked them according to the directions on the package.
I sat back at waited as the kitchen started to smell absolutely delicious. I couldn’t wait to show you. I knew how much you would love the idea of tiny little cookie bowls and we would both think up a million uses for them and ooh and ahh together and exclaim that Pinterest was the best invention since sliced bread.
And then the timer went off and I went to take them out of the oven.
I opened the oven door with great anticipation and gusto……
….and saw this.
*sigh*
And this isn’t even the worst of it.
Pieces of cookie dough were everywhere….spilling over the top and dripping off the edges of the muffin pan and onto the bottom of the oven….
…..and burning.
Seriously…..this is not how the Pinterest picture looked.
Not even close.
Enter Plan #1: Cut around the edges and simply cut out the cups.
Ummmm….negative.
The cooked cookie dough was stuck fast. There was no budging it no matter how hard I tried. It gave new meaning to the word Teflon.
Enter Plan #2: Try to cut off the edges of the cookies and hold them together with whipped cream.
I’m not even going to guess what you are thinking.
An idea totally fraught with peril that looked like a science project gone bad.
Enter Plan #3: Embrace the crumble.
Take all the cookie crumbles and add them to a monogram dish.
Good start.
Layer in whipped cream and strawberries and blueberries.
Top it off with a dollop of whipped cream and a strawberry and you have….(drum roll please)….
….Cookie Crumble.
There was such a life lesson here that I tried to explain to my kids after I took this picture and these lasted….
…..maybe 12 seconds.
I’m not really sure that they understood the magnitude of turning a Pinterest fail into an amazing dessert….
…..with a little perseverance and a lot of imagination.
No one really said anything as I waxed poetically about lemons and lemonade.
Their mouths were too full.
…but I think they let the empty dishes do all the talking. 🙂
And now…..be sure and stop by The Handmade Home for an amazing cookie recipe and printables….
…absolutely no Pinterest fails involved. 🙂
Nice save! I think the key to success is to know how to solve problems creatively.
And this is one of the reasons I love coming by! Lemons = lemonade here, for a perfect score! You have no idea how much I am giggling right now. I tried not to, I really did.
Thanks for starting my day with a smile.....again.
Looks yummy! And pretty! And the cookie bowl flop made a great story! Love your way with words! Sherry xoxo
Recipe fails = mother of invention. In 7th grade our Home Ec group was making eclairs for the class meal. We messed up and the eclairs were flat, crispy pancakes. Without a moments hesitation our intrepid teacher crumbled the eclair pancakes, added the custard and chocolate. Our new dessert...a delicious eclair trifle. Lesson learned, follow directions but be ready to perform recipe rescues.
KariaAnne all I can say is you are amazing and anyone who can go from cookies to lemons? Well, I gotta say I love you -- you are the sister I wish I had -- Knowing you makes life brighter . . . .richer. You make things sparkle!! I love your dessert. Instead of crying over crumbled cookies you made one fantastic post. Much better than an ordinary Pinterest cookies cup :-) And there is NOTHING ordinary about you !! xoxo
presentation doesn't matter- it's how it tastes, and clearly it was a winner and in the end they did look great! my pinterest projects never quite go as planned- i am better off with no plan to go on so that whatever happens has nothing to grade it against! ;)
Oh, KariAnne! You are one smart cookie!!!!(wink)
I would eat it! It look yummy!!! I love a good pin-fail.
Love that you shared a 'fail'! We all have those days! The end result looks delicious!
Soooo, while I love your inventive "save", inquiring minds want to know, did you figure out what went wrong? Since I also pinned the cookie cup recipe, and lest I should attempt the original version.... No step left out? No known reason why it didn't work? Then on the other hand, I think I like your version better...just bake cookies like "normal" people do, crumble, and assemble like Karianne did! Perfect! You're the best, Karianne and like all your other devoted readers, I SOOO wish I lived right down your winding country road, and we could share a glass of sweet tea, and laugh about all the Pinterest disasters that I KNOW we all share! Not to worry, though...for every Pinterest failure, there's a Karianne fix! You go, girl! Love ya, Lynn in Florida
What a hoot! Just poured my morning coffee and almost sprayed it all over the screen.... Kudos for even trying. Your kitchen antics always remind me Lucille Ball in the movie the Long, Long Trailer! Resulting cookie crumble looks delicious - like you planned it that way right from the beginning... thanks for the chuckles.
So THAT'S how the cookie crumbles! ;) Deliciously! I've wondered about that - the pictures on Pinterest are just TOO, TOO good, you know? I wonder if you put a cupcake liner between the bottom of the muffin tin and the cookie dough . . . . Hmmmmmmm . . . . I'll bet yours tasted better, anyway, and was MUCH easier to eat! Happy HOT Wednesday! :)
Now THAT"S problem solving. It looks so delicious that I wish I was having it with my morning coffee!!
Love you! Love the way you turned the phrase, "That's how the cookie crumbles!" into a delightful, lovely dessert! You are definitely a rock star! Thanks for putting a smile on my face because Hi Ho Hi Ho it's off to mow I go! Hope you have a wonderful day!
Wow! You are one quick thinker. If you hadn't told us it was a fixer-upper, I'd have thought it was just another one of your amazing recipes.
This is too funny...but love how you saved the day.
Ahhh, you too! I also tried these but was lucky enough to have my grandchildren over the day I was making them. The kids were so excited that it didn't work. I didn't even have time how to save the crumbles - went straight into their mouths!
Looks like a logical conclusion! I wouldn't throw the cookie dough out either, but like you, I would work to find a viable alternative! Nice solution!
For any interested parties, the cookie crumble was delicious. -The oldest son
I love this! And I am going to try to create it. I think the dough had too much butter to form a solid shape. I'd like to see that Pin. But I'm going with your recipe...consider it added to my dessert board! XO, Jane
Amazing that a cookie would dare to be imperfect in your beautiful kitchen! You are the original Rock Star! And I will make these for the 4th -- they are beautiful!
There you go again...making lemonade out of lemons and a fabulous dessert out of the cookies that crumbled....You crack me up!
Just less effort to eat them with the cookie in crumbles...makes it taste even better! Debbie
wonderful save of a big disappointment....you did good!!
You truly nailed it. I love this! Can I come to your house and eat it? Thanks. Thaaaannnkkkssss. ;}
That would be pretty normal in my kitchen. Way to recover! Looks pretty, too!
hahaha, i love you. and it's not a fail. Silly, sweet lady. Graceful recovery and it turned out beautifully. Bet it was delicious, too! :-) shaunna
When I saw this pic, I jumped with the quickness to get the recipe and try, It looked so tasty and beautiful....as I begin to read, it tickled me and I was actually glad to see that I am not the only one that has problems with trying to do some things from "pinterest", don't get me wrong I am always inspired and always up for challenge. But I really love this dessert and gonna try for sure. But I want attempt to make cookie cups....lol.
I had a similar incident with a Pinterest idea. Made little graham cracker crusts in muffin tins but they broke to bits after baking & trying to remove from the oven. They were to be filled with white choc. pudding & blueberries with a slice of strawberry (heart shape) on too for Valentine day. My solution...made pudding w/blueberries & placed in martini glasses with the baked Grahams in bottom & on top of pudding. Added strawberry slice on top + a free formed heart out of melted choc. chips. May make again...for the Fourth! The colors work perfectly.