First time a charm for cookie contest entrant
When we called Mike Behringer to tell him he’d placed second in our contest, he was clearly shocked. Never expecting to win, he thought he’d just enter this year and “size up the competition.”
This is the first contest the Milwaukee resident has entered, and it turns out the person who encouraged him was none other than first-place winner Avis Chmielewski, who knows Behringer through her daughter.
Behringer’s cookie, Buttered Rumpa-pum-pums, won the Triple Play category.
Question: Tell me how you came up with your winning cookie.
Answer: I felt that this competition was a great excuse to experiment with ingredients that I don’t normally get to try. Hazelnuts were high on the list.
This cookie turned into a journey; not only did I discover that I absolutely love hazelnuts, I found out that not every lovely flavor tastes lovely when used with hazelnuts.
I learned why most people buy their caramels instead of making (caramel) from scratch, and I learned that recipes are harder to write than they might appear.
Q: What do you think makes it so special?
A: I built a solid base the way I wanted. “Should I add apple?” “Should I use rum or bourbon in the glaze?” “Salted or traditional caramel?”
All the little inputs and refinements while sharing something I created with my friends and family makes these a truly unique cookie.
Q: Is there any trick to making it?
A: Caramel is very finicky, as I found out. Just a few seconds too long on the burner can make it bitter and overpowering. Knowing when to pull it off the heat and getting the right consistency transforms the overall impact of the cookie.
Q: Do you do a lot of baking? What are your specialties?
A: I don’t bake as much as I use to, but only because I have been busy in other parts of the kitchen. Last year I was obsessed with mastering sourdough breads and grew my own starter. More recently I have been interested in making different types of pasta from scratch.
Q: Who taught you to bake/or, how did you learn?
A: I have many memories of making cookies as a child, but admittedly I was more interested in eating the dough. … I didn’t really take an active interest until a couple years ago when my sister started sharing recipes for easy no-knead breads.
Once I realized how easy and affordable baking can be, my interests in the kitchen really took off. I continue to learn from trying others’ recipes, reading books and watching the occasional YouTube tutorial.