People stand in line for hours to get Dominique Ansel’s cronuts and cookie shot glasses, which has never made much sense to me. I’d much prefer to stay in bed until noon and get a lazy brunch. But I was curious if those cookie shots were as hard to make as they look (spoiler alert: they were), so I decided to try it for myself. Read on for the story of one girl’s quest to make edible shot glasses.
A few things: I scoured countless websites for how to make these and took the best tips from all of them, I used a regular cookie dough recipe (any one will suffice, just add an extra half cup of flour so the dough is easier to handle), and I struggled hardcore. Enjoy.
Photo by Isabella Neuberg
First things first, I suggest refrigerating the dough before you try to roll it out so it’s a little firmer and easier to handle. Us college kids generally don’t own rolling pins (I’m not Martha Stewart in my spare time, sadly) so I improvised and used a wine bottle. Don’t judge.
Photo by Isabella Neuberg
Roll out the dough but don’t make it too thin, and then use an actual shot glass to cut out circles from the dough. I used a mini muffin pan, which was pretty much the perfect size (PSA: actual silicon molds made just for cookie shot glasses exist now… but that’s cheating, right?). You put the circle of dough in the bottom of the muffin pan, stick a cork in the middle, and then build the dough around it. Now here are all my different, awful attempts.
Photo by Claire Bartholomew
Photo by Isabella Neuberg
Trial 1: A wide cork without parchment paper
Unfortunately, my first attempt was a straight-up disaster. As you can see, this attempt resembles a cookie volcano rather than a shot glass. Lessons learned from this trial: don’t try to put the cookie dough all around the cork (especially the top of the cork), and don’t be discouraged if your first attempt sucks.
Photo by Isabella Neuberg
Trial 2: A wide cork without parchment paper…again
This attempt failed almost as badly as my first one. I did a better job of keeping the cookie dough away from the top of the cork, but when the shot glass finally emerged, I couldn’t get the cork out of the cookie. I used my superhuman strength, but to no avail. Lesson learned: this cork is wayyyyy too big for the pan.
Photo by Isabella Nueberg
Photo by Isabella Neuberg
Trial 3: A thin cork without parchment paper
I thought a thin cork would work slightly better, and it did. Except the cookie shot glass just would not keep its shape. It was endlessly frustrating.
Photo by Isabella Neuberg
Trial 4: A thin cork with parchment paper
I DID IT. I MADE A COOKIE SHOT GLASS. IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE A COOKIE SHOT GLASS. The parchment paper was the key. I just didn’t believe the recipes when they said to use parchment paper. What can I say? I’m skeptical. But the parchment paper really worked… duh. I promptly uploaded a picture of my success to Instagram, of course.
Photo by Isabella Neuberg
Photo by Claire Bartholomew
Except…when I tried to pour milk in my makeshift shot glass, the milk made a sad white puddle on my countertop. No one will be drinking out of these shot glasses anytime soon. Ugh. Since then I’ve learned that lining the inside of the cookie shot glass with Nutella helps contain the milk… well, there’s always next time.
Photo by Isabella Neuberg
In the end, I gave up and used the remaining dough to make chocolate chip cookies. So much easier and pain free. And I admit it, I’m a quitter. But whatever, at least I get to eat cookies.
Photo by Isabella Neuberg