Over the years, I have made a few baked goods that pay homage to the Knusperflakes Ritter Sport flavor. Cookies and brownies mainly. But I realized recently that I have not given the same treatment to my other favorite Ritter Sport flavor: Marzipan! I may have to rank Marzipan above Knusperflakes in terms of favorite flavors, if only because it’s the original! The first Ritter Sport flavor I remember having, and marzipan has never let me down. And there’s something so specifically German about it that it feels fitting to be #1.
As I was looking through the blog to find those Knusperflakes baked goods, I actually found these Marzipan Brownies that Molly made back in 2013. I usually have a pretty flawless dessert memory… I can’t believe that I didn’t remember a brownie I had in 2013! They must have been delicious, based on those photos.
So I guess making these cookies completes the collection of cookie and brownie recipes to match the two best Ritter Sport flavors. Perhaps next I’ll make them into cupcakes.
This is, naturally, another iteration on my sugar cookie recipe. It’s just a very easy base to work off of! A chocolate cookie with marzipan frosting just seemed too simple to not make. The frosting has marzipan mixed in, but frankly adding some chopped up marzipan Ritter Sport to the cookie batter would be great. I should have read Molly’s brownie recipe before I made these, because she did that with the brownies!
I mentioned this to my siblings, but I’ll say it here too… I may have to try using marzipan as long run fuel on a future run. Long run fuel has been on the brain as I’ve been ramping up my running distances, and when I looked the nutrition facts on the back of the block of marzipan I used, I realized it had some pretty good stats. It’s just sugar, almonds, and water. And it’s calorie dense, which is what you want in long run fuel – you don’t want to be eating large quantities, you just need a boost with a bite or two. So marzipan may be perfect… I’ll report back to anyone interested.
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PinIngredients
For the Chocolate Cookies:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tbsp glucose or corn syrup
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 2/3 cups milk powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
For the Marzipan Frosting:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 7 oz marzipan
- 3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon almond extract, if desired
Instructions
Make the cookies:
- Combine the butter, sugar and glucose in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides, add in the eggs and beat for 7-8 minutes.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and add in the flour, cocoa powder, milk powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together – no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Using a 2 3/4 oz. ice cream scoop (1/3 cup measure) portion out the dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet – you should get 15-20 large balls of dough. Pat the tops of the cookie balls flat – wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. Do not bake the cookies from room temp – they will not bake properly!
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Arrange the chilled dough at least 4 inches apart on the baking sheet and bake for 18 minutes – the cookies will puff, crackle and spread. If you’re making smaller cookies, reduce the cook time accordingly. The cookies should look lightly browned on the edges (golden brown on the bottom) – the centers will show just the beginning signs of color. If they haven’t reached that color yet, leave them in a for an extra minute or two. Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before frosting.
Make the frosting:
- Shred the marzipan with a grater.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and shredded marzipan on medium speed until soft, about 1 minute.
- Add 2 cups of the confectioners’ sugar and salt. Beat on low speed until the sugar is well incorporated.
- Add another 2 cups sugar. Add remaining 2 cups of sugar as needed to thicken the frosting. Beat on medium speed until the frosting is smooth and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
- Give it a taste, and if you’d like an extra kick of almond flavor, add the almond extract.
- Frost cookies generously.