Biscoff Cookie Cake

You know how pleasantly surprised you are when something you try turns out?   When I was younger, helping my mother prepared Thanksgiving dinner, I begged her to let me add crushed Fritoes to the dressing.  My deduction was that it was a "corn" product, so what was the difference between adding that or adding the usual cornbread?  It turned out perfect, with a lot more flavor (I thought) than the cornbread and I've been making my dressing with it ever since.

Trying unusual ingredients in recipes has always been a fascination for me.  Today, I wondered what would happen if I substituted one of my favorite cookies, crushed, for the flour and needless to say, that smile came on my face again when this cake turned out.

A few years ago, when I was flying to Kentucky to visit Kelly, Matt, and Ari, I flew on Delta Airlines for the first time.  Instead of "just peanuts," they offer a choice of snacks and one of them was a package of Biscoff cookies.  Of course, I chose the cookies :-D!  I was hooked and wondered where I could get more.  There was a website and I immediately ordered a box...I mean, a carton.  I sent some to Kelly and she said, "Ari likes dipping them in the homemade jam I sent along with the cookies."  She was amazed how distinctively he just dipped!  I sent more when she was going through chemo last year, and she told me she liked to dip her's in some coconut milk ice cream as a treat for enduring the drug regimen.  I was thinking about that today as I crushed the cookies and wondered if she'd like the cake as well.

Biscoff Cookie Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
12 oz. (1 1 /2 pkgs) Biscoff cookies, crushed

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup Biscoff spread 

1 cup pecans, chopped
7 oz. (1/2 pkg.) coconut

Preheat oven to 325F-degrees.  Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with baking spray and set aside.
In a food processor, place the cookies (in batches if you have a smaller processor) and pulse until they've become fine crumbs. 

 In the bowl of the KitchenAid, using a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Mix in the Biscoff Spread.  Add the crushed cookies along with the milk and mix just until combined on medium speed.  Stir in the chopped pecans and the coconut.  Spread the batter into the prepared Bundt pan.

Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick, stuck in the middle, comes out clean.  Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a plate.  Cool completely and dust with some confectioners' sugar, if desired.

To me, the cake tasted very similar to German's Chocolate Cake, which is really strange since there is no chocolate in it.  If you're lucky enough to live in the South or Midwest, you can find Biscoff cookies in your grocery store.  However, if you don't, alas, you will have to order them online as I do.  I believe this recipe would work with other plain cookies, but the unique flavor of Biscoff cookies make it worth the effort to find them. Enjoy!