Katie Bowles and daughter Mackenzie Espinoza with their cookies.
Debbie Rogers | Sentinel-Tribune
PERRYSBURG — These award-winning mother-daughter bakers have a common thread in their cookies.
They like a little fruit in their desserts.
Katie Bowles and daughter Mackenzie Espinoza were winners in the holiday cookie contest, held at Random Acts, a Walbridge store.
Espinoza’s Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies took first place in the kids category. Bowles’ Strawberry Rhubarb Linzer Cookies earned third place in the adults category.
Bowles’ recipe is combination of the female influences in her life. The base sugar cookie recipe was handed down from her great-grandmother.
“Me and mom like to do a lot of canning, so she taught me how to make my own jam,” Bowles said. “Every year, we do strawberry rhubarb jam.”
Her daughter’s cookie concept came from the modern world.
“I got mine from TikTok, but we did a little things different than what the video said,” said Espinoza, who is a sixth grader in the Rossford School District.
The original recipe for the cheesecake cookies only make five cookies, Bowles said. So, they doubled the eggs and added a half cup vegetable oil.
“It makes it more moist,” Bowles said of the oil. “And, with the eggs, it makes it fluffier.”
Bowles heard about the Random Acts contest through her sister, Danielle Bowles, who lives near the Walbridge store.
“My whole family almost entered, because we all love to bake,” she said. “I heard they were doing a kids one, too, and she (her daughter) would love to enter.”
Espinoza won first place, while Bowles snagged third in the adults category.
Mother and daughter bake hundreds of cookies during the holiday season. The treats include peanut butter blossoms and peanut butter and jelly, Linzer, no-bake, sugar and coconut cookies.
Bowles learned her way around the kitchen from her mom, Carol Bowles, who lives in Woodville. Bowles has three sisters, grew up in Genoa and graduated from Eastwood.
Espinoza has been baking with Bowles since she was four.
“She likes to come in here and attempt to make her own breads,” Bowles said.
Those include — you guessed it — a strawberry bread.
Espinoza also makes her little brother, Tristan, breakfast, with egg dishes.
Chances are, the mother and daughter will not be in the kitchen at the same time, unless Christmas music is playing.
“Being a mom to a pre-teen and both doing the same things at the same time, we drive each other nuts,” Bowles said. “But, around the holidays, yeah.”
Tristan, who is 4, has shown some interest in cooking.
“He loves to whisk things, that’s his favorite,” Bowles said.
Bowles blunts the treats by often serving healthy meals for dinners. A favorite is turkey teriyaki.
“I switched over, from ground beef to turkey because it was healthier. And now I just can’t stand the texture of ground beef, so we do everything turkey — even burgers,” she said.
The baking projects may be on hold this spring as Bowles is planning her May wedding to Shane Tibbits.
Strawberry Rhubarb Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
2 cups butter (room temperature)
8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
2 cups sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
4-4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup your choice of jam (I use my homemade strawberry rhubarb)
Directions
To make the cookie dough: In a large mixing bowl beat butter, cream cheese and sugar together for 1-2 minutes. Mix in the egg yolks and vanilla extract until combined.
Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined and refrigerate for 2 hours.
After dough is chilled, roll out onto floured surface cut out your circles. In half of the cutouts, cut a circle in the center.
On the full circles, place a teaspoon of jam and spread it around a bit, then place tops on and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.
Once the cookies are cooled, sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar.
Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients
1 box strawberry cake mix
2 large eggs – room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Crushed Graham crackers
Directions
Mix the cake mix, eggs and oil in a stand mixer on medium low until just combined.
Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough into cookie dough balls. Flatten each dough ball into a disc about the size of the palm of your hand. Place it on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes.
While cookies are baking, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth, using a hand mixer or a stand mixer.
Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat again until creamy and smooth.
Once cookies are cooled add frosting on top and sprinkle with crushed graham crackers
Strawberry Rhubarb Linzer Cookies
Ingredients
2 cups butter (room temperature)
8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
2 cups sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
4-4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup your choice of jam (I use my homemade strawberry rhubarb)
Directions
To make the cookie dough: In a large mixing bowl beat butter, cream cheese and sugar together for 1-2 minutes. Mix in the egg yolks and vanilla extract until combined.
Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined and refrigerate for 2 hours.
After dough is chilled, roll out onto floured surface cut out your circles. In half of the cutouts, cut a circle in the center.
On the full circles, place a teaspoon of jam and spread it around a bit, then place tops on and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.
Once the cookies are cooled, sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar.
Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies
Ingredients
1 box strawberry cake mix
2 large eggs – room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Crushed Graham crackers
Directions
Mix the cake mix, eggs and oil in a stand mixer on medium low until just combined.
Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough into cookie dough balls. Flatten each dough ball into a disc about the size of the palm of your hand. Place it on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes.
While cookies are baking, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth, using a hand mixer or a stand mixer.
Add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat again until creamy and smooth.
Once cookies are cooled add frosting on top and sprinkle with crushed graham crackers
