As a child, did you ever love a food so much that you would risk the wrath of your huge and terrifying older brother to sneak the last one?
The other day my husband and I were reminiscing about childhood junkfood favorites, and I remembered how much I desperately loved Little Debbie Star Crunches. I had a sick obsession with these things. This most likely caused me to block all thoughts of them from my memory after I went vegan. Once my memory was triggered, though, I became dead set on the idea of making them myself. I needed a way to once again enjoy the taste/texture of the individually wrapped treats that I used to stash everywhere: lunchbox, pocket, fridge, freezer, bookbag, dresser drawer. It was kinda out of control.
I loved them primarily because of their gooey and crispy and hard to explain texture… which oddly enough gave them most of their flavor. I think sans the strange texture of a Star Crunch, we would be left with pretty much just “sweet”.
To recreate these things I needed a great filler, because the crispy rice and chocolate part is easy. The answer was the Medjool date! Dates are absolutely magical… I am super happy to have discovered the many uses of them.
These cookies are definitely close enough to an actual Star Crunch to satisfy my craving… without the long list of creepy ingredients and eternal shelf life.