Let me start by talking about these two cookies. Both of these cookies were made on the same day, using the same recipe. They're chewy ginger molasses cookies that I made last week, and after rave reviews, I wanted to make them again.
Well, some days just don't go your way. With baking, it seems like you are either on it or cursed. It wasn't a bad day baking and I found an excellent new lemon cookie recipe, but I was extraordinarily disappointed at the result.
In fact, my mom was visiting and I said, "wait until these cookies are done, you're going to love them". I didn't think my oven was working! What were these dense little bricks of dough? Why weren't they flattening out? I put one in my mouth and they were dry and tasted ok, but I was scratching my head wondering what the heck happened to make them so different than last week's batch. After all, I did use the same recipe!
Thinking back, I realized that I forgot to follow one important step. This particular recipe was odd because it called for melted butter. Most of my cookies call for room temp or softened butter or shortening. In my haste, I forgot to melt the butter. Butter is butter, right? Absolutely not, and that's what prompted this blog. In all my cookie baking adventures, I have found that execution is everything.
For instance, I found through trial and error that my butter, eggs and sugar needed to be creamed for a certain amount of time if I wanted a thicker, chewier cookie. Butter that was too soft or not properly mixed yielded a completely different texture. I have even found that I prefer a combination of slightly chilled butter and butter flavored shortening for my chocolate chip cookies.
The point is, following the recipe is important, but that doesn't mean you can't find your own personal tricks. Trial and error sometimes turn into beautiful discoveries and also trash-can worthy bricks. Those molasses cookies that didn't turn out (top cookie) weren't bad, but the second batch (bottom cookie) was the desired result.
Do you keep track of what works and what doesn't in your recipe book? What are some things you do to make sure your cookies turn out just right? I'm going to keep baking and learning and making tasty cookies, while knowing full well that sometimes I'm going to screw up! The best compliment I got recently was from one of my high school students who had a cookie at the band concert. She said, "Mrs. Sprague, those cookies were SLAPPIN'". Hey-I'll take it!
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