Cookie Fail!
My cookies came out flat again. I've changed half the ingredients, bought new baking trays, opened The Joy of Cooking to Old Reliable (oatmeal cookies), and do I have cookies? No: I have a puddle of flat mush on parchment paper.
The major differences I can think of are
1.) letting the butter sit until it reaches room temp
2.) used warm cookie sheets
3.) West coast butter?
4.) AA brown eggs?
5.) Quick oats instead of standard rolled
6.) The oven is running hot/cold
The eggs are probably a red herring. West coast butter ought to be functionally identical to east coast butter. The oven thermometer suggests the bottom rack runs cool; that's why I rotate top and bottom pans about halfway through the suggested baking time. The sheets could be an issue; unlikely to be wildly significant. The oats could be a contributing factor, but the puddle-cookie problem predates the oats. Next time I make cookies, I'm taking the butter straight from the fridge to the mixing bowl. (Or maybe knocking off a tablespoon.)
Oatmeal cookies (from The Joy of Cooking, 1974 edition)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsbp (soy) milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup quick oats (should be rolled)
Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugar. Add and mix egg, vanilla and soy milk. Add and mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add and mix oats. Drop onto (parchment covered) baking sheets, cook 10 - 12 min (or so), rotating racks once. Transfer to cooling racks.
Roommate Number Three tried to modify his fried rice approach last night and sounded about this irate about how his experiment came out. Is it time to exorcise the oven unit? Or should we break into the liquor cabinet again? Studies suggest this is one time a binary construction is a good idea: mixing booze, ovens and exorcism just doesn't end well.
The major differences I can think of are
1.) letting the butter sit until it reaches room temp
2.) used warm cookie sheets
3.) West coast butter?
4.) AA brown eggs?
5.) Quick oats instead of standard rolled
6.) The oven is running hot/cold
The eggs are probably a red herring. West coast butter ought to be functionally identical to east coast butter. The oven thermometer suggests the bottom rack runs cool; that's why I rotate top and bottom pans about halfway through the suggested baking time. The sheets could be an issue; unlikely to be wildly significant. The oats could be a contributing factor, but the puddle-cookie problem predates the oats. Next time I make cookies, I'm taking the butter straight from the fridge to the mixing bowl. (Or maybe knocking off a tablespoon.)
Oatmeal cookies (from The Joy of Cooking, 1974 edition)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsbp (soy) milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup quick oats (should be rolled)
Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugar. Add and mix egg, vanilla and soy milk. Add and mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add and mix oats. Drop onto (parchment covered) baking sheets, cook 10 - 12 min (or so), rotating racks once. Transfer to cooling racks.
Roommate Number Three tried to modify his fried rice approach last night and sounded about this irate about how his experiment came out. Is it time to exorcise the oven unit? Or should we break into the liquor cabinet again? Studies suggest this is one time a binary construction is a good idea: mixing booze, ovens and exorcism just doesn't end well.