i have converted!
Bless you, djinnj, for finally convincing me!
I shall now extol the virtue of parchment paper.
For the past few years, I covered my cookie sheets with waxed paper prior to baking. If you put the wax side down, the cookie sheet itself stays relatively clean, and the cookies don't stick. (That is, of course, unless you make macaroons...)
I am trying my hand one last time at making macaroons, and have taken djinnj's advice and gotten the damn parchment this time. On a whim, I decided to use it to line my cookie sheets instead of the wax paper.
HOT DAMN.
The USED parchment paper is fucking spotless. Plus, I can pre-load the parchment and just slide it onto the cookie sheets when it's time to rotate, so I don't have to worry about spooning dough onto too-hot cookie sheets. Sweet! I can spoon out a whole batch in the time it takes for one sheet to bake, which gives me 30 minutes of free time per batch! WOO!
--
Also, for the record, the cookie recipe on the back of the package of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips is fucking awesome. People were falling all over themselves to compliment them when I made them for work, and oh_chris keeps stealing them this time. I'm going to have to make another batch -- but I need more butter first! Curse you A&P for being ill-supplied!
--
I need a good "baking" icon. The fruit is much more suited to "cooking", which is very different.
--
Finally, a question. I've seen a lot of variations on the Toll House cookie recipe lately. Do you follow the recipe as is? Do you use a completely different recipe? Do you deviate?
The only deviation I make is that since I use salted butter, I cut the salt by a little over half. Everything else is by the book. I saw one recipe that said to melt the butter, but then chill the dough. I wanted to smack that person! There's a REASON you use SOFTENED butter - it achieves exactly the same ends as melting it and then chilling the dough! If you're having that much trouble dissolving the sugar, try heating the sugar a little bit -- it loosens the granules, which tend to clump when they're too wet. I had a block of brown sugar that was completely solid once, and I popped it in the microwave for about 45 seconds, and it was perfectly soft again. Much easier to work with, too, honestly. :D
I shall now extol the virtue of parchment paper.
For the past few years, I covered my cookie sheets with waxed paper prior to baking. If you put the wax side down, the cookie sheet itself stays relatively clean, and the cookies don't stick. (That is, of course, unless you make macaroons...)
I am trying my hand one last time at making macaroons, and have taken djinnj's advice and gotten the damn parchment this time. On a whim, I decided to use it to line my cookie sheets instead of the wax paper.
HOT DAMN.
The USED parchment paper is fucking spotless. Plus, I can pre-load the parchment and just slide it onto the cookie sheets when it's time to rotate, so I don't have to worry about spooning dough onto too-hot cookie sheets. Sweet! I can spoon out a whole batch in the time it takes for one sheet to bake, which gives me 30 minutes of free time per batch! WOO!
--
Also, for the record, the cookie recipe on the back of the package of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips is fucking awesome. People were falling all over themselves to compliment them when I made them for work, and oh_chris keeps stealing them this time. I'm going to have to make another batch -- but I need more butter first! Curse you A&P for being ill-supplied!
--
I need a good "baking" icon. The fruit is much more suited to "cooking", which is very different.
--
Finally, a question. I've seen a lot of variations on the Toll House cookie recipe lately. Do you follow the recipe as is? Do you use a completely different recipe? Do you deviate?
The only deviation I make is that since I use salted butter, I cut the salt by a little over half. Everything else is by the book. I saw one recipe that said to melt the butter, but then chill the dough. I wanted to smack that person! There's a REASON you use SOFTENED butter - it achieves exactly the same ends as melting it and then chilling the dough! If you're having that much trouble dissolving the sugar, try heating the sugar a little bit -- it loosens the granules, which tend to clump when they're too wet. I had a block of brown sugar that was completely solid once, and I popped it in the microwave for about 45 seconds, and it was perfectly soft again. Much easier to work with, too, honestly. :D