Doing Cookie things...
In the first post of my Daily Cooking blog I told the story of some Blueberry Cookies. Daily Cooking is dedicated to the interesting and unexpected things that I find cooking at work. The posts are meant to be short, easy to read and write. Any bigger concept will be in this Big Ideas section. At the end of the ordered list of ingredients I suggested to “Do cookie things to this”…
This is what I mean. I hate recipes. I don’t like reading them, I don’t do well following them, I forget them immediately. It seems like my cooking brain works through intuition, experience, and muscle memory. So I’m always looking for a bigger “model” or template to apply to any larger concept. The variables can change, but the ratios of the template recipe provide a framework.
When I’m thinking about cookie recipes, I want to find a universal ratio to the ingredients that I can adjust according to taste, season, etc. If you like crispy, less flour. If you like cakey, more flour. Sweet, crunchy, soft, chewy are all variables in my master formula. Here is what i’ve come up with through my years of fighting to not pull out the tsp, TSP, 1/3c,1/2c, measuring instruments.
1 stick BUTTER (cold, room temp, melted)
1 cup SUGAR (white, cane, brown, coconut, honey, maple syrup, etc..)
1 large EGG
1.5 cup Flour (AP, cake, almond, coconut, etc…)
1 tsp (eyeball) Baking Powder, Soda, Vanilla, and SALT!!!
1 cup Optional Additions- Chocolate Chips,Nuts, Granola, Dried Berries, etc..
Butter and sugar get creamed in a mixer first. The fancy French term is Blanchir. Make white and lighter colored. You’ll see. Medium high speed until its as light and fluffy as it will get. Then the egg. Repeat beating. Then everything else on low until just combined. Barely combined!!!
Chill in fridge for 30 minutes for best results, chill your sheet tray too.
Measure these out and pay attention. Practice eyeballing it. Play around with shapes and sizes
375*F for 10 minutes works for almost all cookies
Rest on tray, cool on rack. Serve immediately. Time proximity to service is half of the battle. Be brave, it’s easy.