I know it’s been a long time since I’ve been on here… Before the pandemic, I ran the kids all over the place – swim, school, gymnastics, etc. – and still had time to create and blog. Now we spend way more time at home and yet I feel like I get nothing done! Oh, the irony! Even though I haven’t been on here, I have been cooking a lot and exploring different cookbooks. And how fun it’s been! We’ve discovered some new vegetarian recipes that are delicious – I highly recommend Kathryne Taylor’s cookbook Love Real Food if you’re looking for something new! The African peanut soup is to die for – peanut butter in soup…who would have thought? But what I wanted to write about today is something I just learned tonight! Apparently, I have been creaming my butter and sugar together incorrectly for years!
Recently Josh and I tried a milk bar cookie that I bought at Target. Now I normally don’t like to buy cookies (unless they’re oreos!) because I’d much rather make my own from scratch. I’d heard interesting things about milk bar and wanted to try one. I cut it up into fourths so the kids could try it too, and it was great! We loved it…so much so, that I went on to Amazon and bought the milk bar cookbook. Several people mentioned in the reviews that you need to follow the recipes to a tee, or they won’t turn out well. So I flipped through my new cookbook eagerly and found a cookie I wanted to try – the famous cornflake, chocolate chip, marshmallow cookie!
It all started well enough. I made the cornflake crumb in the oven ahead of time and measured all my cookie ingredients out perfectly. I laid the two sticks of butter out on the counter for a while to come to room temperature. I looked again to see if the egg needed to be refrigerated or at room temperature. And then I started mixing things! I should have read the notes more thoroughly in the beginning of the cookbook – many of the Amazon reviews mentioned making sure to follow all the steps perfectly… but alas, I didn’t. I set my timer for all the various times and followed the directions on the page.
The cookie dough had to be portioned out and placed in the fridge (with the pan tightly saran-wrapped). It even said to make sure the cookie dough sat in there a minimum of an hour or they would not bake properly. Very well – I kept them in there almost two hours! The kids went to bed, I preheated the oven, and then I placed two cookies in there to bake. They were a flop! It looked like a very bad pinterest fail. The cookies spread all over the place! So, I went back to the beginning and read some technical notes.
While I had creamed my butter, sugar, and brown sugar for the assigned ten minutes, I didn’t beat them on high. It was medium, at best! And I learned something – the creaming process creates a bond between the butter and sugar. The eggs help reinforce the bond. If the creaming is not done perfectly, it’s not bonded. Excess butter ends up seeping out of the cookie, flattening it, and creating crispy, almost burnt-like edges.
There is one other cookie I’ve made that occasionally does this! I always just assumed it was an ingredient error (such as slightly old baking powder/soda). Now that I know about this bond that needs to take place, I’m going to try applying this same technique to other recipes! Beat it high and long! And you better believe I’m going to be redoing these cookies tomorrow. I want to master this recipe!
I know I didn’t share a recipe like I usually do, but for obvious reasons, I can’t share this one. If you’re like me though, maybe you learned a new tip for the kitchen! Happy baking! 😉
taste and SPARKLE 