The Cookie Thursday is a Thing show must go on.
Especially in this crappy month/week/year/administration.
Especially for the 10th-anniversary celebration of CTIAT.
The cookie for today is the first savory cookie that I made. I had to persuade people to try them. I told them that these were really similar to a cheese straw, with just a touch of spice.
People were skeptical.
They had never had a savory cookie before.
Not a cookie, more of a cracker I said.
Finally, my boss tried them and then tried to take the entire batch into their office. Seriously. I had to cut them off.
Over time, these became known as one of the bright spots for CTIAT. Easy enough with a food processor and simple ingredients.
This was the cookie that allowed me to expand peoples’ minds as to what might constitute a treat.
It doesn’t always have to be sweet.
Savory has a home here at Cookie Thursday is a Thing too.
This was also the cookie that struck off my recipe shackles.
Let me explain.
All my life I’ve been taught to read a recipe carefully and follow it. Including oven temperature and baking time. Also including how to handle the dough.
The original recipe called for rolling out the dough and carefully cutting out the shapes. I don’t have time for that. Instead, I wondered what would happen if I made small balls instead, or used a cookie scoop. And it worked! My mind was blown. I saved myself at least 45 minutes that day. For a workaholic, that is a big time savings.
Of course, Cookie Thursday is a Thing being a place where I experiment, I got right to work. And started breaking culinary rules left and right.
I experimented with lower oven temperatures. This meant I had to be able to tell when to take the cookies out as they baked at different times with the lower temperatures.
I experimented with higher oven temperatures. This also meant that I had to adjust the baking times.
Around this time I got really loose when explaining baking times to people. I probably caused a lot of frustration. Because people want concrete answers about how hot an oven and how long to bake. They would go away frustrated when I said until whatever you are baking is done. Because all ovens are different and a lot of different things can impact baking time.
I experimented with different cookie sheet metals. Yes, baking times are different depending on the color of the cookie sheet. Because, science.
I experimented with different additions to cookies, trying to see what went well together and what didn’t. An early success here is using orange flavoring oil, white chocolate chips, and dried cranberries.
The baking world opened wide. And my recipe collection got unruly. If I recall, this was when I decided to theme the months to make CTIAT easier for me. I could be more economical in my ingredient sourcing.
The biggest takeaway is that a treat doesn’t need to be sweet.
And my long-held baking rules are just suggestions.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 