when they burn?
when i go to the trouble of baking cookies, and go through the anticipation of serving fresh cookies warm from the oven, i’m horribly disappointed when something goes wonky with my oven (because it couldn’t possibly be anything i did wrong) and the bottoms of the cookies get burnt.
my first thought is to throw them out the window, along with the stove and recipe book in a fit of rage. actually, no. my first thought is to poke martha stewart in the eye. (i like you martha, but you set the standard so ridiculously high and make anything less than perfection seem like complete rubbish. that’s where i come in, restoring balance to the universe one failed project at a time.) and then i want to throw the stove and recipe book and cookies out the window.
but since the stove is heavy, and there’s that mesh screen on the window which i’d have to remove first before defenestrating said cookies lest they come bouncing off the mesh right back at my head…here is what i do instead. do you do this too? or have you never had the need? i hate you. i envy you. i wish you’d come here and make me some cookies. must make appointment regarding conflicted voices in my head.
i get out my trusty old grater, and just shave away the burnt bits.
scraping with a knife works too. i’ve had many opportunities (ahem) to try different techniques but i find the grater works better, more quickly and evenly. and i can’t be trusted with a knife so soon after i’ve burned a perfectly good batch of cookies.
see? bad feelings dissipating …
here is the recipe. i’ve made it a number of times before without burning them, so i feel confident in sharing the recipe. they’re delicious minus the burnt bits.
chocolate chip and walnut cookies
ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter (or margarine) softened
2 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 and a half teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
directions:
- in large mixing bowl, mix sugars, butter, vanilla and eggs til combined.
- in another bowl, combine flour with baking soda and salt, then add to mixing bowl in small amounts.
- mix til combined, add chocolate chips and walnuts and mix again.
- measure one rounded teaspoon at a time, placing them on a greased cookie tray, about 2″ apart
- bake for about 10 minutes until lightly browned (this step is very important, apparently)
enjoy!
p.s. join me here tomorrow where i have cooked up something completely different: imadeitso’s first guest blogger. some sage advice from a seasoned traveler…not for the squeamish. see you then?
I’m wasteful… I just toss them! But I love your idea :)
(and thanks for the kind words on my blog about Jayce!)
thats a great idea!
Mmmmm this recipe looks delish! My son was just saying this morining that it’s time to make cookies, because it’s been a while. Ingenius way to save a burnt cookie too! This has happened to me many, many times :) I had a good laugh over your reference to Martha Stewart, ha ha! That ‘perfectionist’ attitude tends to overwhelm a person.
Thanks for checking out my little blog. I always new company!!
ANNNDDDD awesome idea! I will pass this on to my sisters… not to brag but I dont usually burn when I bake… but I burn when I cook… any tips on that?
er…that’s a whole other post! ;)
I always end up burning the bottom of my cookies. It’s so annoying. Now I know a good solution. Thank you =)
Ha! That is a great idea! In an apartment I used to live in the oven was so wonky that I could never get a batch of cookies to come out right… ever. I should have thought of this! My poor puppies though won’t be getting cookies as treats any more though. ;)
What an ingenious idea with the cheese grater! I always blame it on the cookie sheets when that happens.
well that is a brilliant tip
unfortunately just the smell of burnt toast and other foods is such a turn off to me
but all I must do then is be sure and air the house while grating off the burnt bits
you clever gull you!
thanks for sharing the recipe too = yummy!!!
btw do you use silpat cookie sheet liners, better than parchment paper because you can use them again and again … I bought mine one at a time with a coupon and never bake cookies without them now
are they made of silicone? i’ve seen them, i’ve been tempted, but…i dunno. i don’t like to cook or bake in anything plastic-y. i know they say they’re safe. the only silicone thing i have is a basting brush, which i love. easy cleanup, and no bristles in your food :)
til then, it’s me and my grater :P
Yes Ana those are the ones
I am with you on plasticy stuff for some reason I got on board with the silpat … Martha may be to blame *ggg*
I just used our new plastic bristle basting brush … so fun and jiggly and it cleans up like a dream which is the same for baking … no messy pans
Someone gave me a red plastic bundt pan that I just can’t seem to use … doesn’t feel right
The grater idea is GD brilliant.
Admiringly yours,
Camille
:-)
P.S. I don’t bake but I am going to suggest this technique to my mother-in-law.
(Hehehehe.
I just made that joke up)!
what a grate (!) idea. wow, that unabashedly reaches for a whole new level of corny.
anyway, although i would NEVER be so foolish as to burn a batch of cookies, i’ll keep this tip in mind. it’s a good one…you know, for my FRIENDS who burn THEIR cookies. ya, thats it.
What a brilliant idea!. My oven burns them as well. Forget everything about a poor workman blaming his tools stuff, I am sure my oven does it on purpose. But now I have a comeback. – my grater. Thank you.
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Hey Ana,
I know this is an old post, but just had to say that the Pampered Chef stones are awesome!! You can accidently forget a batch of cookies in the oven and they DO NOT burn! :) They have saved me many times :) They do get darker, but are def. still edible…but I love your grating technique- it’s genius :)
I’ve grated toast but never cookies. The trick with baked goods is to bake them for 5-10 mins (depending on whether its cake or cookies/ biscuits) less than what is mentioned in the recipe then quickly open the oven, check and leave them in there with the oven turned off for the remainder of the time if need be. Cookies/ biscuits particularly keep hardening long after the heat is turned off (i.e even on the pan when its out of the oven and cooling, they harden as the moisture within evaporates…)
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I usually just use a butter knife and I scrape off all the burnt parts with the knife until it looks perfect. I also do this when the toast/garlic bread is burnt.
hi lee, thanks for the comment. i do the knife thing too but find with brittle cookies, they tend to crumble under the knife. the flat surface of the grater seems to keep them from falling apart. again, i wish i wasn’t so experienced with all variety of burnt things ;)