For the love of cookies

I love cookies. I kind of love cookies a lot.

Baking was one of the first things I ever found I was good at – and once I learned to bake, my mother stopped. I remember my mother making this phenomenal brownie pie when I was younger. Once I could reach the knobs on the oven and read a cookbook? Those days were gone.

There are cooks and there are bakers, and often a person is one or the other but rarely both.

I am a baker.

And just as much as I love to bake cookies, I sure do love to eat them.

Baking is a therapeutic activity for me – sometimes, I bake just for the end result: I crave cookies, want cookies, need cookies. There’s a bake sale. There’s a birthday. There’s a {insert activity that requires a baked good here}. Those are the times when I like to get my kids involved in the process.

Sometimes, I don’t necessarily want or need something sweet – rather, I need the process of baking: I need to measure, mix, scoop. I need the scent of vanilla and the crack of fresh eggs into a mixture of creamed butter and sugar. I need the task of scooping dough onto parchment and the scent of those ingredients becoming cookies in a 350 degree oven. I need a cooling rack filled with treats and that first bite of a cookie fresh from the oven, chocolate still oozing.

My sister is a cook. She doesn’t enjoy baking. The precision is not her thing – she hates to measure. Baking is dependent on precision to a degree.

I think the fact that I love it so much is one of the key ingredients in everything I bake.

But for those of you who are not inclined to bake, here are some of my favorite tips on making good cookies:

  • Use real butter. There’s a time and a place for the fakey stuff. I understand, you’re watching your cholesterol which is generally a good idea – but fake butter has no place in cookies. The consistency will be off – and your cookies will probably end up looking more like tortillas.
  • Speaking of the real thing: Imitation vanilla is for chumps. I know it’s cheaper, but it doesn’t taste as good as the real stuff. It doesn’t even SMELL as good.
  • Know the difference between baking powder and baking soda. There’s a difference. They are not interchangeable.
  • Parchment paper rules the world. See that picture up there? My cookie dough balls are on parchment paper. This makes cookies easier to get off the pan when they’re done. Also, I break and burn fewer cookies using parchment paper.
  • Don’t be afraid to improvise somewhat. One of the best cookies I’ve had recently was a chocolate chip cookie sprinkled with sea salt – and I am KICKING myself I didn’t think of it first. Yum. Recently I made a cookie with peanuts, pretzels, M&Ms and chocolate chips. It was the Queen Bee of PMS cookies. Think of flavors you like and try them together – the worst thing that could happen is you throw away a batch of cookies.
  • Share. Everyone asks how I can fit through my door way – I’m always baking cookies, so I should be like ten feet wide, right? Wrong. I eat one or two and give the rest away. It’s just enough to kick a craving, but not too much. Also, it makes people happy when I share. And that’s awesome.

As time goes by, I’ll share some cookie recipes with you. Maybe. If you’re nice.

Do you have a favorite kind of cookie? Mine’s peanut butter. Or is that chocolate chip? Or oatmeal? Or gingerbread cookies? Or….

About sarah

Sarah is a book nerd, a music lover, an endorphin junkie, a coffee addict. Oh, and a goof ball. She writes, she tweets, and she sings off key.

Comments

  1. So, yeah…now I want a cookie! LOL

  2. yum. seriously, yum.

  3. Tell me more about that cookie w/sea salt!

  4. Hi! I just sent you an email w/ a FAB recipe. Will be doing a post on them soon, so try them out & LMK what you think! 🙂

  5. I adore a good cut out cookie but I detest making them so my favorites are oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip. With maybe a side of snickerdoodle.

  6. I also adore baking! Completely agree on the using of “real” ingredients! It’s a cookie for goodness sake! Real butter and real vanilla! Mexican vanilla is amazing!

    • I don’t know that I’ve ever tried Mexican vanilla. I’ll have to make a point to find it – is it interchangeable with “regular” vanilla?

  7. And, you make awesome cookies.
    And, you are awesome.

    REAL ingredients are the key.

  8. I love cookies and I love baking. I’m salavating just looking at your picture up there!!!

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