Day 34 - How to Cream Butter and Basic Drop Cookies

I'm off to a game night at David's, and I thought it would be nice to bring cookies. Also, I knew I was going to have to make this recipe, and I thought it would be better to unload them on other people than to have them in my apartment, tempting me.

How to Cream Butter (p. 425)

There's a whole mini-lesson in this book about creaming butter, not to mention a note in the margin about "the right temperature for butter." And STILL, I think I screwed it up. I left the butter out so it would get room temperature, and I think what happened is that the butter was so not cold that it creamed together with the sugar very quickly. But I couldn't believe that it happened so fast, so I kept mixing, and then I overmixed it. It had started to break down...

I guess you have to make mistakes like this to develop and trust your instincts for the next time. (Always looking for the silver lining...)

Jeff: C-
Martha: A


Basic Drop Cookies (p. 425)

As you know, I had a not-quite-ideal butter creaming step. And I thought about putting the creamed butter in the fridge right then to bring it back together, but instead I opted to mix in everything else and then cool down the batter before I baked it. (Martha offers that as a tip to help regulate the spread of the cookie in the oven.)

This recipe is very straightforward. No surprises here. The old regulars: sugar, butter, vanilla, flour, baking soda, salt, eggs, and... your favorite add-ins!

Hmmm, what to put in there?? Martha suggests maybe splitting the dough in half and making two kinds with different add-ins. Fun!

I went for a classic Walnut Chocolate Chip, and then I made something I call Goobers + Raisinets, which has neither of those candies but does include raisins, chocolate chips and peanuts. (Did I just invent a new classic cookie??)

Martha warns that this recipe makes for a cakey cookie, and true, it is very cake-ified. But I like my cookies that way. She does detail what adjustments one could make for a chewier version, and perhaps I'll come up with another add-in variation or two and try the chewy detour next time. Meanwhile, all my fears about the butter creaming meltdown were unfounded. The cookies had a lovely, albeit cakey, texture. Totally respectable.

I broke in my cookie dough baller (like a melon baller) on these cookies, and I have to say, those measured scoops make for a beautifully even-shaped batch.

The cookies were a hit at game night. All gone. Phew.

Jeff: A- (if I hadn't overcreamed, would they have been even better?)
Martha: A

Until we eat again....


Lisa, Allison, and Meghan (L to R) were the first gamers to go for the cookies.