An Experiment in Baking

I am not much of a baker...I enjoy a treat here and there (and when it is here..I usually enjoy chocolate) but I often rely on others to do all the churning and measuring for me as to avoid any baking catastrophe.  Sometime last year I began to bake for myself...I made a batch of cupcakes, followed by some shortbread cookies and then tried a cookie recipe.  The fated cookie recipe called for butter and since I didn't have any...I used MARGARINE...Now I am sure if you are any kind of baker you may know what I am about to tell you.  But my cookies tasted very weird, they tasted salty and no one wanted to eat them.  I later learned that margarine is something you can totally use in a recipe...but only when the recipe calls for it.  Margarine is NOT a substitute for butter in baking, as it is on a piece of toast (and I suppose some would argue that it is no substitute there either).

My problem is following directions.  I can read directions, and consider them when I am doing whatever it is I am doing, but any of you who know me well, know that I am a little loopy when it comes to being a stickler for rules.  This has gotten me into tons of trouble throughout my life; Breaking the mandatory shoe-wearing rule at summer camp got me bitten my a poisonous snake, Skipping class in High School got me grounded and Dressing up like Cookie Monster and stealing all the cookies in first year University...nearly got me evicted.

With all of this said, followed by my nine month pause from baking...I decided to give it another go.  I just really wanted copious amount of chocolate and the only way that was going to happen was if I made it out of thin air.  So I borrowed Kate's Krazy Double Chocolate Chip Heaven Cookie Recipe and got my friend Leslie and Tom to be my accomplices.

 Kate's Krazy Double Chocolate Chip Heaven Cookie

The original recipe hails from This website.  And I send a big Thank you to whoever invented it.  

Ingredients

• 1 cup soy margarine ( I used Earth Balance)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 tablespoon molasses 
• 1/4 cup soymilk 
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup chocolate chips 

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

 2. Cream margarine, sugar, vanilla and molasses until fluffy.  I used a hand blender, but you can totally get away with doing this by hand...With your big muscles!  

3. Add soy milk and combine.

4.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.

 

 

 

5. Mix dry ingredients with wet ingredients. 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Stir in chocolate chips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Place dough by tablespoon onto cookie sheet approximately two inches apart 

 

 

and bake for 9-10 minutes.

 

 The real Experiment was that we made two batches.  One with Whole Wheat Flour and one with White Flour. We weren't quite sure what would happen...as I said before I am not good at following directions and here is another perfect example...but I was just too curious.  Anyway, both cookies turned out REALLY GOOD.  the ones made with the white flour took an extra minute or two to cook...so about 9-11 minutes, while the whole wheat cookies took a little less at around 8.  The consistency and the taste of the two kinds of cookies were completely different but both were delicious.  the white flour cookies were gooey, spread out and richer.  While the whole wheat cookies were earthier and grainier (not ooey an gooey) but to be honest...You can't go wrong!  Pictured below are the white-flour cookies. 

 

Don't these look like heaven?  

 They sure taste like heaven!