It’s virtually failproof. That’s what Fatboybakes had said on his blog when he dedicated a recipe to me out of duress.
I had blitzed 140grams of butter with 80 grams of brown sugar. In an effort to make it my own, I had exercised some creativity in switching the brown sugar for some fragrant ground palm sugar (gula melaka).
I then added one egg and a teaspoon of McCormick’s vanilla extract (RM20 a bottle).
I felt like a pro as I saw the beautifully blended ingredients.
Easy peasy as I threw in 150 grams flour and ½ a teaspoon of baking soda. Fatboybakes’ resounding reminder of baking soda, not baking powder, kept me alert.
I had a good feeling about this. I couldn’t possibly fail.
In went 150 grams of chocolate chips. I tasted the batter. Perfect. The palm sugar had added a new dimension to the recipe. I couldn’t wait to show off to Fatboybakes. Hmmm. Perhaps I’d bring him some cookies and let him try Lyrical Lemongrass’ Luscious Lovelies, I thought to myself.
Everything went like clockwork. I had remembered to heat up the oven, and I had not spilled anything. More importantly, there was no smell of burning peanuts.
Spreading out my newly acquired Wilton Silicone Baking Mat, I spooned gobs of batter onto it, and baked the cookies at 180C for 12 minutes. Halfway through (that’s 6 minutes for those who look for precise information), I found that the cookies had SPREAD out and mated with the other cookies!
I stared at the alien-like product of my hard work. Nooooo….this cannot be my baby! Somebody switched it at the hospital!
I prodded it. It was soft. Fatboybakes had described it as one of the miracles of nature, how the cookies eventually hardened as they cooled. After staring at the cookies for a good 10 minutes, I poked it again.
Soft.
My cookies were in dire need of viagra.
Thankfully, I had enough dough for 2 more batches. My third attempt produced crisp cookies thanks to a slightly hotter oven.
Where did I go wrong? Well, firstly, my oven wasn’t hot enough, so the cookies did not retain their shape when I chucked them into the oven. But more importantly, upon doing my post-mortem with Fatboybakes bright and early on a Monday morning, I realised that I could never be the American Idol winner. In short, to quote Fatboybakes:
WHAT? YOU USED PALM SUGAR??
♥
ooohhh, i remembered those alien cookies when i was baking too! well, that was a long time ago..never really did bake after that..hehe. glad the 3rd batch turned out well though 🙂
if it aint broke..dont fix it…
omg..i cant wait for another baking disaster oops adventure!
wow… not bad ~
now that we have heard many six-in-one pack on the guys
this is the all in one cookies :p
I only make those ready made dough.. 😉
ROFL…Hahahah…Alien-looking or not, as long as they taste alrite, right?
kekeke i think palm sugar is more damp than brown sugar hence created a wetter dough dat will spread just like dat. the last batched looked delish filled with so much chips!
ya babe, that’s what i told her…gula melaka has a lower melting point as well….
this is called “trying to be smart”.
*speechless*
less disasterous than your previous adventure but still, you so farny lar…i think you’ve redefined “hell’s kitchen”…hehe…
as mentioned before, “…I like your writings and photos lor”…not too late, dear…hehe…
haiz, so sad for ramiele
Palm sugar is gula melaka right? I don’t care the shapes as long as it tastes good. When you passing over some of the goodies to me?
Hmm… looks like some incomplete mitosis? (reminds me of cell separation in Biology)
lolz…reminds me of my failure proof steam cake 2 days ago 😛 but mine gagal teruk.
i think its still soft after 10 minutes because the brown sugar in the cookie couldnt crystalise balik after melted : P maybe you could mix both type of sugar.
well, for me now, the foolproof recipes are instant betty crocker mixes.
and hey, wat’s wrong with soft cookies? some of them are chewy and nice 😉
I used heavy cream one time to bake something (which I forgot) because I was too lazy to go to the store to get milk…well, they technically taste the same. Palm sugar as sugar replacement, sure, why not?! I would do exactly the same thing. 😛
sc: I take comfort in the fact that even the best bakers fail occasionally. I just wish there were more such stories to motivate me. hehe.
Joe: Sadist.
ling239: hehe. That’s quite funny. A 6-pack cookie indeed!
Mama Bok: Perhaps I should resort to that too. hehe.
unkaleong: We eat it blindfold. It helps.
babe_kl: I suppose I can use my leftover palm sugar in my coffee. 🙂 I hope that’s okay? 😛
fatboybakes: Now I know how El Greco felt when the crowd jeered him.
kennymah: impossible!
Nic: Ramiele is just cute, but her singing? 😛 And I see you’ve joined forces with the rest of the jeerers. One day you’ll pay me to eat mah cake.
Precious Pea: Now that’s the sign of a true friend. One who encourages me when I’m down. *slapping fbb and nic off…joe is too far down for redemption*
jason: Actually, you’re probably right. Now you know how it all happened.
Jian: Maybe you shoulda chucked it into the fridge to harden? 😛 Ok…I’m kidding.
Jun: Hehe. Soft cookies are fine, but when you need a spoon to eat it? Errr….
Rasa Malaysia: ^5 girl! I’ve used cream instead of milk in one of my cooking recipes too. Hey, that’s how great chefs are born, right? 😛
the tiny things look hauntingly like those images we used to see under the microscope , some time back . Food !
“My cookies were in dire need of viagra”?
Haha…
My cookies always merge too~I think they are such a united bunch.kekeke…
150gm chips w 150gm flour. That’s a lot of choc chips~ Yum Yum~
Eh daling, mana beli itu mccormick vanilla extract?
*adds to ever lengthening list-of-things-to-buy-when-I-get-back*
Aah.. I remember my alien experiments-gone-terribly-wrong. I once overfilled a muffin cup with banana cake batter and when I removed it from the oven, it looked exactly like those alien pods in the movie ‘Alien’.. 😀
And mana itu gambar?? 😛
*cannot refrain from bursting*
I really must come over to participate in your culinary experiments, Lyrical Adria
I feel for you, ZitroenRumput.
Once I made some nut and raisin/cranberry cookies and they looked like monsters from some dog-forsaken sci-fi movie and almost broke my jaw to boot.
My late dog loved them though. (Reminds me why I love dogs more than men!)
By the way, I got a “100 Cookies (+ other treats)” recipe book by Mrs Fields (ya know that famous brand and American lady, right?) second-hand at a flea market and so far, when I combined her lemon bundt cake with her poppyseed cake recipes, it turned out pretty good.
Will try one of her cookie thingies next and let you know…
I think those who are great bakers have to be german or something – you know, like not mess with the recipe and measure out precisely…whereas to the ‘agak cook’, a recipe just asks to be messed with, and there you go, it works with normal food, but after you become a great baker, you’ll be messing with confidence. Good to know you’re messin’ about in the kitchen – who got to lick the spoon?
Coooookies. Soft, hard, perfect, misshaped, perfectly misshaped… I love them all! Looks don’t matter, its whats on the inside that counts right? Right?!! RIGHTTTT??? *insecurities bubbling to the surface rapidly*
team bsg: If you look hard enough, they may actually move.
JOjo: United bunch of chocolate chip cookies, eh? Quite funny! And yes, there were loads of choc chips in there. Yummy!
kat: I got my McCormick’s vanilla extract from Bangsar Village, but I suppose you can get it anywhere? Wah, you so terror oso got tragedy story ar? Yeah ….pictures coming right up, ma’am!! heehee.
Henry Yeo: Not a good idea. The stove may explode.
argus: How come you can combine recipes and still come up with something edible, while I merely substitute one ingredient for another and it turns out really scary??? Not fair!! I protest to the dogs.
Msiagirl: Only germans ar? Okay, I got no hope already! Of course I licked the spoon after all my hard work. Boss (BE) was fast asleep not knowing about the fiasco in the kitchen!
Paps: Rightttttt. If you’re talking about cookies, that is. 😛
Hahaha.. no worries about the photos. I’ve found a way to view them, and other ‘well-guarded’ sites for the time being. The glorious ppl of AD were enjoying being loved by you as you so lovingly and diligently uploaded the photos onto another more accessible site.. 😀
A shout out to FBB ‘More recipe dedications to LL pls’. Very the entertaining-la.
Heee…I don’t really believe in failproof baking recipes because no matter how hard I try, failproof baking always fail me. Oh yes, I am the proof that it fails – thus failproof. Sigh…..
Your choc chip cookies looks overloaded with choc chips! I like that 😛
no worries..it’ll get better nxt time.. im a dummie at baking too..but Mrs fields cookies are awesome and they’re soft !
oh nooooooo i didn’t mean to say you’re a dummie =.= gosh…can you tell that i dont comment much..so so so sorry!!
Kat: Tell me how you did it! I am so pleased for the glorious people of Abu Dhabi!!! They certainly deserve to see flickr pics….and much more.
Tummythoz: Grrrrrr. I see FBB’s got allies.
tigerfish: My dear, dear tigerfish….you have certainly not failed in anything. Looking at your blog, you’re a genius lar. Are my choc chip cookies really overloaded?? I didn’t realise that since this is my first time. It tastes glorious though.
baconbob: welcome welcome! Don’t worry…FBB has already implied that he’ll have to conduct Baking For Dummies classes, with an obvious inference to me!
eh, I told you right, just listen to FBB, you can’t go wrong wan… hahahaha
U r getting close!!!!! Keep trying!
Poetic Zitronegras, I’ve learnt to ‘mess’ in a saner way. Other Half, exasperated, scolds me: “Why you say I should follow recipe exactly and then you tell me the duck was too oily?” Ja, luv, savoury cooking – can taroh saje and halve the oil; baking not so boleh.
whats this about only germans being good bakers? where’s nigel skelchy? eh nigel, pergi bagi penampar satu to msiagirl.
i want argus’ mrs fields book! i used to LURVEEEEEEEE her brownies. used to get a friend bring back from oz for me… then it opened here, and i lost interest.
FBB, you may NOT have my Mrs Fields goodies book till I’ve tried 23 of her recipes. (Why 23? Nice prime number, that’s why!) It even has an inscription from an American to the Swiss person who used to own the book. Heh.
Oooo… I used to covet her chewy cookies. *droools*
Bernsy: There are other factors too, like having his canggih oven and his canggih mixer and all his canggih tools. hehe.
daphne: I kin do it!
argus: Ya lor…cooking can easily rectify wan…with baking, you’re stuck with what you have! 🙁
fatboybakes: yeah, whack Msiagirl with a long french loaf. That’ll teach her a lesson! So…it’s all in the chase, eh?
argus: what’s the problem? Bring here and we photostat only mah. How many copies y’all wan? Any number oso can wan (inscription included!).
hee hee, that comment got a rise didn’t it! What… you bakers must have some german lurking in you, even if it is a state of mind onlylah! What’s that about your French Loaf? 😉 Big Grin.
So sorry for not visiting more often. I did not realise that you changed your URL :O I am going to update my blog roll right now.
Oh. So this is where the French loaf came from. Haiya… make me suspend onli… 😛
LL, why french roll? malaysian roll cannot ah? not hard enough? not long enough? what? what?
Msiagirl: The comment got a rise, or FBB’s french loaf got a rise? Big grin.
Cynthia: Awww…I’m glad you found me…better late than never! hehe.
Kenny Mah: But of course. Isn’t this a regular french bakery then? A place for old friends to meet over a french loaf?
fatboybakes: DUH. Isn’t it obvious? Malaysians DO NOT HAVE french loaves.
LL, i beg to differ. we have great french loaves here.
hard or not, it’s how one work (or bake) it.
and we make great toppings.
and btw, what’s so great about biting into something so hard that makes one’s gum crying in pain. chupa chups’ better, right?
🙂
Nic.
French loaves here are one in a million. And I’ve tried all ONE of it. What kinda toppings you talking about?
I’ll have to agree with you about the chupa chups though. 😛
excuse me, there are minors lurking around here ya know…(looking around for nipples etc)
wha…at? french loaves and chuppa chups? Nipples is old enough. He’s all of 22.
I’m all foncused — first French loaf, then French roll, suspicious toppings and Chupa Chups?! wth?
Methinks I’ll make a silly-type Swiss roll and call it The Blog Roll.
Want ah?
I once baked chocolate cake and after taking out from the oven, it has a huge crack in the middle. My brother and sister laughed hysterically at me and called it “Volcano”. I never baked chock cake again until last year!
And as long as it taste good – looks does not matter much! 🙂
i had once baked chocolate cookies that ended up the same condition just like you..wasted the whole block of chocolate..haha
i dunno which bakers you have been mixing with….(get it? bakers? mixing? hahah, shout if you knead any help), but we certainly have malaysian made french loaves here. in fact, after a certain hour in tesco, (when everyone’s about to go home) they’re darn cheap too. they yell out in their plaintive msian french accent…. (i leave someone else to describe what they yell)
i get goosebumps when looking at the last pic :p
I wonder if this happens to all first timers. Mine also turned out to be soft during my first cookies baking attempt. *Ahem*…no pun intended.
walio! need invite me to taste those luxurious cookies that you had baked!