Failure is a part of science, and figuring out what goes wrong is an important piece too. I kept some of the dough from last night’s cookie baking and tried baking them again tonight. It turns out that I was cooking them at the wrong temperature. I was using 375 degrees F (that’s what my recipe calls for) and not 350 degrees F. It’s amazing how much temperature matters!
I did share the somewhat over baked cookies and my normal recipe with the MIT students in my class. They were mixed in their response – some liked the crunchy buttery cookies, others preferred the softer cookies. They also wanted a control group. (How in heaven’s name can I do that? Perhaps Nestle’s recipe from the bag? Hmmmm.) Mostly they really wanted the cookies to be bigger. 🙂 Kate, one of my students at MIT, sent me this excellent article about investigating how each ingredient affects cookies. The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies. I also found this very humorous and fun article about The Worst Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Here’s how the same dough that was flat on Tuesday and came out tonight – this time at the right temperature. Much improved, at least, I think so.
A world of wonder 