To be honest, I had never attempted chocolate chip cookies before, though I have made chocolate-chocolate chip cookies, which is basically the same thing. I’ve successfully made cookies with interesting twists, like Peppery-Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chai Spice Cookies. Perhaps I was just not meant to make plain old chocolate chip cookies? Maybe it was not enough of a challenge? Did the stove know I was not living up to my baking potential?
That must have been it! So, the next week, I decided to whip up a batch of my personal favorites: Peppery-Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies. I do not make these often, because I am usually the only one who will eat them. But they are gloriously delicious and surely I could successfully churn out a batch of these cookies, which I have made several times. I was meticulous in my measurements and ensured all my ingredients were of the correct quantity and quality. I stirred the batter as little as possible. I waiting patiently to as the oven heated to the proper temperature, then checked and re-checked the recipe for the correct setting.
With all the confidence in the world, I slide my first cookie sheet of balled dough into the oven. What is truly awesome about my new oven is that for the first time ever, I have a window and an oven light, so I can check on the status of my baked goods without opening the door. I literally sat in front of the oven, watching the cookies. As I watched, a creeping sensation of dread began to invade my stomach – these cookies were quickly sharing the same fate as the chocolate chip disasters!
Yet again, I retrieved a sheet full of flat, crumbling cookies. I was stumped. Had I lost my touch? But I had been baking muffins with little to no incident, so why were the cookies any different. Mystified, I peered into the oven as I watched yet another batch of cookies go south. My new, beautiful oven…how could you betray me so? With your glorious flat cooktop and oven window and seven rack positions…wait a minute. There are seven rack positions? I recounted. Yup, seven.
The baking rack was in the wrong spot! Donning my oven mitts, I quickly changed the oven rack position. The current batch of cookies were already goners, so I hastily prepared another. I placed the cookie sheet in the new corrected position. Deciding not to tempt fate, I turned away and busied myself with some dishes while watching the minutes on the timer tick away. Finally, after 4 minutes, I couldn’t take the suspense. I flicked on the oven light and held my breath as I peered inside to find…the cookies were rising!
Yes, after all of that, it was the rack position. The rest of my cookies came out picture perfect. On top of that, my muffins also puffed up beautifully. A couple muffin recipes had given me minor problems, and now I knew the culprit. My confidence restored, I began baking with gusto. Batch after batch of muffins and cookies came out just as they should, warm with a picture-perfect chemical reaction and full of deliciousness. Was I ready then to take on my nemesis again? Could I conquer the chocolate chip cookie recipe?
Part 3: The Finale coming soon…
