Only YOU can know what “bake ’til golden” really means
My Pete likes to call himself a simple man, and by that he means that his preferences are straightforward; he doesn’t like complicated things, “wellness things.” He loves a really good carbonara. Lasagne. Meatloaf. He loves a salad for dinner, but it has to have really good dressing. And, chocolate chip cookies fit right into his list of must-haves.
And so, because I am a pastry chef and the woman who loves him most in the world, I’ve been baking him cookies – almost since the day we met. And while he loves me most in the world as well, and *LOVES* that I bake him cookies, each batch over these 7 years has been punctuated by the same commentary:
me: “how are the cookies?!”
Pete: “pretty good! But…I wish that they were….”
Sweeter. Crunchier. Softer. More stout. More chewy. More – or less – of something. Every damn time.
Because I’m a pastry chef, and I know there are a million ways to make a great cookie, and a million things that can impact the greatness of a cookie from revealing itself, I never really let it get under my skin. I’d take some mental notes, sometimes scribble something in my recipe notebook. We’d devour the batch, and I’d try again next time.
Just before leaving for our Wyoming road trip last week, I cracked open my notebook and peered over my notes, making a few tweaks to the cookies I’d made him last time. Then I set to work. The next day (when the cookies were able to be baked because – yet – letting the dough rest is a step,) I pulled the sheet pan from the oven and the aroma of simple, stout, chewy, crispy-edged, gooey centered cookies drew sweet Pete up from his computer.
He picked up a cookie off of the still warm cookie sheet.
He broke it in half.
He took a bite. He sighed.
Then he devoured the entire cookie and gave me a little kiss as I wiped my hands on my apron.
me: “how are the cookies?!”
Pete: “they’re REAL good, baby! “
He returned to finish his work, and I stood in the kitchen, mouth agape.
I had done it! I had finally created a cookie that he loved, truly. (And I proved it by him eating a cookie each day since without comment.) There was no guarantee that the tweaks I had made were going to make this the cookie of his dreams (and thus, of mine.) HE KNEW. And I just took the closest guesses to get them there.
The recipe I’m sharing with you this week is our Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Yet. They’re soft in the center, crispy on the edges, stout enough to stand up to a pocket, substantial enough that you won’t want to eat another one (until tomorrow,) and so so SO chocolatey.
And, they have a moral to impart as well.
The moral, you ask?
The moral of the story is that these are OUR Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Yet. More specifically, Pete’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Yet. (Although, he and I absolutely agree on this, unlike the use of things like herbs, the placement of tomatoes and the sprinkle of spice that I love but he hates.)
One person’s “best” could, unfortunately, be another person’s nightmare. (Although I am pretty sure that will NOT be the case for any of you!)
These cookies are so so so good because they’re mixed just so, rested just long enough, and baked until golden. Each of these very tiny factors – each of which is entirely up to YOU and not up to the recipe written on this page – will make them as great or as not-great as you feel they are.
After I had designed the Skratch Labs Cookie Mix, I was asked to help design the packaging and more specifically, to help give instructions for how to “bake the perfect cookies.” At each turn, the designers wanted to give a specific time frame such as “bake 30 minutes.” And I would not have it. They were so frustrated with me, but I was absolutely right in my determination.
If I bake cookies in my oven, at 5900 feet above sea level, in the middle of the summer, in MY oven, the result will be entirely different than the result that you’ll enjoy in your oven anywhere else in the world, in any season, in any oven. Altitude impacts the way things bake, the season and relative humidity, the calibration of the oven, and on and on. Giving a time recommendation for how to bake the *perfect* cookie is a recipe for disappointment (or, at least inconsistent results.)
We settled on the text of “bake ’til golden.” Which is absolutely relative, and will result in a great cookie every time. Because you – the baker – are responsible for deciding when to pull them out. You have to watch and smell, and consider what’s happening in the dough. If you like a softer cookie, you’ll bake until lightly golden and still soft in the center – your cookies will be GOLDEN. If you like a crisper cookie, you’ll let that golden color keep right on darkening – and your cookie will be GOLDEN too. With the same ingredients and the same recipes, come completely different outcomes and levels of satisfaction.
The “til golden” rule doesn’t just apply to cookies. It applies to how we exercise, nourish, fuel and rest our bodies as well.
The only person who knows what YOUR perfect cookie is, is YOU.
And the same goes for what exercise invigorates and improves you, over depletes you.
Only you know what foods make you feel like you’re thriving, and those that don’t.
Only YOU know if you truly feel rested, or if you’re depleted.
And only YOU can tell if you’re living in flow, or going against nature,
I’ve been seeing new Ayurvedic clients all week, using this ancient wisdom to make recommendations about how to harness the rhythms of nature in our bodies, what lifestyle shifts to embrace to live more in our natural state of being, what food changes to make so that our digestive systems, sleep patterns and senses of focus, purpose, calm and peace are in place.
I’ve reminded each of them of this “till golden” rule. Only they know if they’re “doing it right.” There is no ultimate measure for health, happiness, for perfect weight, or sense of wellbeing. There is no test I can give them. But they can tell me when things feel off, and I can guide them back – with recommendations that I know are in line with nature, and with the clues they’ve given me about their innate beings, their desires, their emotions, and the way nature is presenting in their bodies.
Just the same way I did with Pete’s cookie recipe. I took seven years of cookie commentary, took what I know about baking science, and put it to use. And for now, we’ve got a recipe that makes him sing. Maybe some day, he’ll come to me and ask for a different kind of cookie recipe, but right now, these Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Yet are GOLDEN.
That's ok, just sign up or log in to see this recipe.