So imagine the day when you show up to work on your birthday, or you’ve been feeling a little down and someone brings you a nice gift to cheer you up, unaware that you are in the middle of a strict diet that requires you to avoid all desserts and anything that resembles a snack food. With the best intentions the world has ever seen, your friend drops a wonderfully tempting basket of Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies in front of you.

Your friend will stand there with a hopeful smile as a tiny war breaks out inside your head. You’re not going to get away with a mumbled, “Thank you, I’ll try these later,” this time. They want you to give them a taste. Right now. They want to see that their gift had the desired effect.

What are you to do? Cheat?

No! You’ve been good for a long time now.

But then you think–is it really going to hurt that much? Plus, you’ve been craving Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies since the day your diet began.

Then again, all it takes is one slip-up to ruin all your resolve.

But those cookies look so good! The smell alone is irresistible!

And your friend looks so happy to have found a great gift for you.

This internal struggle could continue indefinitely, or at least until your friend starts to look at you strangely. Sometimes the only thing you can do is consider the situation reversed. How do you feel when you are giving a gift? Whether it is a basket of Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies or something else entirely, you want to know that your gift really meant something to the recipient.

If that’s the case, maybe it’s worth a little cheating. The Diet Police are completely understanding on this one. Plus, there’s a very scientific way of cutting the calories in half–invite your friend to sit down and share!

Tweet This Post

All right, class, sharpen your pencils and open your notebooks–the lecture begins now. By show of hands, who here has attempted to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies, only to be left rocking quietly in the corner, sucking your thumb and surrounded by sheets of inedible cookie mistakes?

Wow. All of you?

I thought this was a class, not an intervention. Well, whatever this is, I have good news for you: your cookies can change. Help me help your cookies. We’re in this together now. OK? OK.

Let’s begin with a simple but most important tip–use quality ingredients. This is the very foundation of your cookies; so don’t underestimate the importance of using fresh, quality ingredients. Let me break this down for you:

Good Foundation = Success
Bad Foundation = Disaster

It’s the same for houses and chocolate chip cookies. (And cosmetics too, but that’s another lecture.) So what do you need? I’m talking real butter, fresh eggs, real vanilla, and excellent chocolate. Your cookies will improve exponentially the moment you begin using ingredients that are magnificent on their own. Sure, they might cost a little more than lesser quality items; but think of them as an investment–an investment in your baking skills and your mental health. (Because we all know how happy a delicious cookie can make you feel, right?) Plus, it costs an awful lot to throw away batch after batch of awful cookie mistakes. That’s money down the drain!

Speaking of all these quality ingredients, let’s focus for a moment on the butter. Here is an excellent tip–use cold butter. The key to nice height and texture in your cookies is starting with cold butter. Softened butter leads to flat, sad cookies. You’ll get a workout if you’re using a hand-mixer on cold butter, but it will be worth it when your cookies come out perfectly puffed.

Another important tip is to use room temperature eggs. Why? A room temperature egg will help your sugar dissolve more thoroughly and, again, give your cookies better texture.

Our time is up, so let me give you a homework assignment:
1. Use quality ingredients.
2. Take your eggs out of the fridge early.
3. Leave your butter inside the fridge where it’s chilly!

One more thing before you go-if you’re thinking about cheating and buying my fresh, premium, gourmet cookies instead of baking your own, I have one thing to say to you–go for it! Who can blame you?

Class dismissed. Until next time, of course.

Tweet This Post