An Introvert’s Guide To Cookies: 5 Baking Tips That Will Change Everything
Photo by Food Photographer | Jennifer Pallian on Unsplash
Cookies are the answer to every introvert’s fear—walking into a party without having a purpose. If one has a purpose, one also has an escape and can avoid talking to people as needed. Without a purpose, cruising the room for rounds of small talk becomes the goal—and for many of us introverts, this is about as easy as persuading a toddler to eat broccoli. The answer to this inevitable terrorizing social dilemma is a plate of cookies.
Not just any cookies can save an introvert from stalling conversation, however. It must be a plate of baked goodness that not only delights the eye, but also pleases the taste and smell. And, if one wants these cookies to offer conversation as well as edible joy, one must take their quality several notches above that which graces the Tollhouse chocolate chip bag.
This provides conversation, as people will always comment on the quality of a good cookie, especially if you can make your cookies tasty enough that even the lukewarm cookie aficionados are impressed. When my husband told me that I had to stop making sugar cookies because he was getting fat, I knew I had crossed into expert territory (my husband doesn’t like sugar cookies, but he loves mine).
Quality baked goods aren’t that difficult if one knows the proper steps to take, but as the majority of people never bother to learn this relatively simple skill, they will always be a bit impressed with those who have learned it. And this, my dear introverts, provides conversation on a topic about which you are actually comfortable and a bit knowledgeable.
01 | Follow the recipe.
I realize this seems obvious but I cannot say how many times I’ve had a relatively novice baker tell me that they changed a few things in a recipe, and then bitten into a very stiff, flat, or dense cookie. Experimenting with recipes is good and is a way to individualize them, but don’t do this until you’ve made that recipe at least ten or so times.
By then, you’ll have a very good feel for what is normal, any variations that might occur, and can adjust accordingly. And for goodness sake, never deviate when baking for an important event! A recipe that has behaved appropriately every other time will inevitably pick your event to throw shenanigans of every sort. Stick with very well-known recipes for special occasions, or make them ahead of time so you can bake a backup batch if they do not work out.
02 | Weigh your ingredients.
A kitchen scale is a tool of great value. Most recipes will come with amounts both in cups and in grams. A cup can vary wildly in amount depending on how you fill it. Weight, however, will always be constant.
Another perk to weighing your ingredients is that it saves dishes. You simply pour into the primary bowl while it is on your scale; there’s no need for multiple measuring cups, spoons, etc. Weighing ingredients is the key to having consistent bakes.
03 | Chill & roll.
This particular step is an annoyance, but I promise it’s worth your time if you want cookies that look appealing as well as taste appealing. After you’ve made your dough, chill it enough so that it will hold together while you roll it into little balls between your palms. This is messy and somewhat uncomfortable if you have prickly chocolate bits, but it makes for perfectly round cookies.
Then, return the cookie balls to the fridge. Or, alternatively, flash freeze them (place balls on a cookie sheet, uncovered, in the freezer for thirty minutes), and then pop them into a freezer-safe bag until you’re ready to bake. If you freeze them, you’ll need to add a minute or two to the cooking time.
Chilling before baking helps the dough to hold its shape in the oven. I chill every cookie recipe for several hours up to several days regardless of whether it is required. It makes for a better, more consistent bake. Also, if you freeze after rolling the balls, you can make your cookies months in advance of needing them, which is a great help during the holidays.
04 | Know your butter.
Butter is a key ingredient in baking, and most cookie recipes will call for either melted butter, softened butter, or cold butter. Melted clearly means that the butter has liquified, and cold means it is just a few degrees above freezing; softened butter is where novice bakers get stuck.
Softened does not mean warm but not quite melted; softened means that you take the butter out of the fridge and leave it on the counter until you can just make an indentation in it with your finger. It will still feel cold, and be somewhere in the range of 60-69 degrees. This allows the butter to keep its shape as you whip air into it during the baking process.
If you use melted butter in place of softened butter, you’ll get flat cookies. However, the reverse is not true. You can use softened butter in place of melted butter and typically the only result will be a more stiff dough. Know your butter, and be very careful to use it appropriately.
05 | Use chocolate bars instead of chocolate chips.
This one is personal preference, but I’ve gotten many more compliments on cookies that contained chopped bars than on the ones that contained chocolate chips. For the average cookie recipe that makes around eighteen to twenty cookies, you’ll want approximately four ounces of chocolate.
Again, preference dictates this; I love chocolate-heavy cookies, so I use closer to eight ounces per standard recipe. In the baking aisle, near the chocolate chips, are the baking chocolate bars. You’ll see many varieties, but I prefer the Ghirardelli bars. They are thinner than some other brands, which makes chopping them easier on the hands.
When you chop the bars, do a rough chop. Don’t worry if the pieces aren’t perfectly symmetrical; variety is the spice of life. Dump all the bits, from the larger pieces to the chocolate dust, into your dough. This will not only give added texture and visual appeal, but also makes for pools of chocolate when the cookies are eaten.
While chocolate chips will occasionally burn or become hard, chopped bars will stay soft. The process of making chips is different from that of bars and the careful baker can use this to advantage. Use chips if you need to mail your cookies, if the day will be very hot, or if you need to ensure the least amount of melting. Use bars for the other times for added textural and visual appeal in your bakes.
One extra tip…
For you single girls: cookies are a great way to make conversation with men. I used to bake in college and give my extras to my sister to pass around her co-ed dorm. It wasn’t long before I became famous with the young male population, but of course, none of them knew who I was; they just knew my sister and my cookies, and would beeline for her any time they saw her on campus holding my cookie tin. Do better than I did, and hand the cookies out yourself.
In short…
There you have it! A few quick tips can take the novice introverted baker into someone who not only has a great batch of cookies to present at every party, but also can pull out some cookie know-how to perk up awkward conversation.
