My Choice To Stay and Play…

One winter as a small child in southwest Iowa, I lingered after school for a few minutes to play in one of the season’s first big snowfalls. 
I only had knitted mittens to protect my tiny fingers. 
Before long– I was cold and wet and headed for home. 
My friend wasn’t walking with me that day, and my sister had walked with her friend. 

I was alone.

Less than half-way home-
My hands felt like they had a cold burn. 
It’s the only way I knew then, and remember now, how to describe it. 
I quietly sobbed as I tried to hurry awkwardly in snow boots and soaked pants. 

My choice to stay and play would have a lifetime of consequences. 

I arrived home. 
My fingers were ashen white. Mom warmed them slowly in front of a heating vent as I cried. 
I’ve had a hypersensitivity to cold ever since. 

So what did I learn?
Perhaps to follow sound advice…
Staying to play in the snow after school was against our family rule. 

The rule didn’t make sense to me–
until it did. 

Is our spiritual learning the same?
How do we feel about God’s rules?
Do we test our faith in ways that help or hinder our spiritual progression?

Sometimes, the effects of our decision making follow us the rest of our lives- for good or for bad. 
Repentance is always available.
And God gives us unlimited chances to get it right. 
Yet I’ve left a small wake of unavoidable consequences when my lack of efforts hurt others. 
My only path out is to repent and try again and truly recognize freedom from the guilt and shame of mistakes is to utilize the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

How about baking…?
Making mistakes?
Getting frustrated with recipes not working out?

Today–
It’s about preparing for the season of Cookies and Christ that lies ahead. 

On the cookie side of things–
I’m including a section of Treat Making Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting. 

On the Christ side of things–
Come prepared next week with a question– or even a few. 
Let your spiritual heart ponder and prepare to learn something that will carry you through the season of potential imminent snow storms – the literal and figurative ones. 
Work to let God answer your questions as you learn to better understand who Jesus Christ is and how His entire ministry is designed to bless you. 

His ways don’t always make sense to us– 
until they do…

Coming soon-
Cookies and Christ 2026!

-JC

Treat Making Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting

Ingredients
Not all ingredients are created the same. Eggs come in different sizes, flour has different amounts of gluten, butter varies in fat and liquidity by brand… and the list continues. Play around with what you buy – and when you find a brand that works well and creates the treat the way you like it stick with it. Be mindful of leveling agents and their expiration dates. Baking soda should be stored in an air-tight container. Left in its box, it will absorb any smells that linger near it.  These odors transfer into your baked goods, affecting the taste. 

Let’s further address eggs, flour, and butter. These main ingredients contribute to different results more than anything else.
An egg should be just shy of 1/4 of a cup. Large eggs typically fit this amount. If your eggs are too small, and the recipe calls for two eggs, consider adding an extra egg yolk to bring the measurement to just shy of half a cup. I always crack my eggs into a half cup measurer. This way if I accidentally get a shell, I’m able to retrieve it before I dump it into my batter. It also serves as a measurement to make sure I’m getting the right amount of binding agent with my eggs.
Flour is less of a problem brand to brand, and a bigger problem with how it is measured. I address that below. 
Butter is a huge variability in your baked goods. European butter is elite due to its fat content. But it also has an elite price tag. The difference lies in how much fat/water is in the butter. The more water, the flatter your baked goods will be. Whether you use salted or unsalted becomes preference. In recipes, salt’s purpose is to enhance flavor and balance sweetness. A different baker will have a different opinion on which one they think is best. I use salted butter. 

Measuring
I’ve been baking for over 30 years. I measure every ingredient exactly – every single time. If you try to eyeball it, and your recipes don’t turn out consistently, go back to basics. Measure exactly.
Brown sugar needs to be packed. This could be done by spooning it into a measuring cup and packing it down with the back of the spoon.  Flour should never be packed. If you take your cup measure and scoop from the bag or large container to fill up a cup all at once, you’re essentially packing the flour. This drives more product into your recipe and will result in a dry texture. Flour should be spooned into the cup measurer one spoonful at a time. Once your cup is full, then level off the excess. All other dry ingredients such as granulated sugar, powdered sugar, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, spices, etc. should be measured and leveled. The back of a knife works great for leveling.

Butter, eggs, sour cream, and cream cheese are best to use at room temperature, unless otherwise directed. This eliminates lumps and creates a better, more uniform texture with the end product. Using cold butter can sometimes fast-forward a recipe that suggests chilling. But it is imperative to make sure that it is completely mixed with an electric mixer to avoid clumps that will independently melt.

Add-ins
Add-ins of chocolate chips, flavored chips, candies, coconut, nuts, etc. vary in quality from brand to brand. As you experiment, you’ll typically find that the higher the quality, the better the end result.

Mixing
Attention to detail is necessary when mixing your dough. Follow the instructions specific to each recipe. If you use cold butter, cut it into small ½ “ size pieces to ensure it is properly mixed. To cream butter and sugar, I prefer to use an electric mixer. You can mix by hand. Just be thorough and prepare for a great arm workout. Once you add the eggs, avoid over mixing. If you mix too aggressively after the eggs have been added to cookies, you will add too much air and either create more of a cake-like texture or your cookie may rise, then collapse.
Dry ingredients are stirred just until combined. Over mixing at this stage will over- engage the gluten and result in an overly tough or dense texture.

Dough Size and Consistency
Each cookie recipe suggests the number of cookies the dough should make. Obviously, you can make them smaller or larger, depending on preference. Understand, the biggest change you will need to make is how long you bake them. No matter what size you choose, cookies need to be consistent in size so they will bake evenly. I prefer to use a cookie scoop to ensure this. After you form a cookie dough ball, gently roll them. Do not apply excessive pressure as you roll, or you will compact the dough and change the structure of the cookie, making it more dense.

Elevation
There is no exact science as to the adjustments you can make in regards to baking at high elevation (approximately 3000+ feet). The easiest changenis to add a couple of extra tablespoons of flour. Again, given so many variables, experiment with what works best.
The elevation can cause cookies to collapse and flatten. Additional tweaks in moisture, leveling agents, and oven temperatures can be addressed. But I would leave these adjustments to an expert baker.

Chilling
Chilling cookie dough before you bake it will change the structure of your cookie as well as enhance the flavor and texture. Unless I’m in a hurry. I always chill my dough after I form it into dough balls. I actually usually have a freezer full of different flavored cookie dough balls. Then, anytime I want to bake, my dough is ready to go. I bake my dough straight from frozen. Therefore, I bake it for an extra minute or two depending on the size of the dough ball. Frozen cookie dough, stored in an air-tight container, is good for at least a few weeks, potentially longer. I lazily store mine in a freezer-strength Ziploc and typically use it within two weeks. Cookies in this cookbook have been photographed using the chilled dough method.

Ovens
Oven temperature will absolutely determine the success of your baked goods. You can get an oven safe thermometer to check to see how accurate your oven comes to temperature. If it is not accurate, you can adjust your oven. See the owner’s manual for how to do this. Or, adjust the dial a little bit higher if your oven runs colder, and lower if your oven runs hot. A gas oven versus an electric oven will absolutely change your baked goods as well. A gas oven turns on and off during the baking cycle, oftentimes creating a hotspot. Be mindful of this. If there’s always a cookie extra well done in the back right corner on your baking sheet, leave that spot empty. Gas ovens are great for bread and cakes because they offer a more humid climate. They are less ideal for cookies. If you have a gas oven and your cookies lack the exterior crunch, you love—it’s not you—It’s your oven.

Be mindful of where your oven racks are placed. I prefer to bake my cookies about 1/3 from the bottom of the oven. Experiment with where you find yours turn out best. And be consistent once you find a finished product you like.

Baking pan
When it comes to cookies, bar treats and brownies, the baking pan you choose matters significantly.
Both the size and material will affect your end product.
I avoid glass and prefer straight edges versus rounded edges. I stick with high-quality aluminum baking pans. Avoid dark, enameled, baking sheets. These are pretty, but will often burn the bottom of your baked goods. For cookies, I prefer an edgeless insulated aluminum baking sheet. I always use parchment paper, and then slide the entire sheet of parchment with the cookies onto my counter once they’re out of the oven to better halt the baking process. For crisp bottoms, you can transfer to a baking rack. I do not use them. Be mindful of using a hot baking sheet for batches after the first one.  Never place cookie dough on a hot baking sheet and let it rest while another batch bakes. This will result in pre-mature spreading. Depending on your baking sheets, subsequent batches may bake for a minute or more less. 

There are a lot of variables when it comes to baking. Experiment until you find what works best for you. Then be consistent.