Beginning to Bake

Abby Woytus

After finally nailing down numerous cooking recipes I decided to expand my experience in the baking field. Actually, I’m joking, I decided to attempt to learn how to bake. Once again I started off simple and worked my way up. I had no idea baking chocolate chip cookies would be somewhat difficult, but facing the recipe was more than rewarding. 

My family, including myself, have always been huge fans of chocolate chip cookies. Ever since I was little, my mom has baked the most delicious, gooey, and filling cookies I have ever tasted. That being said, I knew my own cookies would never live up to my family’s perfect expectations, however I had to start somewhere.

I began by grabbing all the ingredients which included eggs, flour, butter, milk, brown sugar, chocolate chips, and more. In the past, I have used Philsbury pre-made dough but I’ve learned they’re never as good as homemade treats. If I have learned anything, the hard work is worth creating a delicious dessert!

After taking out all my ingredients I combined eggs, flour, and brown sugar into a bowl. While I continuously mixed the substance, I also melted butter in the microwave. After it became liquid, I poured it into the bowl, mixed it, and the dough began to form!

The next part was fairly easy because all I had to do was add in chocolate chips. If you’re like me, you might add dark chocolate, but semi-sweet are a fantastic option too! Additionally, many individuals like to add in their favorite chocolate candies such as Reese’s or M and M’s but you can never go wrong with the classic chocolate chip cookies!

At this point, I had finished my dough and had let it chill in the fridge. During this time I also began setting up my baking sheets, including a light sheet of parchment paper on top. After pulling the dough out of the fridge I began rolling the dough into balls and lining them on the streets. Although I prefer a doughy cookie, these cookies form best when rolled into a one-inch sphere. 

The hardest part of baking cookies is when they’re cooking in the oven. While the smell is extremely tempting, timing when to correctly take the cookies out of the heat is nearly impossible. Burnt cookies are never good but undercooked cookies can be dangerous. Obtaining the perfect cookie takes a bit of luck, but also a great amount of skill and patience. 

Eventually, my mom helped me pull the cookies out of the oven at just the right time. With her help, I had successfully made my first batch of chocolate chip cookies! After taking a bite I realized that my cookies were not the same as hers, which is understandable. Everyone has to start somewhere, and by baking chocolate chip cookies I did just that!