I thought this is a perfect place to post my favorite baked good recipes, which I have spent years perfecting. Just kidding, that applies to my chocolate chip cookies recipe only. I also had to try 4 brownie recipes to find the perfect one. Most of the rest were first attempts.
I spent years baking chocolate chip cookies, because I was trying to perfect them and because my friends would keep asking me to make them. Eventually, I realized that baking is SO many other things and not just chocolate chip cookies, so I started expanding my baking horizons.
It took me a VERY long time to realize that baking cookies for ten minutes is not a “very short time” and they will not be “raw.” That’s why most of my first attempts were overbaked. I couldn’t believe it until I tried it, and the result shocked me. They were so soft and chewy AND not raw.
My number one problem when it comes to baking is that presentation is not one of my strong points. What I bake would taste fantastic, but it never looks good enough for me to post it on Instagram. This is due to a couple of reasons: I’m extremely impatient during baking, and cooking in general, and presentation is all about patience and meticulousness; I simply don’t care if it doesn’t look good because I know people would eat it anyway; and the obvious reason is that I’m terrible at it. It’s not like I have these amazing decoration skills that I just don’t have time to apply.
I noticed that whenever I save a “recipe,” I save only the ingredients, without the method. And then I realize my mistake, every. single. time. I lost my best chocolate chip cookies recipe for two years and was so sad and heartbroken about it, because it took me years to find the perfect one. Now, it only took typing “cookies” in my email search bar for me to find it. And as I mentioned, it’s only the ingredients. I have a rough idea about the method, so I’d rather provide a trusted one.
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup icing sugar (I prefer using icing sugar so the texture would be smoother)
1 cup melted butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 tbs vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips
For the method, this is a link to Tasty’s Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, because I trust them. You can use their ingredients, too; no hard feelings.
My favorite brownies recipe is Tasty’s Best Fudgy Brownies.
If you follow it to the T, you’d have amazing brownies that would leave everyone who tries them beggining for more.
Brownies tip: Chocolate brownies are ALWAYS better than cocoa powder brownies. You know what? Don’t ever make cocoa powder brownies, period. W̶e̶l̶l̶,̶ ̶u̶n̶l̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶s̶ ̶c̶a̶k̶e̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶i̶t̶t̶e̶r̶.
Most of my first attempts are successful, but of course that wasn’t the case when I was just starting, back in 2012. The first chocolate chip cookies I made were so runny, I couldn’t understand why the recipe said I should use an ice cream scoop to drop them on the pan.
This was my first attempt at Stefano Faita’s Kitchen Sink Skillet Cookie back in 2014.
I made blondies only once, but they were delicious.
I also made shortbread cookies only once, but they were so successful, one of my colleagues at work asked if I could sell him a batch (bragging is the only way I can convey the success of the recipe to you *shrugs*).
(It’s obvious how much I love Tasty. And of course I made them without the royal icing; I just wanted a shortbread cookies recipe I can guarantee will be successful.
My most recent first attempt was blueberry muffins. I don’t even know why I made them since I don’t even like blueberries, but they tasted really good! They were so light and fluffy. A friend shared this recipe with me.
Cupcake/muffin tip: They’re ALWAYS better with butter, not oil. Unless you’re an amazingly skillful baker.
My most recent first attempt failure was the Swiss roll. It looked so lovely, you’d think it tastes perfect, too. Ha ha, it was inedible. I used a recipe that said that I should wait a while after I take the sponge out of the oven before I roll it. I’m still not sure if the recipe was wrong or if I did it incorrectly, but it was so rubbery (I’m assuming because I overbeat it?), and the edges became too hard, almost crispy. Besides, I used the wrong pan size. Yeah, it was a messed up attempt.
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