Because personal freedom is one of my core values, the Lockdown of 2020 hit me hard. So I responded like many other prisoners-in-their-own-homes. I craved comfort food.
Chips, candy or sweets of any kind are usually not part of my daily diet. I don’t buy the stuff so I’m not tempted. Except for dark chocolate which I figure is healthy in moderation.
But one day I woke with a dire craving for chocolate chip cookies — the chewy yummy warm kind fresh from the oven.
I had printed out a recipe that looked promising from an online source but had no chocolate.
None. Nada. Impossible but true.
It seemed a waste of time and possible Covid-19 germs to risk a Target run with only one item on my list, so I improvised.
I found some leftover Valentine candy in the fridge and chopped up enough of the milk chocolate hearts to add to the dough. Then I used the only type of gluten free flour in my pantry – cassava.
The dough had the perfect consistency. The kitchen smelled heavenly. My need-for-comfort taste buds salivated.
But when the timer dinged and I pulled the cookie sheet out of the oven, I noticed a problem.
My improvised cookies had not spread out and slightly flattened like chocolate chip cookies are supposed to do. They were the same size as the original dough balls I placed on the parchment paper.
Oh well — who cares how they look? They’ll taste good.
Nay. Nay.
One grainy bite proved nasty enough to resist another. The cassava flour did not blend with the butter. The cookies were hard and not even close to what I craved.
And I remembered why I always buy bittersweet or semisweet dark chocolate. Because I don’t really like milk chocolate.
The recipe was a total fail. Another reason to reject 2020 as the year of disappointments.
My son didn’t like the cookies either, so they sat on the counter unappreciated and rejected.
Lesson learned: only use the ingredients you know and trust and truly love.
The next time I drove to the store, masked and careful to keep my distance, I bought a bag of the Ghirardelli chocolate I like, dark and semi-sweet. Then I bought a different kind of gluten flour, one that bakes better yet keeps my gut happy.
But then I no longer had the craving for warm yummy chocolate chip cookies. Maybe I was growing accustomed to Lockdown and no longer needed the comfort of a treat.
Nah — probably not.
As for the failed cookies, they did serve a useful purpose. I decided to use them as cobblestones in my garden.
©2020 RJ Thesman – All Rights Reserved
If 2020 has been a disappointment for you, too, check out more positive stories in Hope Shines.
Funny story!
May God bless you.
Catherine Nicholson
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Yep – won’t be trying that flour for baking again!
Glad you were able to make lemonade from your lemons!
Yep! Hated to just throw them away.
LOL!
Cobblestones, eh? Ooh. That’s hard. Funny, but hard.
Yep, and I hope none of the birds nibbled on them. Probably would create drag in flight.
Nuts! I wish I Read this sooner. Could they have been good dinners in your coffee?
I don’t think even your fabulous cappuccino could have helped those cookies !
I made bread with brown rice flour that was so bad Ron took it right out to the dogs who did not want it either. I since tried another with regular flour so to prove I hadn’t lost my baker’s touch.
Goodness! I miss the smell of yeasty bread rising in a warm kitchen and the taste of “real” bread. Gluten free bread just isn’t the same.