Cookie Dough Therapy

Anyone who knows me knows that I bake.   I think it is fair to say that I am better than average and I bake quite a lot.   For the last few years I baked Cakes, Cookies, Candies, Brittles and so forth for gifts for friends and family.  Money was tight and I did so much of it that I was able to enjoy it and get my favorite recipes down perfect.

Florida has some wonderful things about it but one thing that I am missing is good bread.  The locals sigh and say "I know, there's something missing in the water".   Not much more you can say about that.   My tried and true bread recipe is a recipe that my sister Pat gave me for Pizza Dough.   Toss the ingredients into the bread machine, remove the dough and allow it to rise and it made for a wonderful loaf or two.  But it just doesn't taste right.   Kind of "flat" and not as crusty as it did with that Schuylkill Punch we got out of the tap in Philadelphia.

So I was feeling muddle headed from reading about technology at work all day on Monday and when I got home I thought that since I had been promising the ladies at work a chance at my cookies, I'd make the dough.   I made up four pounds of Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookie Dough from the internet recipe for Mrs Fields, and they're chilling in the refrigerator.   There's a trick to this stuff.   When it comes out of the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer that I swear by - Roll it out like a sausage in some Plastic Wrap or Parchment Paper and chill it until it firms up.  A half an hour should do it in the freezer, or just wait until tomorrow.   If you don't, cookie dough gets awfully sticky and hard to manage.

Since a good cook rarely gives away their recipes, I'll keep my Top Secret Recipes to myself, and suggest you search for one of your own.   Other than that feel free to ask for hints.  One I do like to do is double the vanilla in any recipe.   More Bang for the Buck! 

Yes, there's an obvious hit in the last two paragraphs where to find the specific recipe if you look for it.