How To: Deciding bake time

How long?

How do you know how long to bake a custom formula (aka - your new recipe that you just invented)

Let’s figure that out.

Recently we decided to make a new recipe for a sporting event. We wanted a cookie that would be great at lunch break, but could be more than just a sweet treat for the attendees and their families. We decided to make Power Cookies.

Using the original oatmeal cookie recipe from Fannie Merritt Farmer in 1896, we altered the ingredients from oatmeal only, to a mixed cereal concoction. We added some oatmeal of course, but then added quinoa (protein!), amaranth (great fuel!), dehydrated cranberries (rich flavor) and white chocolate chips (decadence!)

We weren’t sure how the cookies might spread when cooking, nor how long might be the best for the level of browning we wanted. This is where science comes in: experimentation.

We made an initial 6 cookie batch, setting the speed oven to 350 degrees, and the timer to 15 minutes. Too dark in our opinion. Next, understanding what we saw to be too much time but possibly the right temperature, we tried 12 minutes and that was ideal. You see in the photo the difference in a 3 minute bake: the dark cookies were just fine, and they were eaten, but the lighter cookies were what we wanted for the event: fully cooked, lightly toasted, yet moist and rich.

These cookies can be ordered by the dozen, and are “slow burn” energy while still being a nice treat in the middle of a sporting event.