2004 - Epic Cookie Fails & Resolutions

Where the heck did December go?! It's Jan. 3 and I'm finishing up a video that featured several cookie shows from the Food Network. That's a perfect example of how far behind I got this year!

It wasn't my best year for cookies either. I made two more batches of Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies and got about 6 dozen each time. And I made another 7-loaf batch of Pumpkin Bread. I put a loaf or a dozen cookies into a Christmas-print cello bag and they made wonderful presents for mailmen, neighbors and shop people. Charlie helped me present them and wished them all a Merry Christmas.

The day before Christmas Eve, I made a batch of Vanilla-Bean Butter Cookies (which I'd  never made before and Moravian Spice Cookies. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to bake them! I don't know when I thought I'd have time for rolling and baking. I just put the doughs in the freezer to haul out one boring, January day.

So, next year, start — and finish — in November! I thought I'd have plenty of time since I didn't go home to Louisville this December, but that was a poor prediction. And it's much nicer to be able to relax — cookie-wise — in December and just pull out what you need from the freezer all month long.

On Christmas Eve, I made homemade white cupcakes (no mix) and a seven-minute frosting, so I could make coconut cupcakes. They were so beautiful but the frosting hardened so badly that we didn't get to finish them all! 

I also made another batch of Chex Party Mix, thanks to Mom sending me another box of Wheat Chex (I've expressed my disdain about the different box sizes of these cereals before). Actually, I made two more batches. So, the thing to do next time is to just buy two boxes of Wheat Chex from the start.

My Buttermilk Brownies didn't
look anything like these.

Another disaster was a batch of Buttermilk Brownies that I made. The recipe was from a 2002 cookie issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine. They looked so good in the 'zine, and anything made with buttermilk sounds great to me. But they were intense to make. Then, after I frosted and cut them, I discovered a common disappointment with brownies — they weren't done in the middle. They were disgusting and wound up in the garbage can. Even the edge ones weren't really salvageable. If it weren't for the Nestle's Chocolate Chip Cookies, this year's results would have been a total disaster! Better luck next NOVEMBER!

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I found the Better Homes link to the Buttermilk Brownies recipe and, as you can see from their photo, they look SO darned good! I'm tempted to forget everything I've said here and try them again. Let me know if you've been successful.