I'm done with baking... FOREVER.

[englishteacha]

Papa...you come cook for us and I'll bake for ya!

 

[Buckalew11]

I think I just don't have the patience to bake.... nor the desire to be exact in measuring.

You and DH both. He's a good cook (firehall, I guess) but the baking leaves something tobe desired. Following a recipe is like reading directions and he's not going to do that until he HAS too.

 

[Chicago526]

Maybe it's just that I "helped" my mom bake since I was two...

But I don't get not being able to bake. You just follow the directions!!! As long as you don't get your tablespoons and teaspoons mixed up, you're good to go.

Also, if a receipe calls for softened butter, the only way is to let it sit out until soft. Nuking it will always melt it no matter how closely you watch the microwave. It's just one of those things you have to think of ahead of time, I'm afriad.

Snickerdoodles can be tricky for an inexperianced baker. Try chocolate chip next time, the are the perfect thing to cut your baking teeth on. Very hard to screw up.

Other baking tips:

1) Your oven often lies to you. Oven thermostats can often be off by quite a bit. Get a stand alone over themometer and use that reading instead, at least until you know if your oven is off.

2) With cookies, if they look done in the oven, they'll be over done by the time you get them off the pan and on the cooling rack. Pull them when the look *almost* done.

3) Really dark pans may burn the bottom of your cookies, use partchment paper if you have dark pans.

4) When I said "follow the directions" earlier in this post, it means just that. Follow all instructions exactly as writen, and in the exact same order! There is a reason why it's writen the way it is, trust the receipe!!!! Cooking is an art, baking is a science.

 

[Buckalew11]

Try this cookie recipe from my -err, the cake mix cookie thread. It's not a Snickerdoodle, but it's so easy. It's only 2 ingredients!

(You can also add in a handful of dried cranberries & walnuts or white chocolate chips to the two ingredients below. Maybe top with a canned cream cheese frosting.)

Pumpkin Spice Cookie

1 (18.25 ounce) box of spice cake mix
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix and pumpkin until well blended. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.


You can also use chocolate cake mix instead of the spice cake mix for a nice chocolately-pumplin cookie.


A little FYI: Pumpkin puree - one cup: Vitamin A: 310% of RDA, Vitamin C: 20% of RDA, Potassium: 588 milligrams

I make muffins just like this. You can use almost any flavor of cake mix. There are so good! I willtry them as cookies also. I bet they are great! I make pumpkin muffins year 'round.

Maybe it's just that I "helped" my mom bake since I was two...

But I don't get not being able to bake. You just follow the directions!!! As long as you don't get your tablespoons and teaspoons mixed up, you're good to go.

Also, if a receipe calls for softened butter, the only way is to let it sit out until soft. Nuking it will always melt it no matter how closely you watch the microwave. It's just one of those things you have to think of ahead of time, I'm afriad.

Snickerdoodles can be tricky for an inexperianced baker. Try chocolate chip next time, the are the perfect thing to cut your baking teeth on. Very hard to screw up.

Other baking tips:

1) Your oven often lies to you. Oven thermostats can often be off by quite a bit. Get a stand alone over themometer and use that reading instead, at least until you know if your oven is off.

2) With cookies, if they look done in the oven, they'll be over done by the time you get them off the pan and on the cooling rack. Pull them when the look *almost* done.

3) Really dark pans may burn the bottom of your cookies, use partchment paper if you have dark pans.

4) When I said "follow the directions" earlier in this post, it means just that. Follow all instructions exactly as writen, and in the exact same order! There is a reason why it's writen the way it is, trust the receipe!!!! Cooking is an art, baking is a science.

ah ha! Just as I thought. I bet Papa Duece doesn't follow the recipe to a T either. And it is important to add ingredients in order. I remember that from home ec.

 

[HsvTeacher]

http://www.recipezaar.com/Snickerdoodles-11220

These came out tasting "ok"... but they were so light and airy that they fell apart most of the time when taking them off the cookie sheet.

Your recipe is missing cream of tartar, which is very important when making Snickerdoodles. Try one of the PPs' recipes with cream of tartar and see if that doesn't make a difference.

Kudos to you for trying!

 

[Papa Deuce]

Well, thanks, all... but really, I think I will stick to cooking.... the only 2 thing that I bake well are pecan pie and shoe fly pie....

While BBQ is my passion, I can pretty much cook anything as long as it doesn't involve making spaghetti sauce. I just can't get that right.

 

[NotUrsula]

That's ironic; the only thing that I have never been able to get right is pecan pie -- the dang stuff never sets up properly for me.

Anyway, about this:

These came out tasting "ok"... but they were so light and airy that they fell apart most of the time when taking them off the cookie sheet.

Anytime you get a cookie this light (or for that matter, something similarly delicate but savoury, such as a quenelle) the best trick in the arsenal is parchment. Line the pan with it, and when you do so, roll a bit extra up at each end of the pan. Then when you are putting out the cookies OR taking them off the pan, you just lift the entire parchment sheet instead of picking the cookies up individually. Faster AND easier. Once the cookies are cooled, they will peel right off.

... Quenelles will kind of slide, but you get the picture.