Bake Cookies from Scratch

• TASK: Bake cookies from scratch in order to facilitate holiday traditions and tasty treats.
• CONDITIONS: Given a mixing bowl, a spatula, a measuring cup, 1 cup of brown sugar, ½ cup of granulated sugar, 1 cup of shortening, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 2 eggs, 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of soda and salt, a package of chocolate chips or M&Ms, a cookie sheet, and an oven.
• STANDARD: You must be able to bake delicious cookies from raw ingredients.

​Cookies are delicious. They’re especially delicious when you make them yourself. They’re still more delicious when you take the time to make them completely from scratch. Sure, you can go to the store and by a tube of pre-mixed cookie dough, cut it into sections, slap them on a cookie sheet and throw it in the oven, but you cheat yourself out of the pride of accomplishment that way. You're missing out on what could otherwise be quality time spent with your family engaged in a tradition.

Baking cookies from scratch isn’t tough. As long as you have the basic materials and can measure the ingredients correctly, you can turn flour, eggs, and sugar into delicious cookies.

Materials

• Oven
• Cookie sheet
• Mixing bowl
• Spatula
• Measuring cup
• Teaspoon

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 heaped cups flour
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 package of chocolate chips or M&Ms

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375F
2. Mix the sugars and shortening so that the mixture has an even consistency.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla to the mixture and stir well.
4. Add the flour to the mixture. You can just dump the flour in, but it’s easier if you add it slowly while mixing.
5. Add the soda and the salt to the dough mixture.
6. Mix your chocolate chips or M&Ms throughout the dough. Use your judgement on how much to add. I generally open the bag and pour it into the bowl until it looks about right.
7. By now, the dough should be thick and brown, much like the cookie dough you might get in ice cream or like the kind you buy in a tube from the store.
8. Scoop cereal spoon sized lumps of dough onto the cookie sheet and space them out so that there is about 2-3 inches between lumps.
9. Put the loaded cookie sheet into the oven for 10 minutes. If, after 10 minutes, the cookies still look a bit wet and doughy, leave them in for a few more minutes. Or, if you like chewy cookies, go ahead and take them out.
10. Once the cookies are out of the oven, let them cool for 5-10 minutes and then try to scoop one off with the spatula. If it doesn’t hold together, wait a few minutes and try again.

Notes
It’s important to remember that while cookies are delicious, the point here is to spend time with your family and learn a life skill. If it doesn’t go exactly right or if the cookies aren’t as delicious as you had hoped, that’s ok.

My wife taught me a great way to deal with a failure in the kitchen. If the food is still edible, don’t toss it out or present it as a failed attempt. Instead, give it a new name and present it as the first time that anyone has served such a meal.