Read thoroughly and avoid BIG mistakes

[Winterybella]

So I decide I am going to make my first chocolate cookie from scratch. I really am not feeling it but I want to bake something.

Don't ask me how I missed it, but I don't see that the recipe yields 48 cookies. Even a novice like me should have realised that the ingredients called for seemed a lot. I miss everything and end up not with cookies, but with a small cake of sorts. The quantity and the quality are all wrong.

Had I read the recipe carefully, I would have seen that the amount could have been adjusted with the computer automatically generating the new measurements. I failed to read thoroughly and ended up making a big mistake. They can eat, but I can't wait to get them out of the house.

Even the cookies turned small cake/buns are way too many. Has it ever happened to you?

 

[DancingLady]

I once used a recipe I got online for gingerbread cookies only to realize that is was using a much smaller cookie cutter than the person who wrote it and gave the count. I was expecting a big batch, plenty for us as well as a number to give away to friends, but I ended up with a lot in the freezer too.

 

[PrideKidd]

Actually yes this has happened to me in the past. I was surfing the web and came across "Magic Bars" the recipe came from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/magic-cookie-bars-from-eagle-brand/ these looked really good but when I baked them I ended up coming almost a dozen short of what it said it yielded. With a little tweaking I got this recipe down pat. I have also surfed the internet and taking a little bit from all the recipes I have found and believe it or not these are actually good with shaved coconut if you like that kind of thing.

These are definitely worth the time because just about everyone I know loved them when I made them for a work party.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

I had encountered mistakes already on all my first time baking recipes and I think it is just only natural. But by means of those mistakes it gave me the reason to be careful next time so that I will not encountered the same mistakes again. In cooking as well in baking there are many unexpected things to happen that is why we have to be very careful. That is why I have all of these things to keep in my mind always: Be sure that you are reading the recipes well. Prepare the right kind and amount of ingredients and follow the instructions accordingly. Don't change the recipe and the most important is follow the right and exact measurements. We cannot really avoid making these mistakes and it is part of the learning process when it comes to baking.

 

[Trellum]

So sorry to hear that, but don't feel bad, many of us have made that kind of mistakes when we are just starting out! It's actually great to make mistakes, because we often learn from them That's so important.

 

[Winterybella]

Thanks. It's always comforting to know you are not alone. I have found in baking I have to read every detail and try to miss nothing. Maybe my missing things has something to do with me getting "younger". Just the other day I was saying I don't like when I am left to guess about the amount the recipe should yield etc. and then I have a recipe that gives me good instructions and I miss one of the key directions. Oh well, thanks for making me feel better. I have a few more to share so I don't eat them all to get rid of them. The taste is actually good. They are just not cookies. I call them "cookcakies" or "cookbunies", a hybrid.

I am glad I can laugh now, I was not laughing then.

 

[Mara]

I think we have all been there and scanned a recipe and then realized you may not have enough of something or it makes too much. I do read the quantity section carefully to make sure I have enough of an ingredient because sometimes I don't and that's why I end up putting off making something.

 

[Winterybella]

So sorry to hear that, but don't feel bad, many of us have made that kind of mistakes when we are just starting out! It's actually great to make mistakes, because we often learn from them That's so important.

You are right on that. Initially I can feel a little silly, but then I realise I ought not beat myself up as it is teaching me something. It's telling me I won't make that same mistake again. As an aside, do you know which site it is that allows you to tell them what you have on hand by way of ingredients and it provides you with a recipe to suit what you have available? I saw or read about it elsewhere and would love to find it again,

 

[Trellum]

Hi Winterybella! Could it be this one: http://myfridgefood.com/ I checked this one a while ago, but never used one of their recipes. If you do and it turns out well or bad, please let me know =D

 

[Tina Nord]

This has not happened to me with cookies, but it did happen to me with a cake once. I tried the Pioneer Woman's Big Chocolate Birthday Cake for my son's birthday, not realizing that the Pioneer Woman bakes and cooks for a large family. The cake was 4 layers high and was absolutely huge. I ended up having to freeze half of the cake for use at a future date because it was about 8 inches tall and we would have never eaten all of it. I am always nervous about adjusting measurements to make more or less of a recipe because sometimes the end product does not turn out right.

 

[Winterybella]

Hi Winterybella! Could it be this one: http://myfridgefood.com/ I checked this one a while ago, but never used one of their recipes. If you do and it turns out well or bad, please let me know =D

Thanks Trellum. I have not seen this one before but it looks like I can make use of it nonetheless. I can always trust you to deliver. I did not bake anything yesterday. Made several attempts but just could not bring myself to it. Spent a considerable amount of time checking baking recipes but still did nothing in the end.I'm here thinking about recipes and not doing my work. I will do something today or tomorrow and depending on how things go I will be back here to share.

 

[Trellum]

Wintery, when you bake... you bake mostly for your son and your husband? I think I'd bake more often if the people in the house were open enough to eat baked goods more often. I'm dying to try new things! But I'm not the only one in the house taking care of what they eat! But next year.... I'll try those cool ideas I've seen here =D I'll be waiting for you You always come up with some really interesting ideas!

 

[Winterybella]

Wintery, when you bake... you bake mostly for your son and your husband? I think I'd bake more often if the people in the house were open enough to eat baked goods more often. I'm dying to try new things! But I'm not the only one in the house taking care of what they eat! But next year.... I'll try those cool ideas I've seen here =D I'll be waiting for you You always come up with some really interesting ideas!

Well again, I did nothing for the last few days but I can promise something will be baked tonight or this weekend for sure. It's a long holiday weekend. My husband stays away from anything that is too sweet. Everything he devoured in my baking experience was not "too sweet" according to him. Then my son is picky. He can handle the sweets but he must love it. I have this helper and friend "at one of my 'jobs" who is happy to eat whatever I bake. Sometimes I feel like baking for him all the time as everything is usually good for him.

 

[Trellum]

Awww, I know what you mean! It is so hard to have people at home who are so picky with what you bake, whatever I bake must be super good in order for the people in the house to like it Sometimes it's so much pressure that i rather not to bake for a while, lol

 

[Winterybella]

Awww, I know what you mean! It is so hard to have people at home who are so picky with what you bake, whatever I bake must be super good in order for the people in the house to like it Sometimes it's so much pressure that i rather not to bake for a while, lol

As I type I have a pineapple cake is in the oven. I am so nervous, it won't go well as I tasted it and it seems super sweet although I reduced the amount of sugar I added. If it's sweet, my husband isn't going to go near it after the first taste and my son just has his favourite: chocolate cake and my most recent banana bread or coconut bread.I hope I followed the instructions carefully this time. I am leaving out the topping as I know they won't be interested in that at all. I will let you know how it turns out. Hopefully, I won't have to start a disaster thread. Head up, chin up.

 

[Trellum]

Oh my!!!! How did it go!!??? I hope your picky eaters liked eat My eaters at home are super picky as well, hehehe! By the way, what kind of pineapple cake was it? I love anything with fruit! I once tried a piña colada cake.... it was delicious!!!

 

[Winterybella]

Oh my!!!! How did it go!!??? I hope your picky eaters liked eat My eaters at home are super picky as well, hehehe! By the way, what kind of pineapple cake was it? I love anything with fruit! I once tried a piña colada cake.... it was delicious!!!

Trellum, the cake was close to a major disaster. I refused to even look to see if I got the instructions wrong and left it in the oven too long. That's the only thing I could think of that would make it come out the way it did. I baked it on Friday and today Sunday some is still here. I refused to share it with my friend at work even though he eats just about everything, My son has not even tasted it. Thankfully, my husband does not mind eating it and making jokes every time he eats some.He keeps saying he's trying to get rid of it for me, which either means it's not as sweet as I thought or he's just plain greedy. He asked me if it some sort of pone so I decided to rename it "Pineapple Pone" instead of a simple pineapple cake which it was supposed to be.

I am going to wait to see how long it will take my husband and my pet girls to eat it.