The Bake Buddy Cookie S'mores Experiment

I haven't really done many kitchen experiments on this blog as of yet, since I always get excited to bake that I tend to forget to document the process. It feels like a hassle sometimes to have to set up the camera (even with me just using my mobile phone cam) with all the settings to toggle with, in addition to keeping the ingredients aligned while you fiddle to get the money shot. But I wanted to do something nice today, so I tried my hand at a simple cookie mix.

What I had lying around the house was a container of Bake Buddy Cookie S'mores mix. Bake Buddy is a company that's been making it's rounds at bazaars and selling cans of cookie mixes and ready-made cookies. Mine happened to be the Cookie S'mores.

Here' s a photo of the original container with all the ingredients inside:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="353"] Cookie S'mores![/caption]

The concept is attractive, wouldn't you say? It's a time-saver if you don't have to haul your butt to the grocery store to gather  ingredients. If you're not much of a regular baker, you drastically reduce the risk of having a stock of too many ingredients at home that'll end up stale and expired.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="346"] Layers of Ingredients[/caption]

All the dry ingredients are inside the nifty package, so you only need to have 2-3 wet ingredients at hand. I'm seeing/guessing the inside contains all-purpose flour, baking soda, brown sugar, salt, chocolate chips, and small marshmallows. The lid has instructions pasted on and calls for some butter, an egg, and some vanilla.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640"] "The Literature"[/caption]

The mise en place is simple and can be done in 2 bowls, since the instructions basically state that you dump everything in, once the wet ingredients have been mixed properly. But I decided to separate everything for the sake of showing the step-by-step. You'll also need a mixer, eggbeater, or whisk. --I'll explain why later.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="559"] Mise en place: Baking tray lined with silpat or parchment, butter, egg, vanilla, 2 bowls (1 big, 1 small), and your spatula[/caption]

The big bowl is for the dough, while the small container is for the marshmallows. You'll need to take them out first, or they'll get battered with all the mixing.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="432"] Scoop out the mallows![/caption]

The lid says to mix all the wet ingredients, but I wouldn't advise anyone to use the butter as is. From experience, fresh-from-the-fridge butter is too hard and will not incorporate well (if at all) with the other wet ingredients. You have to melt the butter, so that you could whisk everything together smoothly.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360"] Melt the butter over a low fire[/caption]

Since this is a kitchen experiment, I decided to soften the butter only slightly in order to show the effect of using it cold.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Butter still has solids[/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Vanilla extract[/caption]

I attacked it with an electric beater, which resulted in a lumpy mixture that does not look appetizing. Then I added the rest of the container's contents in one go.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Chips and Lumps[/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Pre-Dough[/caption]

This is the part where you get rid of the whisk or egg beater and start working the dough with a scraper or spatula. I would even suggest you get your hands "dirty" to produce a fine dough with no lumps of flour or sugar. Using your hands on the dough will also help soften up the butter if you initially had it in lumps.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Mixed using my spatula[/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Refined "handy" work[/caption]

And while the recipe suggests making 2 trays of cookies, I preferred 1 tray of big, chewy cookies. Using an electronic scale, I measured out 40 grams each  (more or less) of dough before shaping them into balls with an ice cream scoop and a spoon. I got a dozen 40-gram dough balls out of it.

Finally, you top them off with the marshmallows and bake them in the oven at 190C (350F). I went with 13-14 minutes instead of the suggested 8-12, since my product was larger yet I wanted it to come out very chewy.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="479"] Before[/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="479"] After[/caption]

The result was a little on the flat side. --Perhaps it lacks baking soda, or the leavener in the can wasn't so active anymore. But I got the soft, chewy cookies I so desired. Flavor-wise, they were good. I'm a sucker for the melted brown sugar in a chocolate chip cookie, though this one came off as a little too sweet what with the marshmallows and chocolate chips fighting for attention.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Mission Accomplished[/caption]

A can of mix in this flavor comes to around Php350. I love the novelty of it, though that same Php350 will get you more of the same ingredients in the grocery if you don't mind making the trip. That said, I find it more of a gift item than something to get for yourself to do at home.

French Bread

Bread is one of those everyday things that still amazes me. It's a simple but effective solution to hunger for the rich and the poor alike. Just about any person you meet on the street can tell you something about what kind of bread they prefer and how it tastes.

As of now, I'm not yet sure if I would like to specialize in bread making, since I don't have enough experience to definitively say that this is or isn't what I'm meant to do. But I am trying my hand out in small ways. The experience is both exciting and relaxing.

My first attempt at making the legendary white bread (i.e. the baguette) at home waspfft. I have to say that doing it in basic pastry class spawned more desirable results. Perhaps it's because we used fresh yeast in school or maybe it had to do with the proofing cabinet, but I'm not afraid to try and try again at home until I get something that is closer to what I produced before.

Here's a peek at what my dough experiment looked like:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="560"] The soft dough shaped after initial proofing stage[/caption]

From this photo it looks like a chubbier version of the popular mantou sticks. Silly comparison, isn't it?

For those who aren't into bread making, you'd be surprised to know that a good baguette requires very little ingredients. You'd need: Bread flour, water, salt, and yeast. That's it. It's a revelation to bakers that drives home the point of having good quality ingredients in your pantry and a solid knowledge of baking technique on the brain. --It also helps to have a durable stand mixer with hook attachment in your kitchen.

This is the finished product:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="560"] A cheesy first attempt[/caption]

Here goes my assessment...

My ingredients are okay. I've been using active dry yeast that has been preserved in the freezer, but I'd like to try fresh yeast. The biggest downside, however, is the perishability of it.

The technique requires a fair bit of kneading. Admittedly, having a Kitchenaid is a game-changer. It cuts the effort in half, but the machine evidently labors even if it's a small batch of bread. Hand-kneading the dough, even for a short time, still helps to get a sense of how elastic it has become.

My shaping and dividing was a little off. I simply divided the dough into 4 at the time, but 50g each would've done the trick better. It looked so small at first, but the final proofing doubled the size. What came out was something too thick for my liking.

As for the final proofing, my batch could've used much more time. My makeshift proofing cabinet was my oven with the heat turned off. I left it for about 30 minutes, but I think my makeshift cabinet isn't warm and moist enough of an environment and I would probably leave it for an hour next time. The short proofing time resulted in a dense bread. The air pockets were small, much like the pseudo-french bread that can be found in some shops.

Here's to attempt number 2.