Brownie FAIL

Earlier this week I made a batch of Reese's peanut butter chip brownies for a friend. I decided to make them from scratch because I had all of the ingredients on hand and also because lately I've been feeling more competent with my baking ability.

I took the pan out of the oven when it was time and did the toothpick test and it came out clean. I remember thinking that something seemed weird, because the top layer was so firm, yet the brownies also seemed to be jiggling faintly . . .

I set them aside to cool for about 30 minutes, came back, and discovered this:


A closer look:


After re-reading the recipe and trying to figure out what went wrong, I realized that I used the wrong size pan. Whoops! I tried the recipe again the following morning -- using the right size pan -- and not only did they come out perfect, but they also taste delicious!


Hopefully I won't mess up the cookies I'm supposed to make tomorrow for Oliver's class party!

Christmas cookie FAIL

For the past 3 years, we've made sugar cookies (and last year we also made gingerbread cookies!) for Christmas -- it's a fun tradition and the kids love it. For some reason, this year I decided to try a new recipe. As far as cookie dough goes, it was a disaster. In hindsight, I should have used my tried-and-true recipe that uses Crisco instead of butter. But on the bright side, the cookies still tasted great, the kids had fun playing with dough and decorating cookies, and at least now I know for next year. :-)







This was probably around the time that I gave up on trying to roll out the dough and started smashing it down with my hands instead. :-)



Dennis' free form cookies below:


Decorating is the best part!