Cookies

Marie Vanderwarn
Sep 6, 2018 · 6 min read

Final Idea + Recipe

The name of my final cookie is “Poppin’ Vitamin Orange Cookies.” This is an orange flavored cookie, frosted to look like an orange slice. The tangy frosting is fortified with vitamin C and vitamin D for an unexpected health benefit, and the edge of the cookie is adorned with poprocks candy. The cookie is shaped so that instead of sitting on a plate waiting to be eaten, it can sit upright on a glass, representing a cocktail decoration.

I feel that this cookie is creative because I don’t believe my ideas of flavor, presentation, health benefit, and special effect have been combined in this way. I cannot find an image or recipe for a cookie like this, even after extensive internet searches. In addition to being combined in a new and interesting way, each of the separate ideas about poprocks, vitamins C and D, and presentation similar to cocktails are either uncommon or they don’t exist (to my knowledge) in the vast array of popular cookies.

Poppin’ Vitamin Orange Cookies Recipe:

2 3/4 C. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 C butter

1 1/2 C sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp orange extract

red and yellow food coloring

Bake at 375 for 8 minutes.

Frosting:

1/2 C canned white frosting

2 packets poprocks

1/4 tsp orange extract

1 tsp orange vitamin C and vitamin D powder

red and yellow food coloring

Idea Generation

My brainstorming sessions took place over the course of one day, with a few hours between sessions. The spaced out sessions allowed me to talk with friends, family, and roommates to try to get more novel ideas. Some ideas came from looking through my kitchen to find unique ideas that hadn’t been put into a cookie before. Most of the other ideas came from imagining a party, trying to think of which foods were usually served, and trying to imagine those as cookie flavors. I narrowed down my list by researching my ideas on the internet. I highlighted the ideas that I could not find recipes or pictures of my visions for each cookie on the internet. Of the few left, I picked the ones I had the best ideas of how to make the ideas a reality. One of my two test ideas wound up being a combination of a couple ideas on my list.

Idea 1 Test

Fortified Melted Popsicle Cookie

The idea behind this cookie was to create a flavor that tasted like a melted popsicle, and to include a health benefit. I chose to infuse vitamin C in this cookie. My original plan was to bake vitamin C supplement powder into the cookie, but after talking with my mom (who has a background in food science), I was informed that water soluble vitamins like vitamin C are sensitive to heat. This meant the cookie will lose most of its health benefit from the vitamin C after baking, so I decided to mix the vitamin C powder into the frosting instead. This way the cookie could still claim health benefits, and the frosting had an extra tang.

While imagining how to make the cookie popsicle flavored, I realized that just stirring in melted popsicle juice would water the batter down too much. I decided to reduce the melted popsicle juice in a sauce pan to create a flavor syrup, and used that instead. This method worked quite well, although if I were to remake these cookies I would use more of the syrup to create a stronger flavor.

I wanted the presentation to be clever as well, so I decided to be literal with my idea. I stuck wide popsicle sticks into the dough before baking to make the cookie look like a popsicle. I knew cookie pops were a trend, but I hadn’t seen the cookies baked onto a stick and represent popsicle flavors before.

Idea 2 Test

Poppin’ Vitamin Orange Slice Cookie

This cookie is orange flavored, and shaped to be a slice of fruit that can sit on the edge of your glass.

I wanted my second idea for a cookie to include a unique experience while eating it. This lead me to think about chemical reactions and how food had taken advantage of this before. I came up with the idea to use poprocks as sprinkles. I thought this idea would make the cookie fun to eat because that popping from the poprocks is not a sensation one would usually associate with eating cookies.

Something I learned through the process of making this cookie is that the balance of the cookie on the glass was important. I had not thought about how the cookie might become significantly heavier on one side due to the frosting and decorations. This lead me to realize the slit in the cookie would need to be adjusted.

Another thing I realized about this cookie’s design is that while the poprocks idea worked very well when I served them right away, it did not last overnight. I had mixed the poprocks into the frosting before putting the frosting into the cookie but overnight, the poprocks reacted with the moisture in the frosting and no longer had the same effect. I had not thought about the frosting activating the pop rocks.

Iteration

I chose to adjust the orange cookie for my final idea. In addition to adjusting the way I used poprocks and the slit on the cookie, I thought the vitamin C idea used in the popsicle cookie would make more sense when combined with an orange cookie. This way, the frosting added an extra tang to the taste of the cookie that it did not have before.

To fix my problem with the poprocks pre-popping overnight, I decided to put the poprocks on top of the frosting in a decorative way, and in a more timely manner. The poprocks will be put on the cookies just before presentation so they deliver the best effect.

To fix my problem with balancing the cookie on the edge of a glass, I have decided to make the slit on the cookie deeper so the center of gravity would be lower. I also decided to put a little less frosting on the face of the cookie so it would not tip as much.

Timeline:

Thursday: Brainstorm and research flavors and ideas

Friday: Finish brainstorming, and eliminate the weaker options

Saturday: Go grocery shopping, attempt to bake first idea. Make notes about what to change in the future.

Sunday: Attempt to bake second idea. Make notes about what to change. Decide between the two attempts which is most likely to succeed with the changes being made.

Tuesday:Make a batch of the best recipe, making the changes noted earlier. Assess success with the changes made, make notes about other changes to make. Assuming the final batch is tasty AND innovative, take pictures and begin blog post.

Wednesday: Finish blog post. Proof read, add finishing touches

Thursday Morning: make final batch of cookies to bring to class.

Marie Vanderwarn

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