Cookies
Idea Generation
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At the beginning of my brainstorming, I found myself just thinking of different flavors of cookies that I had never seen/heard of before. Not to much surprise, a Google search would show that someone had already come up with many of those ideas. Cheese cookies, cotton candy cookies, and even pesto cookies had a recipe already. I realized that during this brainstorming, I was focusing on simply adding random ingredients to an already existing cookie recipe in hopes of coming up with something new (which, I found out, did not work).
Because of this, I forced myself to think outside of ingredients — to think of different ways a cookie could be interacted with or used as. I thought of cookies that would dissolve into your morning coffee, making it a delicious flavor or a deconstructed ‘cookie kebab’. I also thought of using the form of a cookie to help/medicate someone, like in a sleep/energy/indigestion aid or hangover cure cookie (this also made me think of cocktail inspired cookie flavors…). The page on the left below is a fuller list of my more ‘outside of the box’ cookie ideation list:

Idea Test #1
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The Idea and Research:
For my first idea test, I decided to research and learn more about my ‘Cookies for you and your pup!’ idea. This idea came from a class project I did last year, where I branded a food truck that sold food for you and your dog.

Looking further into this idea, I started to research what human foods were digestible and even healthy for dogs as well. I found a pretty good list of 12 human foods that are healthy for dogs here. This list even details what each ingredient can do for your pup! The list included:
1.Peanut Butter
2. Chicken
3. Cheese
4. Carrots
5. Yogurt
6. Pumpkin
7. Eggs
8. Green Beans
9. Salmon
10. Sweet Potatoes
11. Apples
12. Oatmeal
From here, I started to think about which of those ingredients might pair well together in a cookie flavor, so that this dog cookie would be delicious for their human as well. I decided on a peanut butter and pumpkin cookie with an oatmeal base because dogs cannot process gluten like humans can. I would use egg as a baking binder and substitute greek yogurt for butter. I added carrots and a bit of honey in hopes to sweeten up the cookie, as sugar can also be detrimental to a dog’s health.
The Recipe and Process:

Since I have made oatmeal based cookies before, I sort of eye-balled the amount of each ingredient. I decided to puree the carrot, pumpkin, peanut butter, and honey together to start. From there, I simply whisked in 1 egg and then added oatmeal until the consistency felt like the oatmeals I have baked before.


I shaped two cookies fit for a pup and their human. Then, I greased a pan so that I could bake them at 350 for, honestly, however long I thought until they looked done! They took about 15 minutes.


The Conclusion:
These cookies actually smelled so good. They were reminiscent of those candles you find all over during the fall — homey, warm, and perfectly sweet. The taste, however, was not all that great. They weren’t ‘make-you-want-to-spit-it-out’ bad, but they definitely were not all that enjoyable. They could have definitely used sugar taste-wise, but due to the parameters I set for myself, that was not possible. Though I didn’t love them, my friends dog ate it right up! (I think) he liked them.
Idea Test #2
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The Idea and Research:
As my second idea test, I decided to test out my ‘sleep aid’ cookie concept. I wanted to use aromatherapy as well as melatonin sleep supplements in this cookie. My hope was that the cookie would be warmed up (releasing the aroma of lavender) and then eaten with tea at night, so that the consumer would find relaxation and a good nights sleep from everything combined! This idea was baed in the experience of eating a cookie and what that could be like.

I started by researching if you could actually consume essential oils (above, on the right). I found out that you could under the right circumstances. And though there was a list of oils that shouldn’t be consumed, lavender was not on it. I found that if you put one drop of oil with 10–15 parts another substance, it would be safe to eat.
The Recipe and Process:
To be even safer, I decided to put 1 drop of oil to ~30 parts a water, butter, and melatonin mixture. I used that to coat the simple shortbread dough I made. So in the end, the recipe was:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup butter
1/2 powdered sugar
Coated with a mixture of:
1 drop lavender essential oil
1 crushed melatonin supplement
1 tsp. water/melted butter
*Note: I did think about just using the Lavender Oil and Melatonin as a part of a potential frosting, but I did not want to be counterproductive adding more sugar to a sleep-aid cookie.



The Conclusion:
These smelled soo good while they were baking. They smelled the way I had hoped they would when you wanted to heat it up in the microwave and eat it. Unfortunately, after they were baked and cooled, they did not maintain the aroma. And thought they tasted really good (like shortbread!), the taste was not as lavender-y as I had hoped.
I learned that essential oils might not be the best way to achieve a super aromatic and soothing cookie smell. I also learned that the melatonin tablet was untraceable, and that I did not have to be shy adding that to the next batch — possible even 1 tablet per cookie.
Iteration
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The Idea and Rework:


I decided to run with the idea of the aromatherapy/wellness aid cookie idea because I was excited about it. Based on my first round of baking these, here id what I found out:
- Essential oils did not keep up the aroma post baking.
- I could use more melatonin without it tasting too ‘vitamin-y’.
- This idea could expand to other ‘aids’ such as energy and/or indigestion.
Above you can see my (extremely messy) thought process that basically ended in my decision to produce aromatic and wellness inspired cookies more naturally than with essential oil. I decided to make them a part of a “Day & Night” pack — with a sleep cookie and an energy cookie. I planned to put actual lavender, chamomile, and melatonin in the sleep cookie, and orange zest, mint, and caffeine supplement in the energy cookie. I did not change the shortbread base.
The Recipe and Process:
When cooking these, I decided to mix natural flavors together that would achieve the same aroma/taste as the oils: lavender, chamomile, and melatonin then orange zest, mint, and vitamin B. I think this was a better solution to add to the shortbread base — and it felt good to add ingredients from my garden!


I also decided to quickly brand this pack of cookies, called Care For: Day & Night Pack. I thought through how to logo could look as well as a method of packaging these to feel special.

Final Idea / Recipe
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The Idea
This idea was an expansion of my thought process on how to make a cookie more than just a cookie. I wanted to create an experience or value out of it more than just being a sweet treat. So in the end, I came up with a care supplement that a consumer could use before bed or in the morning — coming together in one pack.
The Recipe
Sleep Cookies:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup dried lavender flour
1/4 cup chamomile leaf
6 melatonin tablets
Energy Cookies:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
zest of 1 large orange
1/2 cup mint (unchopped)
4 vitamin B tablets
To make:
Start by preheating the oven to 350. While preheating, cream the butter and powdered sugar in a large bowl. Slowly add flour until the dough comes together. Once together, sprinkle flour on the table and remove the dough ball from the bowl. Split the dough in half on the counter to let sit.
In the meantime, chop the mint and chamomile leaves into fine pieces, grate the zest form the orange, and crush the vitamin tablets into dust (I use the side of a butchers knife). When done, add each respective ingredient to either of the dough balls.
Knead the ingredients into the dough until properly spread. Then, roll the dough in logs ~2 inches by ~4 inches. Let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
When rested, cut the dough with a sharp knife, into 1/2 inch slices. Pinch and press as necessary to shape the dough and place onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 14–16 minutes.


The Glazes:
Orange Glaze: I used a small bowl of powdered sugar, and then added the juice from the zested orange until a desired consistency. Leaving the glaze in the bowl, it was easy to dip the top of the cookie into the glaze and let dry.
Honey Glaze: For the other glaze, I used the same small bowl of powdered sugar, and then added about 1/4 cup of honey. To that, I added water to get a desired consistency. Dip in the same way as the other glaze.
And there ya have it! The Care Fore Cookies: Day & Night Pack! I feel like this cookie idea is creative because not only have the flavors not been baked into a cookie before (per my research), but they also have more to them than just being a cookie. Here’s how they turned out:


By: Raquel Benedict
Timeline for Project:
Today / Brainstorm ideas & research
09.06 / Brainstorm ideas & research, then narrow down to 2
09.07 / Can not work on it this day
09.08 / Shop and test Ideas 1 & 2, determine changes that need to be made
09.10 / Re-test cookies if needed, write blog post
09.11 / Finalize blog post
09.12 / Bake fresh batch of cookies for class
