My final cookie idea is a special brownie batter made using 3 special ingredients: cake flour, dark cocoa powder and coconut shreds…. all cooked in a waffle iron! I think my idea is extremely creative because of it’s unique cooking process and flavor combination. The coconut and dark cocoa flavors pair well because of their sweetness, and it is all enhanced by the interesting crisp waffle texture. In addition, the waffle iron allows for a very quick and efficient cooking process.
The Recipe: You will need 1 cup melted butter (2 sticks), 1 1/2 cups sugar (granulated), 4 eggs (lightly beaten), 1/2 cup dark cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 2 cups cake flour and 3 cups shredded coconut.
This Recipe creates 3 waffles, or 12 cookies
Preheat waffle iron
Stir together melted butter, sugar, eggs, dark cocoa powder and vanilla. Add cake flour and stir until just combined
Add only 2 1/2 cups coconut shreds to the batter and stir
Pour 2 cups batter into waffle iron, and sprinkle some of the remaining 1/2 cup of coconut shreds on top. Carefully press and spread the batter a little with a spatula, then cook two minutes
After cooking, carefully use a spatulas to flip the waffle and transfer it to a cooling rack for a few minutes
Important Notes: The waffles will appear rather moist and delicate at first. This is because it is like a brownie mix! It will stiffen up as it cools as the cake flour helps add a nice texture.
Do not overfill the waffle iron! Not only will it leak excessively but the waffle texture will become too thick
Idea Generation:
I came up with a list of 10 directions to take this assignment:
Idea 1 Test: The Waffle Brownie Cookie
I began mixing my ingredients as listed in the final recipe above. (little did I know, this idea would be favorable over the apple cookie idea that I also tried)
The waffle brownie batter after stirring
When I first tried this idea I used pretzels. I thought that the saltiness of pretzels would contrast well with the sweetness ofchocolate. I also imagined a surprising crunch at the center of the cake-like waffle.
The final product did not turn out the way I intended. The pretzels absorbed moisture in the waffle iron and became chewy rather than crunchy. The flavor combination also did not go as desired because the pretzel salt was easily overpowered by the rich dark cocoa powder.
I repeatedly tried this idea using white chocolate chips and marshmallows to no avail. The waffle toppings would quickly absorb moisture, leaving no interesting textures or flavor combinations.
I coated the cookie in melted almond bark to try and compensate for the pretzel topping ideas that didn’t work. Regardless of the issues with this cookie, I ended up feeling very confident in it’s potential.
Idea 2 Test: The Honey-crisp Apple-crisp Cookie
This was the cookie idea I decided not to iterate upon. It ended up being a lot more tedious and frustrating than the first idea, as you will see in the pictures below
In order to bake these cookies with apple slices, I used a dehydrator to remove moisture first so that the dough would not become a soup while cooking. (I used my prior knowledge about the pretzels absorbing moisture to make this decision).
Here I beat together the dry ingredients for a cinnamon sugar cookie.
After making the dough, I had to mold this cookie shape so that there would be a nice crevice for the apple and cinnamon topping to rest in. The mix seemed a little too dry, but I continued nonetheless.
This is what the cookie assembly looked like.
I also mixed together some more cinnamon, sugar, and butter to create a breadcrumb topping for on top of the apple. I accidentally beat the ingredients for too long and ended up with a more sandy, dry texture.
The final result after baking. I found one apple slice did not provide enough apple flavor. The texture of the cookie also didn’t work out well as it felt sandy and dry in your mouth. If I chose to iterate on this recipe I would have added a lot more apple and some sort of frosting topping for more moisture.
After testing these two ideas I had a lot more confidence in the first waffle recipe. The waffles appeared more novel and innovative to me because of the quick cooking process and unique appearance. The apple cookies on the other hand left me disappointed because they seemed like a miniature dry apple-crisp.
Iteration: Improving upon the Waffle Brownie Cookie
I started by mixing together the same ingredients as before
This time I decided to mix in coconut shreds with the batter. I did this because I figured the dryness, interesting texture and sweet flavors would all mesh well with the dark cocoa brownie flavor.
SUCCESS! The coconut did a great job meeting my expectations. The waffle had a very unique texture and new sweet flavors thanks to the coconut.
When making my next batch I decided to add equal parts waffle mix and coconut. I hoped this would make the coconut shreds more prominent in the end result. I even sprinkled some more shreds in the iron to help create a surface design.
The sprinkling added more colors to the waffle and changed it’s form to be more dynamic.
To complete the idea I drizzled the almond bark on one side, rather than dipping. I thought this iteration greatly improved the cookie’s final presentation, adding yet another unique element.
Finally, I decided to name my creation the “CocoCocoa-Waffle-Cookie”. This name comes from word play on the COCOnut shreds and COCOA powder.
Timeline:
Tuesday 7/4/18: Brainstorm and bounce ideas off of friends around me. Search for many recipes to think of a good baking process. See if I can get access to my sister’s kitchen
Wednesday 7/5/18 — Thursday 7/6/18: Continue to explain my idea to classmates for advice and input. Begin making a shopping list and decide what ingredients and materials are needed.
Friday 7/7/18: Purchase necessary ingredients and supplies
Saturday 7/8/18 — Sunday 7/9/18: Try out the recipes to see what works and have friends taste test. Make alterations and try to settle on a final idea.
Monday 7/10/18 : Create blog post for the entire finalized process
Tuesday 7/11/18: Bake cookies and refrigerate at dorm