Cookies

Final Idea + Recipe
My final cookie idea is a Dark Chocolate Parmesan Krispy Cookie called “The Dark Side of the Moon”. It is an iteration of my second main idea, and the final cookie not only introduces delicious new flavors to the cookie-sphere but it also takes advantage of relatively unexplored cooking techniques as they pertain to cookies. The Dark Side of the Moon starts as a basic Parmesan crisp, and it derives both it’s flavor and texture from the various layers added to it. Being a relatively simple cookie, one simply adds melted dark chocolate and Rice Krispies to the cheese to create a truly creative cookie. I believe this cookie is creative because it is Novel in it’s flavor, something that is relatively unexplored. It is relevant in that despite challenging the traditional form of a cookie it doesn’t stray to far from its name sake. In addition to these two traits this cookie is both feasible in how easy it is to make, and it is valuable as it has features that no other cookie has.




Idea Generation
I started my idea generation with a brain map. Starting with the basic cookie and then breaking it own into various aspects that can be modified. I found most of my inspiration in both the form and flavor of the cookie as that is where, in my opinion, one can find the most creative results. Through slowly branching outward I was able to mix both unique flavors and forms that to my knowledge have not been tried. This brain map lead me to three types of cookies to try out. Idea 1, a Parmesan biscuit like cookie that has a dark chocolate filling. Idea 2, a Parmesan crisp cookie that is coated in dark chocolate. Idea 3, a spicy caramel chex mix cookie. These three ideas fit my criteria of feasibility as well as seemed like the most innovative cookies out of my list.


Idea Test 1
Idea 1 is a dark chocolate filled Parmesan cookie. It is based off of a Parmesan cookie that will either be coated or filled with dark chocolate.


I decided to try out two different ways of making this cookie that way I had more options to chose from when iterating.

The difference between cookie A and cookie B is that B has a second cookie on top sandwiching the chocolate. However after taste testing both of these cookies I decided that they were actually really gross and didn’t try to go any further with it.
Idea Test 2
Idea 2 is a Parmesan crisp cookie that will be made by simply baking cheese into cookie sized discs and then it will be dipped into melted dark chocolate to give the cookie size and flavor.


I didn’t know how much cheese I should use for each so I tried two different cookies again. Cookie A is a denser cookie with more cheese closer together and cookie B has cheese more spread apart.



After the cookies had baked for 5 minutes at 350° I let them cool off and then poured melted dark chocolate over the top of the cheese crisps. I then chilled the cookies to solidify the chocolate and did a taste test. They were both pretty good but option A had a better overall texture but it was still lacking something. I learned that the cheese crisps not only need to be made well, but something needed to be added to them to achieve my desired texture. I plan on adding Rice Krispies to the chocolate mix to add more crunch.
Idea Test 3
Idea 3 is is a caramel cholula chex cookie. It will be a sweet and spicy mix of caramel and hot sauce mixed with chex cereal to add texture.


It’s based off of the spicy caramel mix that is made by mixing Cholula hot sauce with caramel candies and melting them together.

I made one cookie by pouring the melted carmel cholula mix on a sheet and then adding chex cereal on top of it, and then I made another by mixing the cereal with the carmel.

Option A had a better taste but was harder to eat since it crumbled easier, and option B was far too spicy and really really sugary. I quickly learned that mixing caramel, a sticky substance, and hot sauce, a substance that burns twice as mush when it sticks, was a bad idea and I decided to stop here since the cookies were not as good as Idea 2 and they were fairly difficult to make.
Iteration
I decided to iterate on Idea 2, the dark chocolate covered Parmesan crisps because of their unique flavor, texture, and baking style. My first change was an attempt to get rid of the chewiness of the cheese in the cookie, I tried a cookie with a bake time of 6 minutes instead of 5 and that seemed to cook out enough grease and did the trick. The second iteration I made was adding things to the chocolate mix to give it better texture. I decided to mix in Rice Krispies to the melted chocolate mix to add depth and texture to the cookie.

This definitely improved the cookie eating experience but the chocolate soaks into the Rice Krispies which leaves something to be desired. To counteract this I simply added more cereal to the top of the cookie that way they wouldn’t be softened by the heat of the chocolate.

Below you can see the process of mixing in and sprinkling the cookie with Rice Krispies.





