Cookies!


Idea generation
I love to bake, so once this project was assigned began dreaming up ideas. I am inspired by beautiful baked goods such as macarons, eclairs, croissants, and Opera cake. I took this idea in two different directions.
My initial thought was to create a cookie that tasted like fancy soap. There has been a recent surge on interest in “forbidden fruits” or things that look tasty but are not safe for human consumption. Products such as Lush sops and tide pods have been a topic of interest. I wanted to use uncommon flavors and make something that tasted similar to how Lush soaps look.
My second plan was to make macarons for cats. I work at a pet food store and we sell a ton of frosted novelty dog biscuits, but nothing similar for cats. Cats are obligate carnivores, and can't eat traditional pastry ingredients, but macarons however use egg white as a binder. I figured I could modify a macaron recipe and replace flour with powdered kibble.

Idea Test #1 — Kitty Cookies

I roughly followed my recipe but my batter turned out a bit thicker than I hoped resulting in lumpy cookies. They also are not safe for human consumption, and I was worried about their shelf stability.

- They are not as cute as I wanted but my cat absolutely loved them
- If I made them again I would refine my ingredient ratios
- Possible make with human grade ingredients
Idea Test #2 — Soap Cookies

For this test I decided to alter a preexisting recipe (link to the recipe at the bottom). I made my cookies in various shapes, sizes and flavors, I also used several food dyes so I could tell them apart. I had 4 baking extracts; coconut, almond, vanilla and raspberry.

I preferred the almond and vanilla cookies but I was looking for something more interesting. It was challenge to search for rose or basil essence on a slim budge. I did manage to pick up dried lavender at Whole Foods, it was sold in bulk so I din’t have to but a full bottle.
I kept this last experiment and my newly obtained lavender in mind as I planed my final batch.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10269/shortbread-cookies-ii/
