Guest Blog
Lynnette and I have a working agreement that provides an ideal division of labor for our family. My hobby is in the garage, and her hobby is in the kitchen. I use the woodworking power tools in the garage to remodel the kitchen and the other rooms in the house and Lynnette puts the kitchen to great use. She stays away from the table and circular saws, and I don't mess with the Bosch mixer or the immersion blender. I know how to use my tools, she knows how to use hers and we are both eager recipients of each other's industry (my research lab doesn't fair so badly either, just ask them about the summer long bake-off Lynnette had with herself to perfect her brownie recipe).
But there is one tool in the kitchen that Lynnette has yet to master - the microwave. There is a running joke in the family about the frequency with which "softening butter" becomes "boiling puddles of butter" that spread across the bottom of the microwave. Her perfectly acceptable response is that real cooks don't use a microwave. A microwave is best used for reheating macaroni and cheese, not for real chefs. As a result, the microwave is the one tool in the kitchen that I know how to use (that is unless you need me to make popcorn).
So it is my responsibility to provide the recipe for one of the family's favorite (or at least my favorite) use of the microwave, namely cookie dough pudding. The key to this delicacy is to heat the dough and melt the chocolate without in any way baking the cookie. This requires a careful balance of microwave heat and patience for the perfect cookie dough pudding outcome.
Cookie Dough Pudding
Place one frozen cookie dough blob* into a microwave safe pudding dish
Heat on full power for 15 sec.
Wait one minute for the resulting heat to distribute through the dough
Heat on full power for 5 sec.
Wait an additional 30 sec for the heat to distribute
Heat on full power for 5 sec.
Eat with a spoon while still warm
Note that longer waiting times result in a greater extent of chocolate melting which makes the pudding even more delicious so be as patient as possible through the process.
*The making of this cookie dough blob is beyond my skill set. See the "Strobel Cookie" recipe elsewhere on this blog.
I am excited to try your cooking science and suggest timing method. We have put our frozen dough into the microwave after you told us your kids loved it years ago. Now this! You two are an inspiration to Jack and I!!! (I might have to play with Scott's timing for my smaller cookie size!) We are big fans of The STROBEL COOKIE!
ReplyDeleteJoy! Joy! Oui! My girls are big fans of the cookie dough pudding and even the cookie dough just after mixing. I, myself, like my cookies still a little warm right our of the oven. But I will pass on your expetise, Scott, to them. Instead of cooking being the art and eating the pleasure, you both make cooking/microwaving seem like pleasure and eating the art. MMMMM.
ReplyDeleteWhile I have enjoyed many of the recipes on this blog, I am a bit skeptical of this particular one. I feel that a taste test is in order. I know a few graduate students and postdocs that may be willing testers.
ReplyDeleteHi nice readingg your blog
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