Cookie in a Mug

Well, so far for Mug Week we've had mac and cheese in a mug and a cupcake in a mug...I figure we'll get three in a row today with another "Food in a Mug" pin that some have had trouble with. The Cookie in a Mug. We've had 3 submissions using the exact same recipe, so I thought this one was definitely worth giving a shot. 

The Original Pin

http://lacreativitedelafille.blogspot.com/2012/06/single-serving-deep-dish-chocolate-chip.html

Two of the pins linked to the above photo, and one to the photo below. But...if you follow the link to the above photo you'll see that this recipe isn't their original recipe and they link to the photo and site below. Follow? Good. They both had the same recipe, but I wanted to show both photos to show the variation. 

http://www.number-2-pencil.com/2012/03/06/chocolate-chip-cookie-in-cup/

A cookie for one so you don't get "stuck" eating the whole batch by yourself (it's rough when that happens...ruins my whole day, hahaha). This idea is genius. Fletcher, Rachel, and Leslie all thought so too. So they whipped it up...some following the recipe like a Chemistry major and some just glancing at it and going off of memory, and here's what two of them ended up with (one had a phone malfunction and lost the photo):

The Pinstrosities

Now those don't look bad...but they don't look great...and the report was that they didn't taste so great. Let's go over what each of them did. 

Fletcher (the submitter of the first Pinstrosity photo) said that her dough didn't seem to want to combine, so she thought she'd add a tiny bit of milk to help it along. She got the dough to mix, threw it in the nuker and cooked it for 50 seconds (as directed in the instructions). Her cookie still seemed doughy, so she tried another 30 seconds...and then another 30 seconds. By then it was sizzling and popping and still looked doughy, but it was beginning to smell burned. Fletcher dug under the cookie crust to find that "it was crumbly and black and brown and had little uncooked parts and had no taste whatsoever. In the end, it left my coffee cup in need of scraping, the kitchen smelling like burnt food, and me disappointed in my failure. (And not getting my cookie!)". 

Rachel (the submitter of the 2nd photo) said that she got her cookie mixed up and cooked, but "after a few minutes of cooling down to a temperature that would be cool enough to eat, the soft cookie turned into a hard and crumbly dry substance. It was in no way anything like a cookie. It just crumbled into crumbs and became hard as a rock."

Leslie said this about her experience: "Simple enough, some sugar, flour, egg, vanilla, the usual suspects. I did a casual read through of the instructions and went on my way. The first attempt was disastrous. Apparently my cursory read of the instructions was not adequate, this is one that needs full compliance. My first results ended up being dry and completely overcooked. Unfortunately my picture of it didn’t save on my phone, but you can trust me when I say it was quite awful. It was sweet and ok enough to eat, but only because I had a hankering for chocolate."

Three sad pinners with three sad mugs. Having no clue about cooking cookies in the microwave I knew I should give it a try to see if I could figure it out. I read through the recipe, noting the warning to not use spreads in place of butter and pulled out the real butter, and put my cookie in a mug together (minus the chocolate chips...we were clean out). I didn't have high expectations at all. In fact, I was expecting some sort of oozing napalm concoction in my mug. I watched the timer carefully, checking at 40 seconds and then pulling it out at 50 seconds. And this is what I got:

 It didn't look like a cookie per se, but it didn't look like I'd grow an extra foot if I ate it. So after I let it cool for about 90 seconds (I'm ever so patient), I grabbed a fork and dug in for my first bite...

 It was awesome. I was shocked. I scooped some ice cream in on top and had me a Pizookie in a mug. I was sold. The next night I decided to give this another go, tweaking things a little to see how it turned out. I made two more mugs of the delightful cookie...one with the original recipe but in a plastic mug, and one substituting margarine for the butter to see if that made a difference. The margarine mug came out looking a little more oozy than the previous night's cookie, but it tasted pretty much the same, so that worked out just fine. The cookie in the plastic mug didn't work out as great. I microwaved them each for exactly 50 seconds (each on their own, not together) and while it was perfect for the ceramic mug, it was too long for the plastic mug. It came out over done and as it cooled it went rock hard and tasted like the microwave. So if you use a plastic mug...reduce the time! 

Leslie also gave this a 2nd go, as she was determined to get this down. Here's what she has to say:

"I decided to give it another try, and as you can see in the photo, it turned out much better this time around. Here are some of my suggestions and things to pay attention to in the directions (and a few things I decided to change as well based on the first try):"

1. "Mix in a bowl separate from the cup (or ramekin in my case). While this defeats the point a bit, it is easier to get everything mixed in something a bit larger than a mug. I also used cooking spray on the ramekin to keep the cookie from sticking. I also used a wooden spoon the first time around, but using a fork (as suggested in the instructions and what I did the second time around) was much better to mix the small amount of ingredients."

2. "Cover your butter! When I melted the butter in the microwave the first time around it popped and went all over the microwave and I was left with less than the tablespoon the recipe calls for. In the end I melted a bit more to add to the first mix because it was too dry. Best to keep it covered and keep splatters to a minimum."

3. "Mix as instructed, sugars, butter, and vanilla, then add the egg yolk, and the flour last. I added the egg after the flour on the first try and it was a big yolky, floury mess. The second attempt mixed much better with the yolk added before the flour. This is pretty standard for cookie making I guess, but I was all gung ho about 'it’s a cookie in a cup! Add all the things!'"

4. "It needs 60 seconds in the microwave, tops. Of course the directions said this, but obviously I wasn’t listening. From just looking at it in the microwave, it did not seem cookie-like (still sort of wet on top), so I let it keep going for about 2-3 minutes. This was way too long. The cookie ended up hard and barely edible. Second time around I give it a minute and let it sit for just a bit in the microwave to continue cooking a bit."

"In the end, the second attempt turned out great. A nice, perfectly cooked, cakelike chocolate chip cookie awaits…if you can follow the directions."

So it is possible...but you do have to be picky about following the directions. Definitely follow the order of adding the ingredients as stated in the recipe...it helps in mixing the dough and getting the consistency right. Also, when you first pull the cookie out of the microwave, it doesn't look done. Fight the urge to put it back in and nuke it longer. Let it sit for a minute or two to cool and finish baking. Those seem to be the two big catches in this whole Cookie in a Mug business. 

 Oh I do love this blog...I get to try things I probably would have skipped over in my laziness. I now have the cookie in a mug knowledge. This is dangerous. I can have a cookie whenever I want without making the whole batch. Bwahahahaha (cue lightning flash and crackling thunder).