Cookies?

by James Wampler
(Shelbyville, Ky. USA)

I have been asking friends for things they would like to see cooked on the solar cooker.

One mentioned "Cookies" - - I wasn't really sure if I could make cookies in a skillet, since I've always been under the impression that they were baked.

Either way, I was going to give it a shot. Challenge accepted!

I did a quick internet search to see if this had been done before. After sorting through some very interesting ideas (like cooking a hot dog with nails attached to a cord plugged into a wall - ill advised!) I came across this gem.

http://www.babble.com/best-recipes/apartment-cooking-how-to-make-cookies-on-the-stovetop/

So, apparently it IS possible. I gave it a shot. A few brave test cookies made the ultimate sacrifice before I felt I had cookies that I could share with others.

I left them on the skillet for 10-15 minutes and watched for signs of burning (probing the sides with a spatula.)

After that, I turned them out of the sun and let them "bake" with the top on for a few minutes.

The residual heat cooked the tops of the cookies the rest of the way.

One thing that I liked about these cookies is that while they were too goopy to turn with a spatula, they ended up with crispy bottoms and chewy tops. It was a nice contrast.

I wouldn't call this a total loss, my friends and I still enjoyed eating the interesting looking cookies. However, I still have a long way to go in terms of perfecting the skillet-cookie creation process.

My new long-term goal is to find a set-up that will allow me to do a little more baking with the SolSource. If you have a SolSource, or are interested in one, I suggest checking out their facebook group! There are a lot of people on there playing around with various ideas.

** When I do this again **
I am looking into some kind of oven type pan that I can do more baking with, such as a cast-iron dutch oven. Until then, I have a few things that I would do differently:

1.) Pay more attention to changing the heat settings (i.e. fiddling with it) - either rotating the SolSource so that it isn't in direct sun, or moving the focal point around.

2.) Lets face it. Cookies are already unhealthy. Maybe a little more liberal with the butter...

3.) Find a pan setup that will allow for a less goofy baking setup.