Success!!

It's the little things in Ukraine that bring us (PCVs) big amounts of joy.  I already posted an entry today, but I was too excited to share my small (yet large!) success with the blog so that I could read it again later and remember how elated I was.

Do you remember this blog post from a while back?  Well, I have tried to make chocolate chip cookies about 4-5 more times since then and every time, they haven't been like home.  Maybe it's wishful thinking that they would taste exactly like the break-n-bake cookies that I've made faithfully for the past 5 years.  I could get the cookies here to taste good, but they simply don't fluff up like my cookies in the states did.

I found this recipe on pinterest the other day.  Since schools are "quarantined" right now (ie, too cold for kids to go to school), I told myself I would try to make these cookies sometime before Monday.  Mission accomplished!! And man, was the mission accomplished well!

I present to you, my snickerdoodles :)

I might have eaten three {or four} for dinner...with a giant cup of {almost too cold} milk.  

It's a guessing game anytime you cook or bake in Ukraine.  Until you master a recipe, there's always room for error.  This recipe, I'm proud to say, I mastered on the first attempt: a rarity!  I did have to alter the ingredients and oven temp and time in the oven though.  I'll explain that in a minute.

First though, I need you to drool a little bit.

Good?

So, Lydia's PCV alterations to snickerdoodles.  Cream of tartar was nowhere to be found in K-grad.  After googling "substitutes for cream of tartar," I learned that there is not really a substitute.  Well, crap.  The tartar acts as an acid which activates the baking soda in these cookies...which makes them rise.  It suggested adding baking powder instead of baking soda and cream of tartar altogether.  There was a formula you had to do for how much...but this is what I ended up putting in:

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

And it worked lovely! I baked these in between 150-175C (closer to 150C) in my toaster oven for about 5 minutes.  Then, I rotated the tray and baked them for a few more minutes.  When they started puffing up, give 'em a minute more and voila!

 I want to take these on the ski trip. We'll see if they last that long... :)