I should be overpacking right now, but instead...

...I'm baking cookies.  Not too surprising given that it's me we're talking about here, but still...I should probably adjust my priorities if I'm actually going to make it to Spain with anything more than my passport.* You know, since we leave TOMORROW and all - yay!!

Now, back to those cookies.  I've been really intrigued by the idea of the Momofuku compost cookies every since the recipe started floating around in blog world, and since I have a "yay, it's Labor Day weekend AND the first Saturday of college football!!" bash to hit up for a couple of hours today before resuming the packing/cleaning/organizing adventures and picking up the wonderfully fabulous travel buddy known as Darcy from BWI, I used it as an excuse to bust out the mixer and attempt a new baked good.

I had high hopes for something that encouraged me to grab a leftover bag of toffee chips, hack up some pretzels with a chef's knife, add some peanuts and chocolate chips to the mix, and toss the whole thing in a whipped beauty of butter, sugar, and eggs.

Measured, mixed, scooped, chilled.  Took up some serious fridge space with the cookie sheets.  Baking adventure to commence at 0900 hours.

They're supposed to "puff, crackle, and spread" in the oven.  So far I've achieved both the "puff" and the "spread"...just not on the same cookie.  Ok, the puff specimen also spread, but the non-puffers are spreading more.  I've tried switching from chilled baking sheet to room temperature baking sheet.  These things have been chilling in the fridge overnight, so they should hold their shape and not spread tooooo much.  We getting crispy-done edges and gooey middles here, people.**  Baking fail.  Well, kinda fail.  They're still edible and yummy, just not quite the way I imagined they would be.  At least I know it's not just me having trouble with these buggers - the comments on each blog that broaches the subject are littered with problems.  Even David Leibovitz had some issues, which makes me feel better.  Next time I'll have to clear out some space in the freezer and see if that helps...

At any rate, they're still pretty tasty (if a little sweet - next time I'll cut the sugar and up the flour a bit - and there will be a next time - these cookies will not defeat me) and make a decent breakfast.  Because cookies for breakfast are ok, right?  Especially if they're fresh out of the oven and your entire home smells of cookie goodness and there's absolutely no way you could resist them, even if they are a little ugly?  Yeah, I thought so.  See below for an exmaple of the extra-flat, slightly crispy batch:

At this point I'm going for crispy, fully baked discs so they're at least salmonella-free.  I might just label these "cookie mishap" and see if anyone eats them.  Normally I wouldn't share less-than-stellar baking attempts with the general public, but since there are going to be a lot of silly boys there, they'll probably just gobble them up and grunt "good" before popping open another beer.  Not my most discerning audience.

* In reality, not only will I have my passport and a printed copy of every potentially relevant document, but I just KNOW I'm going to overpack.  I am genetically predisposed to overpack (Mom, Dad, am I?  or am I just making excuses?), and no matter what I do, I can't seem to control myself.  I accept this fate and the larger muscles it will surely grant me from hauling my suitcase around.
** Which actually may be the perfect cookie...then you get the crispy part, the chewy part, AND some melty cookie dough.  Hmmmm....