Recipe for Inventing a New Cookie Flavor
People often ask me how a cookie flavor (or a new recipe in general) comes about. More often than not, I find myself struggling to answer the question. Which is why, throughout the development of my most recent flavor, Lava at First Bite, I carefully documented every “eureka” moment, every tidbit of feedback, and every tweak to the recipe. What follows is by no means a standardized process or a template, but I hope that it nonetheless is able to give some insight into the inner machinations of this particular baker’s mind.
Ingredients:
1 cup inspiration
3-4 handfuls trial and error
Several brave test subjects
A full pantry of top-quality ingredients
1 clever name
Instructions:
1. Find your inspiration
Easier said than done, I know, but you’ve got to start somewhere. For me, inspiration takes many forms and arrives in various ways. Sometimes it comes as a stroke of genius, falling as a fully formed idea into my lap. Other times, a new flavor will take shape as I string together bits and pieces of inspiration from foods I’ve tasted, places I’ve been, and articles I’ve read. But regardless of how inspiration comes, and what it looks like, I’ve learned not to discount any of it.
Take, for example, my newest flavor: Lava at First Bite. I was initially inspired by an ice cream flavor I had encountered during my foray into homemade ice cream making. This particular flavor—Queen City Cayenne, from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams—masqueraded as a run-of-the-mill milk chocolate ice cream that flipped the script with a kick of cayenne pepper. From there, I drew from my many years of Spanish language courses and status as a history buff to incorporate additional inspiration from the ancient Aztec delicacy cacahuatl (cah-cah-WAH-tul), a rich cocoa beverage infused with vanilla, honey, and chili peppers. Together, this knowledge and experience served as a springboard into the next phase: experimentation.
2. Embrace trial & error
Despite everything I just said about inspiration, the late, great Thomas Edison was onto something when he asserted, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Luckily, perspiration isn’t an ingredient in any of my cookies, but effort certainly is.
My very first attempt at Lava at First Bite was actually quite successful. Never one to rest on my laurels, however, I continued tweaking the recipe, adjusting the spice ratios and the level of cocoa, and ultimately adding a ganache filling (more on that to follow). Each time, I would note the changes and improvements, eventually landing on the final recipe.
3. Test your bakes on willing, human guinea pigs
If you’re like me, you likely know people who would jump at the opportunity to eat a freshly baked, homemade cookie. If so, perfect! Leverage this opportunity to test out your experimental bakes and garner feedback. Remember to receive criticism constructively, not disparagingly. It often takes an outsider’s perspective to help elevate your ideas from good to great. For example, it was a coworker of mine who suggested stuffing Lava at First Bite with dark chocolate ganache. Upon taking this feedback into account and putting it to the test, I confirmed that her intuition was correct.
4. Use high-quality ingredients
I was tempted to give this instruction as, “use only the highest-quality ingredients,” but I realized that wouldn’t be entirely true. If it were, I would employ freshly milled flour, authentic Swiss chocolate, hand-churned butter from grass-fed cows, and free-range eggs. But I don’t. I do, however, make sure that the ingredients I use are high-quality. For example, I always use butter, never margarine (yuck). And you’ll never catch me enlivening my bakes with imitation vanilla flavoring, only the real deal. Why, you ask? Simple—real ingredients are consistently better than their imitations.
Besides, margarine is an abomination.
5. Concoct a clever name for your cookie creation
Not gonna lie, I’m pretty proud of Lava at First Bite. Not only is the name punny, but it alludes to the flavor of the cookie on multiple levels, with “Lava” referring to both the molten chocolate ganache core and the subtle kick of heat that lingers after every bite.
Another of my flavors, Black & White & Good All Over, is a nod to the age-old joke, “What’s black and white and red all over?” while also highlighting the striking colors of the cookie itself—and its inherent deliciousness.
The point of all of this isn’t just to put a unique spin on your products, though that’s certainly a benefit—after all, “Cure for Winter Blues” is far more intriguing than “spice cookie stuffed with cookie butter.” Ultimately, it’s about having fun and making your products your own.
Happy baking!