How to Make Cookies without Needing a Recipe

Imagine walking into a kitchen, anyone’s kitchen really, grabbing a few pantry staples off the shelves and whipping together a quick and tasty batch of cookies that are oven ready in about 5 minutes, using whatever staples you can find and without ever needing to consult a recipe!

Well, learn this 1 – 2 – 3 cookie ratio and you’ll never need to consult a recipe book before making an infinite variety of cookies again.

Although the 1 – 2 – 3 ratio is an old-school cooks ratio, I learned it from one in Michael Rhulman’s excellent book on cooking formulas, “Ratio.”

How to Make Cookies:

• 1 part sugar (1/4 cup white sugar, for example)
• 2 parts fat (1/2 cup salted butter, for example)
• 3 parts flour (3/4 cup all purpose flour, for example)

1. At it’s simplest and most basic level, you can simply beat together 1 part sugar into 2 parts fat, whipping these ingredients together until well blended, and then simply fold in the flour to finish. If you’re using salted butter, you’re good to go here, but if using another fat or unsalted butter, try a pinch of salt as well.
2. Preheat an oven to 350, roll and cut these and bake for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Tasty cookies that you can make at the drop of a hat, anytime, without ever needing to bother consulting a recipe!

Cookie Variations, Improvisations and Improvements

Once you’ve got the basic variation down, consider:

• Adding chopped nuts, pressed into the top
• Adding flavorings, such as a little vanilla
• Adding a little lemon zest to the dough
• Add sweet spices, such as a pinch of cinnamon or cloves
• Try a variety of sugars – brown sugar for example

This is as easy as it gets and you are limited only by your imagination in the cookies you create!