People said "It's hot enough to bake cookies out there"....so I did.

    The people said, "It's hot enough to bake cookies out there!!"....so I did. This experiment is what results when it is SUPER hot out, too hot to go anywhere or do anything fun. I decided to do a little car baking. Yes, you read it right. I used my car to bake cookies.
     Our temperatures here have been HORRIBLE, sizzling, steaming, scorching, and grossly HOT! Today's predicted high temperature is 106 and that doesn't count whatever the heat index makes it FEEL like. I decided it was entirely too hot to go anywhere or do anything. I was also super bored after making this decision. I opted to make my own fun at home........
     I made my favorite cookie recipe Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip . The only thing I did differently than normal was that I used mini chips instead of regular sized. I also made sure that the cookies were uniform in size on the pan. I flattened them down to about 1/4 in. with the back of a spoon so that they could cook well in the sun.

I used a small baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. I dropped teaspoon fulls of dough onto the tray and then flattened them with the back of a spoon. I would say they were not more than 1/4 in. thick.

I then took the tray out to my vehicle. I put a dark colored towel down under the baking sheet (I didn't want any damage to my dash and the dark color should draw in more heat). I also put my indoor/outdoor thermometer sensor by the baking sheet so that I could keep track of the baking temperature.

I closed the doors, made sure the windows were up and....ready, set, BAKE!

This is the cookies at 1 hour into cooking....they look a little fluffier.

So my indoor/outdoor thermometer idea didn't work out so well.....it only recorded the temperature to about 140 deg. and then it started reading OF.L.....I guess that means HOT. If I did this again I would go and buy an oven thermometer.

2 hours into cooking

I opened the car door to check the cookies at 3 hours and they were solid feeling so I figured they were done. Their coloring didn't change much, so you can't judge by the coloring.

Car cookies are yummy, not exactly the same as oven cookies, but you can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter no matter HOW you cook it!

So if you are bored and it is hot out....you now have an activity to try!! If nothing else, it will make your car smell amazing, just like fresh baked cookies!!

Tips for making "car cookies"
1) The temperature outside needs to be at least 95 deg. (the temperature in your car will be 20-40 deg. hotter, possibly even more depending on your interior color)
2) Use a towel or hot pads under the baking sheet to protect your dash from any damage
3) Park in a spot with FULL sun.
4) Make sure the cookies are pretty flat so that they bake more easily in the sun
5) Cooking will take 2- 3 1/2 hours depending on the temperature. Check your cookies every hour or so to see how they are progressing. Their coloring won't change much, texture is what will change.


I hope you enjoyed my silly and fun hot day experiment!!

-Jessica