Cookie or cake?

Pan cookie, originally uploaded by kmcgivney.

When I started cooking and baking again, I sometimes found myself lacking the appropriate cookware for the task I was attempting. For example, the first time I made cookies in my current kitchen, I didn't have a cookie sheet, so I ended up baking cookies on a pizza stone and in cake pans (with delicious results, I might add). Now that I've taken on cooking and baking as a more serious hobby, I have a lot more cookware and bakeware and fabulous appliances to help me do the job (including my BFF, the red KitchenAid mixer). However, I still sometimes find myself needing to use not-quite-right items in a pinch.

Case in point: the other day I wanted to make a pumpkin-y treat, so I decided to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. The recipe I had said it made 12 cookies, a measly amount in our house, especially when we are entertaining a houseful of guests, as we were that day. So I did what anyone who loves to feed people might do in that situation and doubled the recipe.

Fast forward to forming the dough into cookies on the cookie sheet. We weren't even halfway through the dough and we had already filled two cookie sheets with at least two dozen cookies - far more than what the recipe said. Since the recipe was noted to turn out cookies with a cakelike texture, I figured popping the rest of the dough into cake pans would do the trick - and I was right! We ended up with a little over two dozen regular cookies and two 8" round cake pan cookies. Our houseguests ended up devouring the pan cookies by cutting them into big chunks and eating them with vanilla ice cream, much like one might eat a slice of cake. Yum.

Lesson learned? Don't be afraid to use an alternate cooking vessel. The results might just be better than the original.

Recipe and another photo after the jump.