Q and A

About The Better Crumb

You know what really excites me? Coming up with a recipe that's incredibly good, but took very little effort. I'm lazy. There, I said it. I'd rather be on the sofa drinking coffee and reading a book than slaving away over a complicated meal, no matter how good. If you're like me you want good food, you just don't want to work hard for it. You're not going to get a long list of ingredients from this girl! And I promise to never assume that you have an hour or more to prepare a meal. I certainly don't.

The Better Crumb is a collection of great recipes that I make for my own family over and over again. What you see on this site is what I'm cooking at home. The recipes are easy, quick and healthy (What? You mean chocolate chip cookies are not healthy?) without sacrificing flavor, and they have all gotten rave reviews from family and friends. I hope you like them as much as we do. Beware though: Your family is going to become very spoiled... and you may just have time to sit on the sofa and read a book while sipping tea.

Q: Do you mind if I post your recipe on my website?

A: If you are going to change any of the ingredients, please say that the recipe is adapted from such and such recipe from my site with a link to the recipe on my blog. If you want to print it exactly as is, please contact me for permission.

Q: Can I use your photo for my blog?

A: Frankly, I'm surprised that anyone would ask given that I am not a photographer, and am a pretty bad amateur at that. Even so, please ask. Taking a photograph of food is time consuming, and it may not be great but it is mine.

Q: "I made your cookies... they tasted great and were puffy when they came out of the oven, but then fell flat. How can I avoid this? Next time I will use try using fresh baking soda."

A: Yes, fresh baking soda helps. However, it is not usually the cause of the problem. If this cookie recipe contained half the amount of butter, it would naturally produce a puffier cookie because the baking soda wouldn't have to work so hard. They also wouldn't taste as good! If you freeze the dough as directed (best overnight), your cookies will stay puffy every time. Along with the dough, you must freeze the baking sheets lined with parchment. Also, it's very important that your oven is HOT (preheat for at least thirty minutes). When you put ice cold dough and trays into a hot oven, the dough flattens at a slower rate and are cooked into shape before they can flatten too much.

Also, did you bake the cookies long enough? Were they still whitish and uncooked looking in the center? To ensure that they keep their shape, you should bake them until they are nicely browned and darker around the edges.  In my oven, this is at least 19 minutes, sometimes up to 22.