A Cautionary Tale

I know certain folks tuning in right now are expecting a delightful post about my re-tweaking of Nestle Tollhouse's Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Bars. And I swear, it's coming by this evening. But I want to take a moment to talk to you all about why I had to wait until later this evening to finish the bars. And in the process, we'll all get to learn three VERY important lessons.
1) Flour CAN go rancid. A lot of beginning bakers don't know this, but flour can go rancid. Flour contains a small amount of fat, and anything with fat can go rancid. Whole grain flours go bad much faster than white flour for the simple reason that whole grains contain a higher amount of fat. But white flours can still go bad. So, if you're dipping into an old bag of flour, take a whiff. If it smells "off" or musty or just plain gag-worthy, toss it.
2) Always be prepared. After being faced with a bag of rancid all-purpose flour and it's eventual disposal, I found myself no longer in possession of flour for my cookie bars. Not only that, I had contaminated the rest of my butter with the flour before I had noticed it had gone the way of the US economy. I then found myself with no flour AND no butter, despite having been to the store just that evening. And with naught a grocery store open at 2am, I eventually caved in and went to coffee with the Bearded Men's Insomniac Coffee Club just to be able to get an escort to a 7-11 in the sketchier part of town.
So, what I'm saying is, it doesn't hurt to have a bit of a back-up when baking.
3) Let your cookie dough sit overnight. Granted, this was not part of the original plan, but it should have been. Fact: Cookie dough is ALWAYS better if it is left to sit overnight. It gives the flour time to hydrate and mingle, leading to a far superior flavor. Of course, I mostly did it because after making the dough, I did not have the strength to try to finish making the bars at 4am. But my sad situation aside, it really is good practice to let your cookie dough rest in the fridge for a few hours, at least.

And those, friends, are the three fantastic lessons you can learn from my unfortunate situation.

Check back later tonight for cookie bars + recipe!
~Chef Z