Special Expose - In Search of Golden Brown

Sometimes I think I talk about myself too much.  It's a nasty habit, and to all those who put up with me, I thank you.  =)  Now let me talk about myself some more.  While talking about my cooking blog with some friends the other day, we got into a conversation about baking cookies, baking store-bought cookies, and just buying store-made cookies.  It eventually turned to a discussion about how to tell if cookies are done or not, and what this elusive "golden brown" really meant anyway.  Amazingly, I had the same conversation with someone else, in the same week!  Well, this was too much to be born, and so in a "late breaking news" release, I bring you an expose on golden brown!

I submit the following as an example of what golden brown should look like:

That's right, it looks like utter deliciousness.  So what you want to do is look for that color when it starts peeping around the bottom of your cookies.

These for example.  See any golden brown?  I don't.  They're still very doughy looking, and I don't see the tell-tale signs of golden brown sneaking up from the bottom edges.

They were so doughy, I added two minutes to the timer.  Let's check again.  I pulled these out of the oven to get a closeup (I felt sticking my head and camera in the oven to take a picture of golden brown edges was a bad plan).  Notice that golden hue at the bottom-most part of the cookie?  That's what you want.  Here are three shots of perfectly done cookies, with the golden either just peeking out from the bottom or going all the way around.

If you like your cookies more on the soft side, take them out at the first signs of golden brown.  Like them crunchy?  Cook till very golden brown and let them cool completely before eating.  Otherwise pull them out when the golden color is showing up along the edges all the way around.  Here is what the beautiful middle looks like on this delightful cookie:

So remember:

This beautiful color at the bottom-edges:

 Not the doughy, no golden brown cookies: