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The “Ex-Boyfriend” Cookies

Okay, I’m going to work on a single-lady cinnamon roll… and maybe a blondie or brownie too. But not today. I don’t want to look at another single-lady anything for at least the next few days! Cookie testing tired me out!

Yesterday, you saw the pretty Single-Lady Cookie.
But you didn’t see the half of it! 😕

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Before there was a good single-serving Chocolate-Chip Cookie, there were many ugly ones. Consider them the ex-boyfriends of the cookie world. 😉

My first tester cookie came out way too dry. The second puffed up so much it looked more like a muffin than a cookie. The third cookie was absolutely disgusting, thanks to too much baking soda. And the fourth… well, let’s just say I almost gave up completely after that one! By the time lunch rolled around, I was burned out (and I’m not just talking about “burned” in the sense of cookie tester #5)! So I quickly threw together a very non-cookie lunch. (I used the same ribbon from the Single-Lady Cookie photoshoot. Somehow, it just seems too weird to use fake flowers in December.)

candied veggies and bulgur pilaf

Bulgur pilaf, sautéed peppers and onions, and Coconut Candied Veggies with pecans.

After lunch, I caught my dad happily munching on the throw-away cookies. That man will eat anything. I swear, he has no tastebuds!

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One time, I gave him a Raw Macaroon, and he said, “Mmm, this is good. Is it lemon?” Um, not exactly, Dad! :-?) After that, he was banned from taste-testing. Often, I’ll bombard my mom and friends with samples, saying, “Here, try this and tell me what you think.” My dad will ask, “Do you want me to taste it?” Nope, not really LOL! It’s so weird, because my own tastebuds are soooo hyper-sensitive. If there’s even a hint of a certain spice in a recipe, I’ll pick up on it.
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What about you?
Are your tastebuds super-sensitive? Or will you eat anything?

Don’t forget to enter to win some Fudge Babies… Although, judging by the number of comments on that post, I don’t know if there’s anyone left who hasn’t already entered! 🙂

Published on December 15, 2010

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Chocolate Covered Katie is one of the top 25 food websites in America, and Katie has been 
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ABC's 5 O’Clock News. Her favorite food is chocolate, and she believes in eating dessert every single day.

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70 Comments

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  1. Jennifer JCD says

    You learn more from failure than you do from success. And I made your single lady cookie last night and I can certainly say all those failures were worth it; the end recipe is great!

    My tastebuds are in the middle somewhere. I can taste a lot of flavours, but cannot detect which spices are which half the time. But when it comes to salt and sugar, I’m super sensitive and can taste even the smallest bit.

  2. Healthy Chocoholic says

    I have pretty sensitive taste buds……if there is even a little bit of a spice or anything that I don’t care for in a dish, I notice it immediately! Of course, I like most things, so that doesn’t happen often! =D

  3. Janna says

    Haha that’s so funny about your dad. So cute.

    I’m not sure how sensitive my tastebuds are, I would say I can definitely pick up spices, ingredients in a recipe pretty easily. An interesting fact: In one of my psychology classes at school the teacher handed around a small piece of paper to everyone and we had to lick it! If it tasted like nothing you were a “non-taster” which means you didn’t have very sensitive tastebuds and probably enjoyed spicy food because it didn’t effect you as much, if it tasted a little bitter then you were a “taster”, which meant you had average tastebuds and if it tasted very bitter you were a “supertaster” which mean you were very sensitive to the taste of foods – especially bitter veggies and spicy food!

    What was I?… I was too scared to lick the paper 🙂

    • Alice says

      Hello, Janna!
      I know that it’s weird to ask you this now, two years after you posted the comment, but… was it a special kind of paper? Because I when I read your comment I just had to lick a random paper and I tasted only a paper-y taste that reminded me of the peel of a grape’s peel and a kinda sweet taste which is from the caramel tea it was lying on… OMG, wait! The paper-y taste turned pretty bitter while writing this…. disgusting…
      So… was it a special kind of paper?

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      Hehe, I am too wordy for twitter ;).

      It really depends on so many things: what oil/applesauce you use, what flour you use, how many chocolate chips you add, etc. But since it’s single-serving, all you have to do is add up the individual ingredients you use and that’s your answer. No need for division :). (Yay for less math, right?)

  4. Brandie says

    LOL, Junior just saw me looking at your post, where ther’s the pic of your dad and he says “Who dat, Mommy?” I said “That’s Katie’s daddy.” and he says “Oh. He a boy Mommy.” LOL… He’s so funny! I get what you mean about the no tastebuds too – I wouldn’t prolly have my dad taste test either – his answer to everything is “that’s good”. Lol. !

  5. Kayla (Little Miss Healthify) says

    I used to be so picky when I was little: I didn’t drink milk, I didn’t eat any vegetables and I didn’t like creamy casseroles or ANYTHING! My diet consisted mostly of boxed mac n cheese and ramen noodles! I wish my mom would have made me healthier things to eat!!

    But now that I’ve started making my own food I’ve grown to love veggies and trying new things! I’m not picky at all anymore!

  6. Marina says

    Hm, I’m not sure, I don’t think I have really sensitive taste buds, but some things I just won’t eat. For me, texture is really important, I don’t like awful textures 😀
    But my boy will eat anything 😀

  7. Debbie C. says

    Just have to tell you how much I enjoyed my Single Lady Cookie.I made a walnut and chocolate chunk cookie.OMG so delicious ! Next I am going to try a peanut butter version and after that a oatmeal raisin.I urge all cookie lovers to make a single Lady Cookie.Thanks Katie for all your hard work developing the recipe and please keep those Single Lady dessert recipes coming!

  8. Kelly says

    My taste buds are pretty sensitive, too – but my olfactory sense is even stronger! I often detect ingredients that nobody else notices… especially vinegar, which I find disgusting.

    So, about these single lady desserts. Delicious as they look, here’s my concern: Isn’t it a waste of electricity to use the oven to make one muffin or one cookie? It doesn’t seem too environmentally friendly to me. 🙁 I suppose if you could microwave them, that’d cut down on some energy usage… hmm.

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      If I have the oven heated up, I’m usually making more than one thing :). For example, the muffin comes out and in goes a batch of roast veggies. They come out and in goes a spaghetti squash. I try to take advantage of the fact that the oven’s already heated up and get all my baking done at once :).

      • Kelly says

        I should’ve known you wouldn’t be one to waste valuable oven time! 🙂 I do the same thing – and I love it when my roomie makes something and then the oven is ready and preheated right when I need it.

  9. Diana (Soap & Chocolate) says

    Haha, yeah my dad is not so sensitive in the taste/smell dept. Or color for that matter! Loving the single-serve cookie, but you make a good point about making a whole batch and just defrosting one ball of dough at a time! I didn’t think of that until I briefly interned at a restaurant where I had to make QUADRUPLE batches of cookie dough and then portion them into precisely-weighted balls for baking later one. I dont’ miss the restaurant method, but the idea is good. 🙂

  10. Blog is the New Black says

    don’t call them ugly! you’ll give them a complex. you need to give them an operation beautiful post-it to make up for it! 😉

  11. Averie (LoveVeggiesandYoga) says

    “That man will eat anything. I swear, he has no tastebuds!”

    Most husbands, men, and toddler, and co-workers in an office breakroom (this is the biggest one!!!) will eat just about anything sweet…even if it’s not perfect.

    For me, if i am gonna eat something sweet, i want it PERFECT. I may as well enjoy all that decadence in true perfection!!

    Random aside, I am maybe (not even for sure yet) thinking about redoing my blog, migrating to WP, but i have said this for years…I love yours and Heabs. Did Zesty do it? I am willing to pay$$ to have it 100% hired out. I dont want to do a thing myself…I know my limitations…any advice, info$, etc, email me if you have time 🙂

  12. Kiersten says

    When I mess something up I usually don’t eat it, although it depends on how badly I messed up. If I was in your situation, I wouldn’t have eaten the cookies, but if it’s something like adding a little too much cayenne to something I’d eat it. My fiance will eat absolutely anything, he has the lowest food standards. I find it oddly amusing.

  13. Fi says

    I’m pretty sensitive alright! I hate anything with celery spice, star aniseed, nutmeg or White pepper! Urgh! I love the scrap bits of baking.there the best nibble bits! X

  14. Namaste Gurl says

    Haha, your mom sounds like my dad AND mom. As long as it’s somewhat sweet and yummy looking, they’ll eat it, regardless of what’s in it or how it tastes 🙂 Someday they’ll get it…..
    My sense of taste, on the other hand, is VERY strong– I can note what’s in a food by taking one nibble.

  15. Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free says

    I always have others test my recipes before I post them because I am not super sensitive! I will eating anything! I usually have my sis test because she is hypersensitive! She always smells something from miles away, and we are like, “we don’t smell anything!”

  16. Julia (The Veggie Side) says

    Other than a few spices that I’m not that fond of, my tastes aren’t that sensitive. I did make cookies the other day that tasted like chocolate cardboard. The thing is, they came out so pretty that I used a picture of them as the header of my blog. (I know…shame on me. 🙂 But it gets better! I found my hubby and daughter munching on them like they were Oreos! My tastes must be more sensitive than I know. 🙂

  17. Jenny says

    Haha! This is a great post. 😀 (Put a smile on my face!… And made my stomach rumble even though I’ve just eaten, but your lunch looks delicious!)

    Oh well… Ugly or not, at least your cookies were beautiful on the inside? 😉 So they might’ve been a little too dry or cakey sometimes… I’m sure they were still tasty in their own way! Heheh.

    My dad is almost like yours!! He eats anything… and he eats so quickly too! When we had a dog still, we had his Christmas doggie biscuits on the counter… and my dad ate the ENTIRE bag!! And then asked since when my mom started buying cookies again (she doesn’t normally buy cookies – we usually bake them ourselves). We all had a good laugh. 🙂 (And they were perfectly fine for people to eat, obviously – I’m sure they just tasted a bit like… whatever dog food tastes like, I suppose, haha.)

    I have super sensitive taste buds! When I was a child, a fleck of parsley on my pizza wouldn’t go undetected when I took a bite, even if it was hidden under the cheese. (I sadly hated green things when I was little!) I’m glad I changed – now my sensitive taste buds get the joy of tasting a rainbow of flavours – veggies and grains of all sorts~!

  18. sarah says

    That picture of you dad is priceless! My taste buds are so sensitive and sense of smell too. I think it can be good thing. Hey, did you know that brussel sprouts are loaded with protein?. I just read an article on them and I think a cup has about 6 grams–not too shabby! One more comment on them, I started roasting them since reading your post, but the leftovers have stunk out my fridge! Does this happen to you–I hope it’s a rare occurance, since I’ve been really enjoying them!

  19. Claire says

    My rule is I’ll try anything (and I mean anything) once. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Heston Blumenthal, he’s an English chef (sounds German right?!) and he’s an advocate of molecular gastronomy cooking techniques which he used to make all sorts of weird and wonderful food. Have a look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8twH67Egl0, he’s pretty incredible. Anyway, the point is if it was made by him or someone who knows what they’re doing for example if it was a delicacy somewhere I was travelling then I’d eat anything … if someone just offered me worms or something I doubt I’d tale them up on the offer 😛 How about you, would you break veganism if you where offered a delicacy on your travels?

    Our families are somewhat similar, dad is known as the garbage bin as he’ll eat anything and be happy with it as he hates waste. Mum and I test each other to see if we can pick up on ingredients, spices or herbs that dad or my sister would miss when they wolf things down.

  20. Jess@atasteofconfidence says

    I won’t eat anything, but I have a hard time picking up on spices after everything is cooked and mixed together:)

  21. abby says

    my tastebuds are very sensitive. i was brushing my teeth and noted licorice in tom’s peppermint toothpaste. i asked my husband if he noticed it and he didn’t. sure enough, the last ingredient is licorice root extract. i am also really sensitive to texture. needless to say, i am a really picky eater.

  22. Mary @ Bites and Bliss says

    Hey, having someone around the house who will eat anything is a good thing!! That way no baked goods- failures or not- will go to waste 😛

    I have sensitive taste buds but I’ll try anything. My boyfriend’s kind of like a vacuum cleaner, though..so I never really have to worry about him not liking anything I’ll cook lmho

  23. Alisa Cooks says

    My husband will eat anything sweet sitting out, but the funny thing is, I would call him more of a super-taster. I think he is still just a guy who will eat anything slightly unhealthy though!

    I’m somewhere in between you and your dad. I am not a picky eater at all and love most real food, but can often taste different spices, things are often “too sweet” for me (but not like you!), and I can taste when something is processed. They just taste weird. And seriously, how can people not notice the taste of sugar alternatives??

  24. Sarah B @ Bake + Bike says

    Ha, that’s such a dad thing! My dad is definitely known as somewhat of a garbage disposal in our household. But he’s also very picky when it comes to certain things….it’s confusing.

    I love these single-lady recipes! Even if it gets Beyonce stuck in my head every time….heh.

  25. VEGirl says

    Me taste spuds are very sensitive– to sweetness, salt, vinegar, etc. I have trained my family to not salt anything otherwise I don’t really like the food :(. The subtle tastes of flours are very obvious to me as well.
    I’ll say: “oh man, there’s a bitter taste is this tester cookie!” And my family is like: “wha??” Although my mom has a sensitive palette to some things!

  26. Amber Shea @Almost Vegan says

    On the bright side, at least making single-serving test batches doesn’t produce nearly as much waste as baking even a half dozen at a time!

    My taste buds have become more and more sensitive as my diet has grown more raw. Unfortunately, I’m the MOST sensitive to flavors I hate! Like orange, yuck. I can detect the tiniest speck of orange zest in an otherwise tasty dessert.

    PS – next time you have too-dry cookies, instead of throwing them away (or giving them to a garbage-disposal dad, haha), you could grind them up to a powder, add some liquefied coconut oil, and press it into a pan for a cookie-pie crust!

  27. Anne @ Food Loving Polar Bear says

    You non-cookie lunch looks really good, I love all the things on your plate 🙂

    I eat almost anything, I think I have similar tastebuds with your dad 😀

  28. Trooppetrie says

    one time i sent my dad Christmas ornaments made out of apple sauce and cinnamon and even explained. Months later we were talking about me sending him cookies. he loves my baking. He said honey the ones at Christmas were really hard and not good. I said DAD they had ribbon running through them. Poor dad

  29. kathleen says

    My dad will eat anything at all! You say your dad has no tastebuds- my dad has been hospitalized 5 times from food poisoning, because he can`t tell if a food is plainly rotten, and he just decided that fuzzy stuffy really does equal bad. He seems to think of rotten food as misunderstood! But my sister can taste the tiniest bit of anything- we joke that she could be a superhero with her super powers of taste! I am firmly in the middle. I eat food, but it only tastes good if the food and atmosphere are good. I eat equally with eyes and taste.

  30. trajayjay says

    Ehhh, I’m not so picky as to what I eat. If it doesn’t taste absolutely dry and bitter, like kale, I’ll be fine with it.

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