You may be craving some homemade cookies on a hot day, but maybe you're camping, at a picnic, or something like that. Take advantage of the heat and bake cookies on your car dashboard.
For best results, use pre-made cookie dough, commercial or a homemade egg-free recipe
1) Preparing the car
Make sure the outdoor temperature is at least 95 °F (40 °C) before you try this project. For best results, park your car in a sunny spot
Remove any items that you may need from your car. You will have to keep your car doors and windows closed throughout the baking process. Ensure that the car is parked somewhere clean and away from the exhaust of other cars that are running.
Take your air freshener out of the car first. It might contaminate the cookies, and you won't need one afterwards when your car smells like fresh baked cookies.
2) Preparing the cookies
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. You could use a sprayed surface but beware that this could cause the cookies to spread.
Prepare the cookie dough if needed. Cut a log of pre-made cookie dough into even rounds. Place the rounds onto the cookie sheet, leaving about 1½" (4cm) of space around each cookie. If you haven't purchased pre-made cookie dough, make the dough from this recipe(as was done for this article) or use your own cookie recipe (preferably egg-free, to avoid any potential for problems of not baking the egg sufficiently). Arrange each cookie on the baking sheet, adding blobs about tablespoon wide and leaving some space around the cookies to allow for spread.
Place the pieces of unbaked cookie dough on the cookie sheet about 1 1/2 inches / 38mm apart. Use a spatula or a fork to flatten the cookies, if needed. They may be fine without this. Cover the cookies with plastic-wrap if not baking immediately and keep in the refrigerator until needed. Don't make the dough too far ahead of use though, use within a few hours.
3) Baking the cookies on the dashboard
Place the cookies on the baking sheet into the car. Gently push into place on the dashboard. Place a thermometer next to the cookie sheet on the dashboard. You want to make sure that your car temperature reaches at least 165 °F (70 °C) to kill any germs that were present in any raw ingredients.
Shut the doors and let the sun begin the baking. You can expect the cookies to begin baking immediately but unlike baking in oven, it's advised to hang around and keep an eye on things as this is far more experimental than standard baking.
Keep an eye on the baking process by looking through the windshield regularly.The cooking time will vary depending on the temperature inside your car. Your cookies will set, but they won't brown much because the car isn't hot enough to caramelize the sugars in the cookies.
Check now and then. Open the car door to check your cookies when they begin to look set. Touch the edges and the centers. The edges should be firm, and the centers should be set but not gooey. Try to slide a cookie from the parchment paper. If the cookie is done, it will come off of the paper easily. If the cookie is not done, it will stick to the paper. Close the car door if not done yet. Continue to check on the cookies every 15 to 30 minutes until they are done.
Remove the cookie sheet from your car. Remove the cookies from the sheet with a spatula and place them on a wire rack to cool completely, although they won't be as hot as when they're removed from the oven.
You're finished. Enjoy
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