How to Bake Cookies on Your Car's Dashboard
Craving cookies but don't want to turn your kitchen into a sauna? Don't fret. Just turn your car into an oven!
Up next in How to Make the Most of Your Car (10 videos)
Bake cookies on your dashboard? Pick up a girl at a stoplight? Check out all the car fun to be had in this Howcast video series.
You Will Need
- Nonstick cooking spray
- A cookie sheet
- Cookie dough
- A plastic or silicone spatula
- Plastic wrap
- A car
- A thermometer that reads temperatures up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit
- A potholder or towel
- Patience
- An eggless dough recipe
Steps
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Step 1
Prepare the cookie sheet
Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. If you're using premade cookie dough, cut it into ¼-inch thick slices and place them on the sheet about 2 inches apart. If using homemade dough, roll pieces into 1-inch balls and drop them onto the cookie sheet.
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Because of the low baking temperature, the eggs in the cookie dough may not cook completely. To reduce your risk of salmonella infection, use dough with pasteurized egg whites, or search online for eggless dough recipes.
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Step 2
Cover and refrigerate
Use a spatula to flatten the cookies slightly. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you're ready to hit the road.
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Step 3
Park your car
Find a very sunny spot to park your car in during the hottest part of the day, which is usually from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. during the summer. Let it sit in the sun for at least 15 minutes.
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The temperature outside must be at least 95 degrees Fahrenheit in order for the inside of the car's temperature to bake the cookies.
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Step 4
Set out cookie sheet
Place the cookie sheet on the dashboard, and put a thermometer next to it so you can look through the windshield to check your car's temperature. The inside of the car should reach at least 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Set the cookie sheet on a potholder or towel to prevent damage to the dashboard.
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Step 5
Be patient
Be patient. You must wait anywhere from two to three and a half hours for your cookies to cook completely. Don't open the car doors until at least two hours have passed. You don't want any heat to escape.
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Step 6
Check the cookies
After two hours have passed, or when the cookies look baked, open the door to check on them. If they stick to the sheet when you try to lift them with a spatula, they're not done yet. Let them cook for another 20 minutes or so. If they come up easily, the edges are firm and the center is no longer gooey, they're done!
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The finished cookies will be paler than those baked in a conventional oven at a higher temperature.
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Step 7
Remove and eat
Carefully remove the cookies from the car, and watch them disappear!
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In the 1930s, Ruth Graves Wakefield accidentally invented chocolate chips at the Toll House Inn, located in Whitman, Mass.
