The Arizona Daily Star's Coley Ward wrote about how to bake cookies inside your car during Tucson summers. Here's the story as written in 2009.
When it's scorching outside
As a heat wave grips much of the nation, a curious culinary experiment is gaining popularity. People are baking cookies in their cars. A couple of weeks ago, The New York Times' "Wheels" blog featured a recipe and instructions for using the UV rays to make chocolate chip treats in your SUV. The Times got its inspiration from the food blog BakingBites.com, which claims that cars can double as ovens as long as it's at least 100 degrees outside.
We'd heard about it via Twitter and decided to try it for ourselves.
Baking Bites Car-Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 large egg
* 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg, followed by flour mixture and chocolate chips.
Place dough on a large sheet of wax paper and roll into a log about 11 inches long by 2 1/2 inches wide. Freeze for two to three hours or overnight. See what we did next on the next page.
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
OK, but is it safe to eat 'em?
We asked Sharon Browning, who manages Pima County's Consumer Health and Food Safety program, to weigh in on the car-baked cookies featured on the food blog.
"It probably works if you follow it to the letter," sheΒ said. "But I wouldn't want to encourage people to do it because you don't have a real good temperature-control device. After all, you are using the sun and the angle of your car to mimic an oven. And secondly, you're not using an actual food thermometer to make sure the cookies reach a specified temperature."
Browning's main concern was the risk of salmonella from the egg (which is why eating raw cookie dough isn't a good idea).
"The rest of the ingredients aren't usually associated with any food-borne illness," she said. Of course, she noted, most people thought peanuts were safe, but that's another story. . . .
To be extra careful, the cookie should reach 155 degrees, she said. You should also use a pasteurized egg or a pasteurized liquid egg product.
Still, she could see why baking cookies in a parked car would generating interest:
"People like to experiment and people are just naturally creative," she said. And using the sun also has obvious environmental appeal.
