One of the benefits of baking is that it enjoys economies of scale. I can prepare a cookie in about 20 minutes using a toaster oven and a small bowl but 72 in an hour. I can produce about 160 in two if I can get two sets of sheet pans going. Today I made peanut butter cookies and made the 160 cookie double batch. Every time I do this the contents of the stand mixer nearly spill out and I need to integrate the flour with the care of a surgeon. I have no kitchen container that will hold this many cookies short of my 5 gallon igloo cooler and put about 120 in a Rubbermaid tub for work. Some were barely done, some were a bit toasted and not until after I finished did I realize that this was probably caused by the batter warming up as the kitchen heated up.

At work, I put out the tub, and over the course of the day people stopped by to thank me which is relatively rare. About half these people also said something like “you brought in a lot of cookies” and then looked at me accusingly. I guess my coworkers now view my baked goods as a standing challenge.

By the end of the day, about 20 cookies remained and the 30 people on my floor had consumed about 100 of them. That’s not even four per person and frankly I’m not impressed.