Boss Battle - The Perfect Cookie: Riddle's First Attempt

Riddle clutched his well-worn notebook close to his chest as he darted into the empty kitchen. After weeks of practice and plenty of supervision, Auntie had finally given Riddle the go ahead to bake a batch of cookies all on his own! Ever since he and Rhyme watched Auntie make her famous oversized chocolate chip and tree nut cookies, he had been dreaming of coming up with something that would be just as good, if not better. There were lots of things that Riddle wanted to learn how to do like how to swing a sword or how to take down a monster, but after watching Auntie work her magic, baking had quickly become one of the top skills he wanted to master.

 

The young moth slammed his notebook down on the counter, quickly flipped through the pages of scribbles, doodles, and miscellaneous scraps haphazardly stuffed between, until finally landing on his makeshift recipe for a salted double chocolate cookie. He took so many frantic notes while watching Auntie bake the past few weeks, picking up on every tip or trick she had to offer, as well as any other stray tidbits he heard from the other adults milling around the place. He even snuck a look at her old recipe books for a better idea of what ratios to use for his ingredients. He didn’t fully understand what those ratios meant yet, but he felt he had a decent enough grasp to get the kind of cookie he wanted.

 

Riddle looked over his ingredients list, got them all stored in the front of his brain, and then dashed around the kitchen, a little pink and green whirlwind grabbing the various sacks and boxes he needed and plopping them all down on the counter. He threw open the cabinets to fish out all the necessary mixing bowls and utensils, letting them clang and clack onto the countertop without really looking where he was tossing them. He made a pitstop in front of the oven, set it to preheat and turned on the ventilation, and finally flung himself back to the counter with his wings spread out wide, standing proudly before the mess he made with his chest puffed out and head held high. This was it! He was going to make the best cookie this guild had ever tasted!

 

He hopped between all the different steps he had to do in no particular order, ping-ponging from preparing the dough to breaking up the baking chocolate to getting his baking sheets all greased up. He measured out his ingredients, being about as precise as a hyperactive child can be, and got to mixing with as much speed and vigor as he could muster. He broke and smashed the baking chocolate into small chunks, making sure to test the chocolate thoroughly by taking a few nibbles of it along the way. He made sure the sheets were thoroughly greased, so thoroughly that the countertop around them got a healthy amount of grease on them as well. In record time Riddle was looking down at perfect little dollops of chocolatey dough laid out messily on the sheets, a toothy grin spread across his face as he admired his handiwork.

 

Before he could spend much time patting himself on the back the oven timer dinged, spurring him into action once again. He flung the oven door open and squinted as a wave of heat washed over him, then shook it off as he hopped back to the counter to grab his sheets. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down some, moving with more caution as he slid the sheets into the oven, then closed it with a bit more care than when he opened it. He nabbed the egg timer resting next to the stove top and cranked the dial to about ten minutes, and then crouched down in front of the oven to watch his cookies come to life.

 

Riddle could hardly contain his excitement as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. Waiting for the cookies to bake was always the hardest part for him as he never really knew what to do with himself until they were finished. He remembered Auntie saying something about cleaning up after himself, but that would mean not looking at the cookies! What if he missed the crucial moment where he needed to rotate the sheets? What if a fire broke out while he wasn’t looking? What if someone tried to steal his cookies out from under his antenna? The cleaning would happen in due time, probably, but what was important right now was making sure his recipe turned out perfectly!

 

He opened the oven around the five minute mark to swap the sheets around, taking a real good whiff of the rich chocolate aroma that quickly filled the kitchen. The cookies looked like they were forming up nicely, too! Well, maybe they were a touch puffier than he was expecting, but that didn’t make them any less cookie-like! He slipped the sheets back in and carried on his steady watch, wiggling even more as he counted down the remaining minutes in his head. He was so close to being done that he could hardly stand it. He got up and started pacing around, flapping his wings and flicking his antenna rapidly as he tried to make the time go faster with his willpower alone.

 

He jumped straight up at the sound of the egg timer finally going off, then let out an excited laugh as he hurriedly opened the oven door, looking on at the fruits of his labor. His cookies looked…well, they didn’t look quite like what he was hoping they would look like, but they certainly looked baked enough! He pulled the sheets out and laid them on the stove top, carefully prodding at the tops of the cookies. Just the slightest amount of give, didn’t seem undercooked, giving off an incredible smell. He quickly grabbed the sea salt from one of the pouches on the counter behind him and sprinkled a little bit on each cookie, then went rummaging through one of the cabinets again to pull out some wire racks for the cookies to cool off on.

 

At long last! Riddle had baked his first batch of cookies all on his own, and with his own recipe to boot! He wanted nothing more than to grab the biggest, tastiest looking cookie and give it a taste test himself, but where was the pride in that? He had to have full confidence in his abilities, to know that he made the best cookie he possibly could, and that meant letting the first bite go to the person who had the greatest authority when it came to cookies. It was time to see if his recipe stood a chance at rivaling Auntie’s chocolate chip and tree nut cookies. He strengthened his resolve as he dashed out of the kitchen at mach speed, finding his target mending clothes by the fireplace.

 

“Auntie! Auntie! They’re ready!” Riddle called out as he ran right up to the much larger moth. He stopped himself from barrelling into her, hopping up and down in place to try and get the excess energy out of his system before he burst. The larger moth gave him a hearty chuckle as she put her sewing supplies off to the side.

 

“I can certainly tell!” Auntie said. “The hall smells heavenly.”

 

“C’mon! I need you to taste test for me!” Riddle said, already tugging at Auntie’s sleeve.

 

“Oh? You want ME to judge your baking?” Auntie said with a sly smile. “You should know that I can be pret-ty harsh with my scores when it comes to cookies.”

 

“Is that supposed to scare me? I KNOW my cookies are good! I don’t even need to taste them first! Now c’mon before they get stale!” Without waiting for her to get up from her chair Riddle bolted back over to the kitchen, practically leaping through the air as he went.

 

“Careful not to trip now!” Auntie called out with a chuckle before getting up to follow. She braced herself as she walked through the opening to the kitchen, but even then the mess that met her still dealt a hefty blow. She wouldn’t let him off the hook this time, but figured that could wait until the taste test was over.

 

“Now then,” Riddle said, wings flapping rapidly, “feast your eyes upon my very own, world-renowned, best-in-the-business salted double chocolate cookies!” The young moth hopped back and gestured to his creation, allowing Auntie to drink in their majesty.

 

The older moth gave them a few ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s as she approached the oven, shooting Riddle a little glance as she turned the oven off for him. The younger moth winced and cursed at himself for forgetting, but quickly bounced back for the sake of his presentation.

 

“Well,” she said, “I think you need to work a little bit on your form. I don’t think I see a single cookie that’s the same shape!”

 

“That just gives them character! Besides, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, remember?” Riddle was starting to fidget and bounce again, chomping at the bit to hear her verdict.

 

“Alright, alright,” Auntie said with another chuckle, then gave the sheets a quick scan before gingerly selecting the best looking cookie from the bunch. She gave it a good whiff, admired the bits of sea salt sprinkled along the top, and finally gave it a big bite.

 

Riddle was holding his breath as he watched her chew, his heart pounding right out of his chest. He had been confident in his process all the way up to this point, but now that Auntie was here and finally putting those skills to the test, he couldn’t help but let the doubt creep into his mind. Was he still not ready? Was all that hard work and practice not enough? What if he accidentally made a poisonous recipe and she died? Well, that last one probably wouldn’t happen, but still-

 

“Mm!” Auntie’s satisfied response broke him out of his worries. “My goodness, what a nice texture! And this taste-, did you put a bit of espresso in your dough?”

 

“Yes ma’am!” Riddle said, beaming with pride with his chest puffed out.

 

“And you came up with this recipe all on your own?”

 

“Yes ma’am!”

 

“Well,” Auntie said, holding out the cookie to the younger moth, “I can say with certainty that you’ve surpassed my expectations! This is a wonderful cookie.”

 

“YES!” Riddle pumped his fists in triumph. He did it! He was on his way to being the best baker in the world, just like Auntie was! Now that he knew for sure that they were good, he wanted to make sure everyone in the guild got to try them! He went to run out of the kitchen to fetch everyone, but a firm grip on his arm and a small, forceful yank kept him planted in the kitchen.

 

“Now Riddle,” Auntie said, her tone shifting slightly, “I know you’re excited for your friends to have a taste, but I will NOT let anyone else enter this kitchen in such a state!”

 

Riddle let out a defeated groan as he went slack in her grip, nearly falling to the floor if not for her still holding onto his arm. It looked like “due time” was now, and when Auntie said she wanted something done there was no changing her mind, not even the greatest cookies in the world. “Ughhhh, fiiiiiine.”

 

“Now don’t give me that! Since you let me have the first bite of your new recipe, I’ll gladly offer to help clean up, but only if you do your fair share!” Auntie hefted him back up onto his feet and finally let go of his arm, breaking her stern look with a small wink as she turned to transfer the cookies over to the wire racks he had set out before.

 

Riddle let out a sigh and nodded, looking over as she carefully transferred the cookies over, his mood picking back up as that sense of accomplishment came back to him. He knew he had a major mess to clean up behind him, but it was a small price to pay for the perfect cookie recipe.