A few months ago, I asked my husband to help me start selling or giving away our daughter's old baby stuff. So, he joined an app where we can trade or sell with locals near us.
One day, I was looking through the listing and saw someone selling an air fryer for really cheap. My friends and family back in America have been ranting and raving about their Air fryers, and I had searched about them here in Japan, but they were quite expensive and physically big, so I couldn't justify buying one, especially when I didn't even know if Japanese food was compatible.
However, I couldn't pass this deal up. The person had listed that they only used it to reheat some KFC and that it was just too big. They were selling it for only 4,000 yen, and I knew that basically the person just didn't know what to do with it, so I could rest assured that it was in good condition.
And I was right! It came basically brand new in the box with the recipe book, and the first thing I wanted to try was making chocolate chip cookies.
Unfortunately, it does seem like you need to know your oven, as I've tried a lot of online recipes and the timing or temperature was way off.
Fortunately, I'm in the clear with baking since my sister is a pastry chef and she helped me tweak this recipe right here so that I could finally make some chocolate chip cookies!
Since it was a rainy day today, I prepped all of the materials and let my daughter help me with making the dough. The dough makes about six cookies, and I bake them two at a time. Below I'll share how I tweaked the recipe!
THE AIR FRYER
The model I have is called the Vpcok Air Fryer, which is a Chinese branded air fryer. You can buy it on Amazon, and it can fit about two medium-sized cookies at a time. Since this batch makes about six cookies, I have to do three separate batches, which can be time-consuming if you need to make a double batch.
THE RECIPE
The recipe I chose to replicate was the Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe hosted on Mealthy.com. The recipe is written by Marrekus and Krysten Wilkes.
What drew me to this recipe was its simplicity. It's not easy finding certain ingredients while living in Japan, and something as simple as finding brown sugar can give you a headache, so I liked the relative simplicity of this recipe.
WHAT I TWEAKED
When I made my first batch, I followed the directions quite literally, but I still ran into an issue with this step:
Combine brown sugar, butter, and white sugar in a separate bowl. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and whisk until well-combined.
When I talked to my sister, she broke it down for me.
Combine the brown sugar, butter, and white sugar in a separate bowl (mixing bowl). Using a mixer or by hand, you need to add your egg yolk slowly and a little at a time. You want to "cream your butter and sugar". You want a " uniform, fluffy texture and a slightly lighter color."
So, while the recipe states this, it's a bit too vague for me as a beginner at baking. However, after that, I follow my sister's instructions every time, and the dough turns out perfectly!
After that, the next issue was the dough. The recipe states:
Scoop dough by the spoonfuls and roll into balls; place onto the foil-lined air fryer basket, 2 inches apart and working in batches.
I followed it exactly and the cookies never melted down. They came out as a ball with a hardened crust around it, and the dough was basically raw inside. Can you say, "disappointing!". Therefore, after that, I made sure to smash them down, making them into a cookie shape before putting them in the air fryer, and they now come out perfect every time! I also use parchment paper instead of foil.
After they are done baking, do not try to eat or touch them until they are completely cooled. I made the mistake of trying to lift them by hand and move them, and they completely fell apart! So, just wait a few minutes and then try to handle them.
The timing and temperature in the recipe were fine for my air fryer. However, I liked a little more "crunch" to my cookies, so I leave my cookies in for a minute or two longer.
Finally, the taste test! Maybe it is because I've been in Japan so long, but the cookies were a bit too sweet for me. So, instead of the 2 tablespoons of white sugar, I only put in one. I would like to reduce the sugar a bit more, but it would probably compromise the recipe. Also, if you'd like to find brown sugar in Japan, you can use Sanontou (三温糖).
Overall, the recipe does the trick halfway across the world, and I love making them with my daughter and seeing her have fun pouring in the ingrediants!
Let me know if you have any recommended air fryer recipes! I'd love to try them out!
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