what's in the cake stand - the tale of the "spread out & pick me up cookies"

In the cooking world, sometimes you adapt, sometimes you improvise. 

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

And sometimes, you just pray that you'll be able to scrape your cookies off the baking sheet. 

And sometimes, those prayers aren't answered. 

{Disclaimer: these cookies taste delicious or else I would not share them for your visual pleasure.}

Having said that, I will also add that I don't, however, recommend that you try to make them... yet. They simply aren't what they need to be. I tried to adapt this recipe from the wonderful Smitten Kitchen, making adapts such as whole wheat flour, omitting spices, nuts & orange zest, adding instant coffee (hence the "pick me up") and backing off a bit on the sugar. 

I have been accused of biting off more than I could chew on more than one occasion. 

I also made the fatal, fatal mistake of overbeating the butter & sugar in the early stages. I confess that I didn't know such a process would lead to "spread out" cookies... but if I were an avid reader of the popular blog written by David Lebovitz, I would be more educated. 

The price for an education is sometimes paid on the backs of a failed cookie.

So... sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes, the cake stand stands fairly empty for a few days.