Can You Bake Cookies In A Hot Car?

You know the saying, "It's so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk"? Substitute that with "bake cookies" and "inside a car" and you have one bizarre summer cooking experiment.

Some crazy folks at ThinkGeek and the Cedar Rapids Gazette took on the challenge, as the Consumerist points out. The results? It's possible — if you're willing to wait hours. The experiment from ThinkGeek took about five hours while cookie dough sat in a 157-degree car (ouch), but were "risen and scary." The Gazette didn't measure the inside temperature of the car, but found that the dashboard cookies took about four hours in 99-plus-degree heat outside.

It looks like it could actually work, but... ew? Both our Cook and Recipes editors had a look of disgust and surprise on their faces when they heard of this. Want to give it a try? Here's what our Cook Editor, Anne Dolce, advises:

The cookies in this experiment are so moist and chewy because they were baked at a very low temperature for a long amount of time. While it is a fun way to take advantage of the intense summer heat, we urge you to take caution seeing as cookie dough contains uncooked egg, which if not cooked properly could be harmful to your health. Because you're baking in a car (with who knows what and how many types of bacteria in it), it's extra important to make sure you're being very sanitary; make sure your hands are clean when handling the cookies and be sure to sanitize the baking sheet. Lastly, as we would say whenever offering advice for baking cookies, don't forget to spray the sheet with cooking oil or line it with parchment paper!

It's probably best you leave the chococolate chip cookies for the kitchen.