Monday Martha Update # 2
- hallmic1
- Aug 4, 2025
- 2 min read
Michelle & Martha Part Two: One Pan Wins & Cookie Misses
My Martha Stewart experiment continues, and this time I tackled two classics: a one-pan pasta and her chewy chocolate chip cookies. As always, I went in with curiosity, a little skepticism, and the hope of finding a new weeknight staple. Here’s how it went:
🍝 The One-Pan Pasta
This recipe honestly blew me away. It’s one of those dishes that feels too easy to be good, but it is good. Everything cooks together in one pot, even the pasta, which absorbs all the flavor from the garlic, onions, tomatoes, and fresh basil. The starch from the pasta thickens the sauce naturally, and the result is a glossy, silky bowl of deliciousness with almost no cleanup.
Would I make it again? Absolutely. It’s earned a spot in my weeknight dinner rotation.
🔗 Get the full One-Pan Pasta recipe from Martha Stewart
🍪 The Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Next up: Martha’s soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies. I had high hopes, who doesn’t love a good chocolate chip cookie? But these ended up being a little too cakey for my taste. I prefer a chewy, dense texture with slightly crisp edges, and these leaned more toward muffin-top consistency.
What went wrong? About a year ago I experimented with chocolate chip cookie recipes and I think it comes down to the classic baking variables:
Baking soda vs. baking powder
Brown sugar vs. white sugar
Melted vs. softened butter
Martha’s version uses both baking soda and brown sugar, but I might tweak the recipe next time by chilling the dough longer, using a combination of both baking powder and soda, and adjusting the ratio of brown and white sugar.
Would I make them again? Probably not as-is, but it was fun to try!
🔗 Try the Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe yourself
Final Verdict
Two recipes, two very different outcomes. While the pasta was a total win, the cookies didn’t quite hit the mark for me. That’s the fun of this series, figuring out what works, what doesn’t, and adding my own spin along the way.
Next up? I’m thinking something fall-themed… maybe a pie or cozy soup. Stay tuned!
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