How to Turn Your Car Into an Easy-Bake Oven

It has been a hot summer so far. Some days, the prospect of turning on the oven to bake anything is horrifying. Why heat up a house more than it already is? No matter how much ventilation or air conditioning you have, it seems nonsensical to pump yet more heat into a confined space, even if you are craving homemade cookies, muffins, or roasted vegetables.

The U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) has demonstrated an alternative to baking cookies in an oven. How about baking them on the dashboard of your extremely overheated car? In a fun yet thought-provoking stunt, the NWS took advantage of the recent Texas temps of 105 degrees F (41 degrees C) to bake a tray of cookies inside a car, where the greenhouse-like environment caused the temperature inside to reach a shocking 190 degrees F (88 degrees C).

A Facebook post by the NWS showed two pictures of the cookie tray on the dashboard and said, "After about four and a half hours and nearly 190°F dashboard heat... we have mostly baked cookies!" There was unfortunately no photo to show what the finished cookies looked like, and the post did add that they were "not golden brown," but to be "mostly baked" is still an impressive (and alarming) achievement. 

The point of the post was, of course, to warn people against leaving children and animals in cars in extreme heat. They said, "This heat is still INCREDIBLY dangerous to anyone left in a hot car. LOOK before you LOCK!" 

But it does lead us to wonder, is it actually possible to bake cookies in a hot car? A quick Google search reveals that, yes, it is possible—it was proven by these intrepid journalists in Houston—but there are better and smarter ways to do it. 

How to Bake Cookies in a Hot Car

1. Opt for a store-bought dough that contains pasteurized eggs or make one that is egg-free, to avoid any contamination should the dough not get fully cooked through. 
2. Put your tray out to bake at the hottest time of the day (1-5 p.m.) to ensure steady heat. Make sure the sunroof shade is open for maximal sun exposure. Put windows up to keep bugs out and heat in. Remove air fresheners that might interfere with flavor.
3. Be patient. A process that takes around 10 minutes in a conventional oven may take 5 hours or more in a car. (The Houston journalists found it took only two hours.) Think of it as "low-and-slow" baking—but it will happen eventually as long as the interior heat stays above 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Keep an eye on the temperature, gauging it with a thermometer. According to U.S. News, "If the car's internal temperature never reaches 160 degrees, the cookies won't bake and you'll end up with warmed, partially cooked cookie dough."

You will know they are ready when the dough balls are no longer gooey and they come off the baking sheet without sticking, with a slightly firm bottom. The NWS' report of minimal browning makes sense: "The sugars in the dough won’t caramelize at the lower baking temperature, so expect your car cookies to be lighter, with less crispy edges, than cookies baked in an oven."

Commenters on the NWS post vouched for the experiment. One said, "In the past, I have baked pie crust on the dashboard. Soft cookies like oatmeal cook well, too." Another praised its logic: "That's it! Capitalize on this! Cut back on your energy bills with a new solar oven (like a BBQ). Add a couple of mirrors and it will cook." Someone joked that they expected a brisket from Texas, not cookies. (Please don't try it.)

Whether you take the NWS' stunt as inspiration for a little home-grown science experiment or as a warning not to sit in hot cars, it is a curious reminder that opportunities for unconventional cooking exist all around us if we are willing to think outside the box.