The Cookie That Taught AI a Lesson

Why vague prompts bake up hard results — in cookies and in business

It started with a simple goal: make baby-friendly cookies. Nothing fancy—just soft, safe, and sweet enough for little fingers. Shivangi Bansal (an accomplished consultant and Founder of Rapid Sales AI) shared an experience in another forum--she turned to ChatGPT for help:  Typing what felt like a clear request. The recipe looked perfect on screen. But when the cookies came out of the oven three hours later, they were solid enough to tile a roof.

“I followed every step,” she said. “Even I couldn’t bite them.”

That moment—both hilarious and humbling—became a masterclass in how AI mirrors our clarity. When we give it vague, open-ended directions, it returns something technically correct but contextually wrong. The cookies didn’t fail because of AI; they failed because AI did exactly what it was told.

By the way Shivangi... Yeah, I've done stuff like that too!  PRO TIP: Vanilla-flavored soy milk does NOT make a good sausage gravy!  I'm right there with you.  Thank you for sharing!

From Kitchen Fails to Workflow Fails

Every business faces the same trap. We plug ChatGPT or another AI tool into a process, ask for “a customer support script” or “a product description,” and expect brilliance on the first try. Then we wonder why the results sound generic or slightly off.

The truth is simple: prompting is an ingredient. A vague input is like skipping the flour measurement and hoping for a perfect cookie. What we put in determines what comes out.

Reuse Before You Invent: Let AI Supercharge Your Search

“Soft, baby-friendly cookies” aren’t new. Hundreds of well-tested recipes already exist—written by pediatric dietitians, test kitchens, and allergy-aware bakers. The smart play is to reuse what’s proven and only invent when your needs truly demand it.  

A quick online search on those three words turned up more options that I could count!  Some were pre-packaged and ready to order, others were recipes.  This one in particular caught my eye:  3 Ingredient Banana Baby Cookies - MJ and Hungryman.  Haven't tried it yet, and I'm not familiar with the site. But it looks right on target for what you need--with a choice of oat flour or rolled oats, cinnamon, and banana.  It looks really simple:  Measure, mix, and bake for 10 minutes.

Why this approach works

• Already solved and tested: You benefit from years of professional trials, community feedback, and texture perfection—no need to reinvent the wheel.
• Lower compute and effort: Using AI for targeted search takes a fraction of the energy, time, and CPU power compared to generating new content.
• Smarter prompts, less noise: Let AI craft the search queries—you’ll surface exactly what you need faster and with better focus.
• Healthy tool balance: Avoid over-dependence on a single system by combining AI’s search power with trusted, human-tested sources.

How to use AI as a search accelerator

It's not a crime at all to ask AI for some help putting together a proper search prompt.  Describe what you think you want, ask AI for help, and even ask AI to give you some questions about what you want that you can answer--AI then uses those responses to craft a great search prompt or can execute the search to return results.  Here's some tips:

1. Draft your brief: Share age range, texture, allergens to avoid, available gear, and your desired softness.
2. Ask for query variations: Have AI create 6–10 searches using operators like site:, intitle:, and filetype:.
3. Prioritize good sources: Start with pediatric nutrition and test kitchen sites before turning to blogs or social media.
4. Compare and combine: Once you find 2–3 solid recipes, ask AI to highlight differences and merge the best steps—with citations.

Example queries that surface quality recipes

• "soft baby cookies" (no honey) "oat" "banana" site:.edu OR site:.org
• toddler cookies chewy texture low sugar site:healthline.com OR site:solidstarts.com
• intitle:"soft cookies" oats applesauce dairy-free (infant OR toddler) -chocolate
• filetype:pdf "soft cookie" recipe infant texture guidelines
• banana oat cookies 3 ingredient "soft" (mash OR purée) -crispy -crunchy
• site:youtube.com soft baby cookie recipe test kitchen "chewy" "no honey"

Meta-prompt: have AI write your search plan

You are my recipe research assistant. Create 10 web search queries for truly soft, baby-friendly cookies that avoid honey and nuts, target a chewy texture, and use oats/banana/applesauce. Include at least 3 with advanced operators (site:, intitle:, filetype:). Then propose a source ranking rubric and a 5-step synthesis plan.

Safety & texture guardrails

• No honey for children under 1 year.
• Prevent choking: keep textures tender and easily gummed.
• Skip excess sugar and salt; rely on fruit purées for flavor and moisture.
• Moisture insurance: purée + oats + fat + egg (or flax “egg”) = soft crumb.
• Small-batch test: bake one or two cookies first; adjust bake time in tiny increments.

Back to the Kitchen

Very glad to learn that Shivangi’s second batch turned out beautifully! With clearer instructions—specific texture, sugar level, and oven temperature—the cookies baked up perfectly soft for tiny hands. That’s the quiet magic of clarity: less guessing, more success.

Takeaway

When a goal has already been solved, start by searching before inventing. Let AI help you find and filter what’s proven, then customize from there. You’ll save time, energy, and compute—and still enjoy the sweet reward of doing it right.

© 2025 Creative Cooking with AI - All rights reserved.