Messy hands, gooey chocolate chips, and the smell of cookies baking in the oven filled Room 1168 as Foods 3 students prepared for their “Great British Bake Off”–inspired baking competition.

Foods 3 hosted a baking show where students presented heart-shaped chocolate chip cookies to judges. The preparation took place from Monday, Feb. 9 through Thursday, Feb. 12 in the foods classroom.

Students followed a set recipe to create uniform, identical cookies. Judges looked for a golden-brown color, a slightly crispy outside, and a thick, soft, gooey center. The competition was inspired by “The Great British Bake Off.”

Foods 3 students were also training for ServSafe certification as part of the class.

At the start of the period, students gathered around a table while scooping cookie dough and shaping it into hearts for the competition.

“Right now they’ve already shaped – some groups have already shaped – 12 of them. They have their first batch in the oven. So they did good, preheating their ovens and getting set,” Family and Consumer Science teacher Emily Renteria said.

Magdalyn Jezio, a junior, scooped chocolate chips into a custard cup before adding them to the dough.

Students added flour little by little to create the right dough consistency before mixing in the chocolate chips. After mixing, they placed the dough onto baking sheets and spaced each cookie evenly.

While students were baking, they glanced at the board where Renteria had projected instructions for the competition, as well as class objectives written in an “I can” format: “I can work with my team to prepare and bake uniform heart-shaped cookies. I can apply proper kitchen safety and sanitation during the lab. I can evaluate my finished cookies based on appearance, uniformity, and taste.”

Students carefully combined ingredients in separate bowls before mixing everything together according to the recipe. Then, the laid the dough on pre-prepared baking trays.

“And the cooking show is a Great British Bake Off—in this case, the Valentine’s edition—and they are shaping heart-shaped chocolate chip cookies,” Renteria said.

After placing the cookies in the oven, students set timers and monitored the baking process carefully.

“Overall, I enjoyed learning different techniques for different foods, and it’s fun cooking with friends,” Maxwell Hoddler said.

When the cookies were finished baking, students removed them from the oven and checked to make sure they were not undercooked. The cookies were then placed on plates for judges to taste.

“So I’m impressed with their time, especially Kitchen Six,” Renteria said.

Once everyone had finished baking, judges waited for each group to present their cookies for evaluation.

Science teacher and guest judge Peter Vishneski wiped his mouth after eating a cookie while Clark reached for another sample.

Fellow science teacher and judge Krysta Schoenbeck tasted a cookie during the Great British Bake Off–style challenge.

The competition not only tested students’ baking skills but also provided hands-on experience that prepared them for real-world culinary expectations.