@Julia M. Usher posted:Thanks for sharing your experience. I test my recipes umpteen times over and also hire a team of recipe testers, both professionals and non-professionals, to test and re-test all of them. But they are always instructed to test the recipe EXACTLY as written, because deviations (even if they seem small to the user) in ingredients or method can cause variable results. Many ingredient substitutions won't matter much, but some will. And process steps are just as important to follow as ingredients and proportions. People need to remember that well-written recipes are intended to be followed, and that it's almost impossible for the author to troubleshoot what went wrong when multiple deviations are taken. Okay, off my soapbox!
Julia have you ever tried adding cocoa to your recipe to make chocolate gingerbread?