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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Known_Delivery_3730 on 2025-10-31 14:34:58+00:00.
So I work at this boutique bakery in Portland, been there like 8 months maybe? My manager Dana is one of those people who's never actually baked anything herself but got promoted because she's good at spreadsheets or whatever.
Anyway we make these lemon shortbread cookies that are stupid popular. They're my recipe actually - I brought it from my last job and the owner loved them. The thing is, you have to chill the dough for at least 2 hours or they spread too much and get greasy. It's just how shortbread works.
Last week Dana decides we're "inefficient" and announces this new policy where all cookies have to be prepped and baked within the same shift. No overnight dough. No exceptions. I tried explaining the chemistry thing but she literally said "I don't care about your feelings, just follow the recipe card."
Here's the thing though - the recipe card she's talking about? She made it herself like a month ago by watching me work ONE time. And she wrote "chill dough 30 minutes" because that's how long she saw it in the fridge before I baked a batch. But that batch had been chilling since the night before. She just... didn't know that.
I tried to explain this. I really did. She told me if I couldn't "follow simple instructions" maybe I wasn't a good fit for the team.
Cool.
So yesterday we had a huge order. Some corporate event, 300 cookies. Dana's watching me like a hawk to make sure I do it her way. I make the dough. Put it in the fridge. Set a timer for exactly 30 minutes like her card says. Take it out. Start rolling and cutting.
The dough is still soft and sticky and warm. It's spreading on the counter. But I'm following her recipe card, right?
Bake them. They spread into these flat greasy puddles that all merged together. Had to scrape them off the pan in chunks. The whole kitchen smelled like burnt butter.
Dana absolutely lost it. Started yelling about how I sabotaged the order on purpose. I just held up her recipe card and said I followed it exactly. Even pulled out my phone and showed her the timer.
The owner had to refund the whole order. Dana got chewed out in front of everyone. This morning there's a new recipe card that says "chill dough 2-4 hours or overnight."
She won't even look at me now.