Friday, September 20, 2013

Foodie Friday: A Cookie By Any Other Name is Not As Forthright

Before you read this, I must first direct you to read my friend Christine’s post; it is found here, at A Fly on Our (Chicken Coop) Wall. It is a lovely tribute to her culinary skills, her patience with children helping in the kitchen, and her overall greatness as a mom.

I know it seems odd, but I assure you, for the sake of the humor of THIS post, you MUST read hers first.

OK, now that you have followed my directions to a “T”, you may continue. (You may even want to keep a tab open so you can compare the two posts as you go along…but this is purely optional. Highly-encouraged, but optional.)

Now, I never promised you this, but here is my No-Bake Cookie recipe (It’s not a funny name for a cookie, is it? It’s pretty straight-forward-and-to-the-point, actually.)

This is different from what I usually do; I typically type out the recipe (or copy and paste if it’s already in typed form). But this time, I had it on a recipe card.

OK, that’s being generous; it was clearly on a 3x5 index card. Apparently I’m too nickel-and-dime to afford “real” recipe cards.

So…here it is in all its glory (yes, I really went out of my way to make this special for you):

Pardon the peanut butter smudges...they just add to the character, don't you think?

In case you have never made these cookies, they are NOT ones to make with children. 

Especially ones to make with slow-as-molasses children who do not understand the concept of “these are setting up quickly and if we don’t spoon them out fast we will have one ginormous (yes, it is a word, even though Microsoft Word has it underlined with a red squiggly line to insinuate that it is not…I Googled it, thank you very much) cookie stuck in the bowl."

I don’t care if you have to put your children out on the street. Don’t involve a child.

Onward...

The original recipe is from my mom.  I did not include any tips of my own…but I will admit I did write something incorrectly on the card, so I shall correct it now; at the bottom of the card, it should say 

“Cookies will be soft IF boiled < 1 minute”

as opposed to 

“Cookies will be soft IN boiled < 1 minute". 

I am certain you would have figured it out, but just in case, there you go.

Also, just in case it's been a few years since you had "greater than" or "less than" in your everyday life..."<" = "less than".

Crisis averted.

So...since this is easy-breezy and no refrigeration required, let's keep this moving along, shall we? 

Here are the dry ingredients in the bowl.


And here is the pot on the stove. NOTE: I actually used butter instead of margarine (I’m kind of “off” margarine, even though it’s WAY cheaper) and it made the BEST batch of no-bake cookies I have EVER made in my life. Bar none.



It’s unfortunate that none of the cookies are available for distribution.

But isn’t it nice how this recipe comes together so quickly?

THIS IS WHERE THE BEGGING ANIMALS COME IN!!!!

I don’t have children who are quick about these cookies, nor do I have children who actually want to help me in the kitchen. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I yell at them to “hurry up”. But who really knows…that’s just a theory I’m working on.



And lest you be confused, no I don’t actually let Indy help. But he would really like to.  Especially when I open the peanut butter jar.
  
So…once it’s all mixed up together (and once the stove-top concoction has boiled for a minute…we don’t want soft cookies!),

Sure, it looks kind of disgusting when you stop and look at it like that, but you move quickly past this step to a much lovelier visual
Then you carefully (and by carefully, I mean quickly and pretty much with reckless abandon) scoop them out in reasonably-sized globs onto a waxed-paper lined counter. 

Glob is a technical term.

Feel free to put them fairly close together…they’re not getting any bigger, although if they are too soft (again, one minute for boiling!) they will spread out and be really thin (and soft…have I mentioned that they will be soft if they are under-boiled?)



While taking photos of cookies on the waxed paper, I realize the dog is still stalking me.

Aren't I just the cutest thing? How could you resist giving me a cookie?

Let the cookies cool for a while…a couple minutes, or an hour. Basically as long as you can stand not eating them. I’m not one to brag, but my personal record is about 5 minutes.

While the cookies are cooling, you might have time to yell at your children who are in the living room playing video games.  It’s always good to get that allotted yelling in when you have the time, otherwise you might have to cram it all in at the end of the day, and that’s no fun for anyone.

Then get back to eating cookies.

WARNING!!!!!

Your animal helper will very likely have licked his lips after every last cookie went on the waxed paper. This doesn’t matter in the slightest, as he’s not able to reach the top of the counter. He is only 15 pounds, and a squatty and stout 15 pounds at that. I'm not one to judge.

Allow the cookies to cool completely before putting them in a storage container.

He's saying, "This is the best peanut butter I have ever had!" 

Or in your mouth.
  
This recipe made about ??? dozen cookies. (I have no idea...I've never once bothered to count. And you'll notice that the recipe card doesn't tell you either, so apparently I'm not the only one who has never bothered to count...)

But there were enough for myself to eat quite a few.

And still beg for more.

Because these cookies are THE BEST!

Let me know if you try them.


Have a lovely day!


10 comments:

  1. OH. MY. WORD!!! That was hilarious!!!

    Those cookies in no way, shape, or form rival a snickerdoodle, but this post most certainly rivals mine. :)

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    1. I'm so glad you thought it was funny...I figured that you would but Phew! I didn't want to tick off my BFF! :)

      And no, it does not rival the snickerdoodle...the snickerdoodle rivals it. :)

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  2. I totally grew up with this recipe...my mom made it too (surprise. right?) It is Gillian's FAVORITE cookie. And you are SO right---the timing makes it very difficult for children to help with it. I've tried and usually end up a nervous wreck from refraining from permanently damaging my child's little psyche. ;/ AND! the "1 minute" rule on this---SO TRUE!! I literally have a timer set for 1 min, ready to push 'start' when I see the first bubbles appear. "<" too soft. Yes.

    You have my record beat as I am usually just barely scraping the pan clean when I cave and scoop up a cookie off the waxed paper (thus, usually burning my tongue because it is STILL that hot!) I love these things! I usually actually do put them in the fridge for storage (that is, IF they last even a day). Seems they stay a little "moister" (I know, some people really, really hate that word, but...)

    Anyway, I did read Christine's snickerdoodle post... I followed your instructions to a T.

    I think I shall do some baking ...and some no-baking this weekend...

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    1. p.s. Indy is the best kind of help for this recipe...

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    2. Yes, he thinks so too...and he even posted the blog link on his Facebook page.

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    3. Thank you for affirming my neurotic tendancy about the timing on the boiling part, but it IS true. I also set a timer otherwise they NEVER come out right.

      I have been known to scrap the stuff out of the bottom of the bowl and eat it straight-away...but that doesn't count because it's clearly not in the form of a cookie, thereby I am not "eating a cookie". I am a spindoctor if nothing else.

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    4. hmm-mmm...then I must be a spindoctor as well....because your logic is perfect to me.

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  3. Okay, so I was all getting confused about why on earth you'd boil a cookie, and how of COURSE it would go soft if you boiled it, and thinkin' you Yanks are crazier than even I ever knew.

    Then the penny dropped.

    Thank you :) It certainly rivaled Christine's post in the hilarity stakes, just for that moment of realisation.

    Glad you use butter rather than icky margarine (do you know they sometimes have to dye it the yellow colour, because it comes out grey otherwise? That, and I've heard that dogs and birds won't eat it, and seriously, if a pigeon won't eat it, it ain't food.)

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    1. I just went back and looked and realized that I never replied to this...my bad!

      Sorry for the confusion...no boiling of cookies, just eggs. And rice. And quinoa. ;)

      Yes margarine is yucko-o...it's taken me a while to realize that, and though I am uber-cheap, I pay the additional cost for real butter. It's so worth it!

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