College Cooking Tips
Don't have an electric mixer?
If you don’t have a mixer do it like the pioneers:
- Using a wooden spoon, slowly cream the butter in small increments then start adding the rest of the ingredients.
- Hold the bowl with one hand and stir like crazy with the other.
- You’ll get a work out and have a greater appreciation for how much work cookies were to make in the olden days and feel proud of your efforts. Making do with what you have at hand is one of the signs of a good cook not to mention a resourceful human!
Measuring Flour
For accurate measurement spoon flour into measuring cup and scrape the extra flour off, leaving it level. This method assures that you're not pressing the flour into the cup and consequently get more flour than you want. You want to make chewy cookies not crunchy dog biscuits!
Cowboy Cookies
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Cream together in mixer:
- 1/2 lb. cold butter (2 cubes) - cut into small pieces.
- (Save wrappers to grease cookie sheet.)
- 1/2 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs (crack in separate dish and add to mixer)
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Add:
- 1 cup craisins or chopped dried apricots
Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl:
- 1- 1/2 cups flour (See the note in the sidebar about measuring flour)
- 1 tsp. soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup wheat germ
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- 2 cups chopped nuts
Gently mix dry ingredients into the butter-egg mixture.
Grease cookie sheets:
- Using the butter wrapper wipe the entire surface of the cookie sheet
- Add more butter if needed to coat evenly.
Baking Instructions:
Using two spoons, scoop out a medium size lump of cookie dough on one spoon and scrape off the cookie dough with the other spoon onto the greased cookie sheet.
12 good size cookies will fit on 1 cookie sheet.
Bake in the oven for 6 minutes.
- Using hot pads, remove tray. Remember to close the oven door!
- Place on stovetop.
- With a fork, gently press each cookie down once.
- It helps to dip the fork in cold water after pressing each cookie.
Return to the oven and bake for 9 more minutes.
- Cool on cooling rack.
- Makes about 30 cookies.
- Once cooled these freeze well.