Cookie Day

Our friend, Gene, has been hosting Cookie Day at his house for ten some years. It is an event that family and friends come together before Christmas making cookies for a day. This year's Cookie Day was on December 9th, Saturday.

After 9:00 am, people started to show up at his house, armed with their favorite cookie recipes and special ingredients if they need it. Gene already purchased common cookie ingredients such as: flour, corn flakes, rice crispies, oatmeal, sugar, brown sugar, butter, peanut butter, milk, egg, chocolate chips, coconut, walnuts, pecans, almonds, vanilla, food coloring, sprinkles, red cherries, green cherries, baking powder, baking soda, molasses, cinnamon, ginger......

Two ovens worked nonstop from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. 15 people (including 4 kids/teenagers) made over 30 kinds of cookies, a total of 160 dozen. It is impossible to list them all here, I'll just write some of the easy ones.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies (Chinese version)
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar (I use 1/2 cup)
3/4 cup brown sugar (I use 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
12-ounce chocolate chips (I use 8-ounce)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
(Note: To make cookies less sweet, I cut down the sugar, brown sugar, chocolate chip by 1/3 from original recipe. The cookies taste just as good, but may fall apart easier.)
Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Preheat oven to 375F. Bake 9 - 11 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 5 dozen.

Peanut Butter Dreams
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips
Beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then add peanut butter, flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Preheat oven to 375F. Bake 10 - 12 minutes. Yield: 6 - 7 dozen.

Almond Crunchies
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds,
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Beat butter, brown sugar, egg and almonds in large mixer bowl. Mix in flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Form the dough into 2 rolls about 2 inches in diameter. Cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place the cookies 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Preheat oven to 375F. Bake 10 - 12 minutes. Yield: 5 dozen.