Lois's Amish Siding Crew Cookie Recipe

John, I'm enjoying your Amish crew reports too. Please keep them coming. Now. Go find Lois, please, and try to persuade her to be at least a little more specific as to measurements of cocoa and cinnamon. 'To taste' could mean 1/8 teaspoon or a hefty cup full. (I can't bake anything that calls for a pound of butter and 4 eggs but imagine that those that are will need at least a suggested amount.) Polly

Thanks Polly. I was thinking the same thing. It's easy to halve the recipe.... but I, too, would like just a bit more guidance on the cocoa and cinnamon (two of my most favorite ingredients!)

She says that the Cinnamon would be 1/2 Tsp. The Cocoa amount is 1/2 cup added to the dry ingredients of flour. I told you she just cooked it from memory, all these years. It is hard to pin her down sometimes on the (official measurements) of a recipe. The butter and eggs part of the recipe are what makes the taste so special. Julia Child used to say "cut back on the number of times you eat those things but don't cut back on the type of ingredients". We tend to take that approach. We don't do these sort of things as often, as we used to, due to the whole Cholesterol thing, but when we do do them, we now enjoy them much more than when they were more a matter of course. Sometimes you can substitute less caloric items, but in this case, the taste would suffer.

John

..

What with the next door neighbors standing order for 4 doz and the workmen's 1-2 doz consumption on site, I was lucky to get a dozen to play with. At that rate, I can afford to have her bake us another batch and we can freeze them for ourselves.

John

Well, you have included oatmeal (a well known anti cholesterol substance!) so that should help against the villains of the piece (they do sound scrumptious >gShe says that the Cinnamon would be 1/2 Tsp.

Thank you, John, and also your wife for taking the time to get this yummy recipe for Lois's Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies. I tend to name recipes after the person I get them from.....so they'll be known by me as just that!

yumyum!

Donna in WA

me, too!! i'm going to make these this weekend! THANK YOU LOIS!!!!!! you're so lucky, John.

amy in CNY

oh thank you John i wonder if I could not grind the oatmeal down, just use quick oats as they come out of the cannister. It seems like it would make the cookies chewy?

hmm, better not tell my bailiffs about this recipe!

G> Here is the much requested recipe for Lois's not yet famous Chocolate > Chip Cookies.

The ground up oatmeal is supposedly the ingredient in Mrs. Field's recipe. I've been doing that for years.....MMMMMMM

another question for Lois the Cookie Lady. is the oatmeal measured before or after it is ground? is the mixture still right if the 1/2 cup of cocoa is added to the mix...not too dry? sorry to be such an idiot. i'm sure i should be able to figure this out but am dealing with a freak'n sore shoulder blade at the moment. getting older really is no fun, everytime ya turn around something else hurts. j.

"John" wrote... Here is the much requested recipe for Lois's not yet famous Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Cream together:

Add:

Mix Together:

Mix all of the above together and add:

Optional additional ingredients (to your own taste) Cinnamon Cocoa powder

Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 400 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or at 350 degrees F in a convection oven (which I use) for 7 minutes. These cookies just barely cooked taste best, so cook a minimum amount of time. They'll be a bit soft when you move them from the cookie sheet to cool on a rack.

This recipe makes a lot of cookies. It's easy to make 1/2 as much.

These cookies have been judged as the best of their type, in a recent tasting by the much talked about Amish Siding Crew. Hope you enjoy them, when you do make them.

John

The Cookie Meister says: Measure before grinding. It doesn't seem to be too dry. She has made them without the cocoa and they appear to be about the same.

John

Shaking the Magic 8 Ball produces this response: The Cookie Meister says: Maybe. She doesn't use quick oats, but she does know that they are more finely chopped than the standard oat flakes. So processing them in the various food processors, chops them up really fine. If you use the quick oats straight out of the box,it might make them more chewey. She also says, "Why not 1/2 the recipe and give them a try", and let us know what your opinion is. At least you will not have committed a whole large batch to the experiment. Think of it as an experiment in giving more choices for the betterment of all humanity. John

When my mom was alive, she made chocolate chip cookies with regular quick-cooking oatmeal. I haven't had one of those cookies for a long time. They may have been a bit more chewy than more traditional CC cookies. They did have a somewhat different texture. They weren't chewy in the same way that an oatmeal raisin cookie is, though.

Julia > oh thank you John

Well, I know my bailiffs will thank you. They won't even care if it is an "experiment" ;)

G> >