Prize-winning cookies

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By MICHAEL HASTINGS
Winston-Salem Journal
Monday, May 07, 2007

"Why not?" may best sum up the reason that Donna Levesque decided to have a Grandma's Greatest Cookie Contest at Independence Village, a community of apartments for seniors, in Winston-Salem, N.C.

"When my kids come into the building, they know who the cookie ladies are," said Levesque, executive director of Independence Village.

The recent Grandma's Greatest Cookie Contest garnered 13 entries of mostly classic cookies. They included four sugar cookies and two peanut-butter cookies. Coconut and oatmeal also were popular ingredients.

The contest was judged by me; Dorothy Daidone, a resident of Independence Village; Eddie Schapira, a co-owner of the River Birch Lodge restaurant; and District Court Judge Denise Hartsfield.

"The judge gets to judge something good for a change," Hartsfield quipped before getting down to business.

Quite a few of these cookies neared perfection in several areas. Though most were easy, a few that were more involved, such as the rolled cookies, scored low only in ease of preparation.

Lois Todd managed to take first place even with a difficult rolled cookie, made from her mother's recipe. She won a two-night trip to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., home to Dolly Parton's theme park, Dollywood, and other attractions. Grandma Crissman's Sugar Cookies were beautiful to behold, perfectly round and perfectly browned, with an old-fashioned taste.

"I've been baking these about all my life," Todd said. "They're so good my granddaughter likes to eat the dough before they're even baked."

Todd said she thinks that confectioner's sugar, in place of granulated sugar, gives these thin cookies a better texture. To help roll the dough without sticking, Todd puts a floured dishcloth under the dough.

Jean Schlotfeldt won second place, and a $50 gift certificate and gift basket from River Birch Lodge. Her delicate coconut and oatmeal drop cookies have a delightful crunch.

Schlotfeldt said she based the recipe on one in Country Living magazine.

"But I changed it to butter instead of shortening," she said.

"We use butter in all our cookies," said her husband, Cliff.

Cookies are a constant at the Schlotfeldt home. "Our family would get mad if there weren't any cookies in the cookie jar," Jean Schlotfeldt said.

Margie Marion won third place and a gift basket from The Golden Apple, a specialty food shop in Winston-Salem, for her fragile cookies, made with oatmeal and no flour, spread very thinly in the oven, creating a nearly see-through effect like lace.

Marion has been baking these cookies since 2004, when she clipped the recipe from the Winston-Salem Journal's Recipe Swap Column. (The recipe was sent in by Lucille Moseley of Elkin, who said she had been using it since 1949.)

"I took this to church, and everybody gobbled them up so quickly," she said. "I've been baking them and passing around the recipe ever since."

GRANDMA CRISSMAN'S SUGAR COOKIES

First place by Lois Todd. Be sure to sift the flour before measuring. Todd uses Red Band flour.

1-1/2 sticks margarine, softened

1-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1 egg

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Granulated sugar for sprinkling

Cream margarine and sugar in mixer, beating well until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add vanilla until combined.

In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda and cream of tartar three times. Add to creamed mixture. Beat until combined. Form dough into a ball, cover and chill at least one hour.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place a clean dishcloth on the work surface and lightly flour the cloth. Place dough on cloth and roll thin, 1/4 to 1/8 of an inch. Cut into circles or other desired shapes.

Carefully transfer cookies to baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. (Will need to bake in several batches.) Bake 7 to 10 minutes or just until brown around the edges. Cool a few minutes on baking sheet, then remove to rack to cool completely.

Makes about 48 cookies.

COCONUT AND OATMEAL DROP COOKIES

Second place by Jean Schlotfeldt.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups all-purpose flour

2-1/2 cups shredded coconut

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 large cookie sheets. Cream butter and sugars in mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, beat together. Add vanilla, baking powder and baking soda. Then add the flour. Mix until well combined. Stir in coconut and nuts. Mix in oatmeal.

Drop on greased cookie sheets by the teaspoon, spacing about 1/2 inch apart. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, just until the edges begin to brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 48 cookies.

LACE COOKIES

Third place by Margie Marion.

1 egg

3 cups brown sugar

2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans or other nuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well combined.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper or no-stick aluminum foil. Drop batter 3/4-teaspoon at a time on baking sheet, leaving plenty of space between each. Cookies will spread to 4 or 5 inches in diameter when baked.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until thin and golden. Check early to make sure they don't overbrown.

Line a wire rack with wax paper. Carefully remove cookies from baking sheet. They will be sticky, and a thin, metal spatula works best. Gently transfer to wax paper on wire rack and let cool.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)