Grandma Emma’s Secret for Soft, Delicious Cookies

0

My Grandma Emma grew up Amish, and she was the best cook and baker in the world. I learned many tips and tricks from her over the years, and I am convinced that I get my stellar baking skills from her! Every time my family and I visited my Grandma, she had cookies in her cookie jar on the kitchen counter. She would always know when someone took a cookie because you couldn’t put the lid back on without it making noise.

Since the holiday season is fast approaching, I am sharing three of my favorite cookie recipes. One tip for all of these recipes: when it says softened butter, do not microwave the butter or try to speed up the softening process. Simply put sticks of butter on a plate for a few hours to soften until you’re ready to add the rest of the ingredients.

Monster Cookies

This recipe makes huge cookies (hence the name!) with everything delicious from your baking cupboard. For the oats, buy old fashioned, not the quick oats. This makes a lot of cookies! Perfect for eating a few, sharing a lot with friends and family, and freezing the rest!

6 eggs

1 pound brown sugar (approx.. 2 ¼ cup, packed)

2 cups white sugar

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

1 ½ tsp. Karo syrup

4 tsp. baking soda

½ pound butter (2 sticks), softened

1 ½ pounds peanut butter

9 cups oatmeal

½ pound chocolate chips

½ pound M&Ms

Mix in order given. Drop from spoon on large cookie sheet; don’t flatten. Put 6 to a sheet. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you like a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie, this is the recipe for you. A few years before my Grandma passed away, I asked her what the secret was to making her chocolate chip cookies so soft. She said, “Oh, you know, just butter and sugar and eggs.” I said “Oh please, every cookie recipe has that.” She finally said, “Well, I add some vanilla pudding.” That, my friends, is the secret. Add a box of vanilla pudding (just the dry mix! Please do not cook per the box instructions!) and it makes all the difference!

2 ½ cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup butter, softened

¼ cup sugar

¾ cups brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 box vanilla pudding (3.4 oz)

2 eggs

12 oz. chocolate chips

Place scoops of dough on cookie sheet approximately 1-2 inches apart. Bake 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Snickerdoodles

This is a recipe I found in one of my Grandma’s Amish cookbooks. The recipe did not state how long to bake the cookies for, so this one took some trial and error, but I found that 12 minutes is the right time for a chewy inside and slightly crispy outside to these delicious cinnamon-sugar cookies.

2 cups butter, softened

3 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. cream of tartar

5 ½ cups flour

Coating:

4 Tbsp. white sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Mix well, then add flour. Chill dough overnight. Form balls and roll each one into the coating mixture. Place on cookie sheets. Do not flatten. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

What is your favorite cookie recipe?

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here