Making Cookies – Basics & Our Favorite Cookie Recipes

Cookie History

Only recently has it become necessary to specify the cookie of which one is speaking, in this case we mean the tasty treat, not the internet tagging system. In the strictest sense cookies by that name are American, appearing in the 1600s with the etymology likely coming from the Dutch word ‘koekje’. Similar food had been around literally for centuries and in multiple cultures. First as hard dry travel breads. Those travels brought sugar to our world and cookies began to evolve more toward what we know them to be, starting in Persia in about the 7^th century, then migrating into European society.

It wasn’t until the 18^th century that cookies became the butter based treats we know. Prior to that they were water based, somewhat more cake like because of that. Of course most English speaking countries refer to them as biscuits, and the advent of tin containers allowed for global shipping of the treats. When Cadbury applied for a patent on their chocolate covered cookies, in 1891, business was thriving.

Cookies Today

Anybody who has looked at a package of Nestles chocolate chips has probably heard of Mrs. Wakefield breaking bits of chocolate into her cookie dough at the Toll House Inn, thus creating the legendary Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie.

This style of cookie, a baked drop cookie, is what we will focus on in this look at the cookie. There are excellent bar cookies, rolled cookies made with cookie cutters and decorated, no-bake cookies, pressed cookies, extruded cookies…you get the idea. There are many ways to get the sweet treats made and ready to enjoy, and we will give you a great list of choices for drop cookies.

Recipe Basics for Cookies

The basic cookie making technique follows these steps;

1. Cream butter or shortening and sugar, for example;

• 1 cube butter
• 1 cube margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar

2. Cream in eggs and vanilla until fluffy;

• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

3. Churn or stir in dry ingredients until just blended;

• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

If you stir in 2 cups of chocolate chips, voila, you now have that classic cookie. Spoon out the size you like on baking sheets, and cook 10-14 minutes at 350 degrees.

This is a restaurant designed recipe and there are a couple intentional choices here. Why use margarine? We love butter for the wonderful flavor it brings to food (see these sunflower cookies). What it lacks is heat resistance. It also melts very softly and very quickly. Using margarine gives you better heat resistance and holds the shape better when baking, so we use both. Same concept applies with baking soda versus powder. Soda gives linear flat bubbling (think soda cracker) as it leavens. Powder gives a fine mousse of bubbles throughout more like a cake. Blending both offers great texture.

Using this recipe as a base, you can point it in different directions. All white sugar and extra baking powder takes you to a Snickerdoodle cookie. Substitute ½ cup cocoa for ½ cup flour and you have a double chocolate chip cookie. When you look through our recipe section below you will see this carryover of similar ingredients and process.

This is also when it gets fun. Find all the things you love. Milk chocolate chips and dried cherries for a black forest cookie. Sub in some oatmeal, coconut and dried pineapple bits for a Hawaiian cookie. The possibilities are endless.

And then, play around with the cookies and how you serve them, like these two ice cream sandwich variations.

Here’s our list of recipes all ready for you to bake and enjoy with friends and family;

1. Oatmeal Everything Cookie
2. Ultimate S’mores Cookie
3. Giant Peanut Butter Cups
4. Snickerdoodles
5. Double Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
6. Chewy Molasses Cookies

Oatmeal Everything Cookie

These are a rich heavy cookie. We keep them chewier by using less leavening which lets the oatmeal interact more with the oils and sugar.

Preheat oven to 350.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Total Time 2 hrs

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Calories 101 kcal

Ingredients

  

• ½ Cup Soft Butter
• ½ Cup Margarine
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Cup Granulated sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1½ Teaspoon Vanilla
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 3 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
• 1- ½ Cups Chocolate chips
• ¾ Cup Raisins
• ¾ Cup White raisins
• ¾ Cup Pecan pieces

Instructions

 

• Cream together; ½ cup Soft Butter, ½ cup Margarine
  
• Add; 1 cup Brown Sugar, 1 cup Granulated sugar
  
• Cream together until smooth
  
• Scrape down the sides.
  
• Add and cream together until fluffy; 2 eggs, 1½ teaspoon vanilla
  
• Add; 2 cups Flour, 1 teaspoon Baking Soda, 1 teaspoon Salt
  
• Mix in slowly
  
• Add to the bowl; 3 cups Old Fashioned Oats, 1- ½ cups chocolate chips, ¾ cup raisins, ¾ cup white raisins, ¾ cup pecan pieces
  
• Churn or stir slowly until just blended.
  
• Scoop or spoon dough on to a parchment lined (or lightly greased) sheet pan, Flatten slightly.
  
• Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned around the edges.
  

Ultimate S’mores Cookie

These are a really rich cookie, some have said too sweet, but that doesn’t seem possible for a cookie! We would yield 15 five inch cookies from this, but you can size them according to your tastes.

Preheat oven to 350

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Total Time 1 hr

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Calories 150 kcal

Ingredients

  

• ½ Cup Soft Butter
• ½ Cup Margarine
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• ½ Cup Cocoa
• 2½ Cups Flour
• 1½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Cups Chocolate Chips

Instructions

 

• Cream together; ½ cup soft butter, ½ cup margarine
• Add and cream together; 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar
• Scrape down the sides. Add and cream until fluffy; 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Add and churn until mostly blended; ½ cup cocoa, 2½ cups flour, 1½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt
• Add and churn until completely blended; 2 cups chocolate chips
• Crush one package (out of three the typical box contains) graham crackers into pan. Push the crushed crackers into small piles for each cookie you want to make on a parchment lined sheet pan.
• Scoop or spoon the dough on top of the crushed grahams, flatten the dough and place a few mini marshmallows on each.
• Bake at 350 degrees 11-14 minutes depending on the size you chose to make them. Typically the marshmallows will be golden brown when fully cooked.

Giant Peanut Butter Cups

This is our only cookie that requires special equipment, in this case oversized muffin pans. You will find them called Texas Muffin pans (Amazon.com; Good Cook 04033 Non-Stick Texas Muffin Pan, Steel, 3-1/2 in Dia x 16-1/2 in L x 10 in W x 8.7 in H; Home & Kitchen) and they are readily available.

Preheat oven to 350.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Total Time 40 mins

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Calories 75 kcal

Ingredients

  

• ½ Cup Soft butter
• ½ Cup Margarine
• 1 Cup Brown sugar
• 1 Cup Granulated sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 ½ Cups Creamy Peanut Butter
• 3 Cups Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• ½ Teaspoon Salt

Instructions

 

• Cream together; ½ cup soft butter, ½ cup margarine
• Add and cream together; 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar
• Scrape down the sides. Add and cream until fluffy; 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Add and cream together; 1 ½ cups Creamy Peanut Butter
• Add and mix in slowly until blended; 3 cups Flour, 1 teaspoon Baking Soda, 1 teaspoon Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon Salt
• Shape into 24 even pieces, roll into balls.
• Place each into well-oiled muffin pan. Flatten and indent the dough slightly with a small glass. Set a full size Reese’s peanut butter cup on each one.
• Bake at 350 for 13 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes, then remove from the pan by running a small knife around them.
  

Notes

These make a fun jack-o-lantern look using the tip of a knife when they are still soft to indent the face.

Snickerdoodles

A classic cookie, you can add more flavor with Korintje cinnamon (made famous at Cinnabon) or Vietnamese cinnamon. Both are more aromatic than generic cinnamon.

Preheat oven to 350.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Total Time 1 hr

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Calories 90 kcal

Ingredients

  

• ½ Cup Soft Butter
• ½ Cup Margarine
• 2 Cups Granulated Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
• 3 Cups Flour
• 3 Tablespoons Baking Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon

Instructions

 

• Cream together; ½ cup soft butter, ½ cup margarine
• Add and cream together; 2 cups granulated sugar
• Add and cream until fluffy; 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Add and mix in slowly until blended; 3 cups flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
• In a small bowl mix together; 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
• Divide into portions for the size cookies you want to make, roll in the 50/50 cinnamon sugar mix, place on a parchment lined or lightly greased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes.

Double Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hands down this is the best cookie dough ever! This comes from the toasted coconut, and here’s the scoop on making that ingredient. Preheat your oven to 325. Spread shredded coconut on a parchment lined baking sheet, bake for 3 minutes. Stir the coconut around the pan and bake for another 3 minutes. Keep a sharp eye on it, when coconut starts to toast it goes quick. And it smells awesome!

Preheat oven to 350.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Total Time 54 mins

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Calories 210 kcal

Ingredients

  

• ½ Cup soft butter
• ½ Cup margarine
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 2½ Cups Flour
• 1 Cup Unsweetened Coconut Flour
• 1½ Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 2 Cups Milk Chocolate Chips
• 2 Cups Toasted Coconut

Instructions

 

• Cream together; ½ cup soft butter, ½ cup margarine
• Add and cream together; 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar
• Scrape down the sides. Add and cream until fluffy; 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Add and churn until partly mixed; 2½ cups flour, 1 cup unsweetened coconut flour, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
• Add and churn until just blended; 2 cups milk chocolate chips, 2 cups toasted coconut
• Scoop or spoon on to a parchment lined or lightly greased sheet pan. Flatten slightly and cook at 350 for 12-14 minutes until golden brown.
  

Chewy Molasses Cookies

Spicy and rich with molasses, these are also a chewy cookie with a little extra crispness from the demerara sugar.

Preheat oven to 350.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Total Time 45 mins

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Calories 69 kcal

Ingredients

  

• ½ Cup Soft Butter
• ½ Cup Margarine
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• ¾ Cup Molasses
• 3 ½ Cups Flour
• 1 ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ Teaspoon Ground Cloves
• ½ Teaspoon Ground Ginger
• ½ Teaspoon Nutmeg

Instructions

 

• Cream together; ½ cup soft butter, ½ cup margarine
• Add and cream together; 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar
• Scrape down the sides. Add and cream until fluffy ;2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Add and cream in; ¾ cup molasses
• Add and churn until blended; 3 ½ cup flour, 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground cloves, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• Scoop or spoon the dough into a bowl of demerara sugar. or other large crystal sugar. Roll until well coated then place on a parchment lined sheet pan, press lightly to flatten.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until surface begins to crack.
  

Making cookies at camp? Check this out.