Cookies, cookies and more cookies

Once I did an inventory of my cookie making supplies I determined that I had enough supplies to make quite a few cookies. We began our cookie making endeavor after supper last night. I made a batch of chocolate chip, a batch of oatmeal scotchies and finished up with a batch of mint chocolate chip cookies. I didn't get to bed until midnight. By the time the last cookies sheet of cookies had come out of the oven and cooled enough to be stored away for the night, I was too exhausted to clean up the kitchen. I think I was asleep within a few seconds of laying my head on the pillow. An eighteen hour day will do that to me.

Today we are continuing to bake cookies. We are working on a double batch of peanut butter cookies. I love peanuts but I'm not a fan of peanut butter, whether it be in a sandwich or in cookies. Randy and the kids all love peanut butter and that is the reason we are making a double batch. I have decided that I will give home made cookies to my co-workers for Christmas gifts. I will give each co-worker an assortment of cookies totaling 12. In order to have peanut butter cookies to include in this mix I knew I needed to start with a large amount, to allow my family to consume some. It would be too much for them to resist sampling them and by the time 3 people finish "sampling" from a batch of cookies, there aren't usually many left because my family isn't satisfied to just sample one. I will have to make another batch of chocolate chip cookies because we've all had several of those. I am very particular about my cookies. I don't like cookies that are rock hard and since these did not come out that way, I've had several of them.

Although I like the taste of the oatmeal scotchies, the next time I make these I will see if I can play with the recipe just a little. These buggers are hard to work with in my opinion. I think if I mix the oats in with the butter and sugar and let that sit for a while before adding the other dry ingredients it might help the dough to have a better consistency. It also might help to add just a little more flour, so that the dough isn't quite as sticky and moist. It is much gooey-er than any other cookie dough that I have worked with, which is what makes it such a difficult cookie to master, at least for me.

I suppose there is a great deal of irony in our cookie making experience this year. Even though these cookies are not what many people might think of when they think of Christmas cookies, they are in fact Christmas cookies, since many of them will be given as gifts. They just aren't the traditional sugar cookies cut into "Christmas" shapes. We have made our Christmas cookies dressed in shorts and capris with the windows open. To counteract the oddity of making Christmas cookies in 70+ degree weather, we have listened to our extensive collection of Christmas CDs during this process. Nothing like the mellow sounds of Kenny G, the sultry voice of Vince Gill and the thrilling sounds of Manheim Steamroller to get you in the Christmas spirit.