ArcaMax

Promises Kept...

It's always good to keep your promises. I made a promise to a loyal reader of this column a while back. A gentleman wrote to ask if I had a recipe for a good oatmeal cookie. I told him I thought I had a great one. I just wasn't sure where it was but, that when winter came along, I'd probably come across it and that, if I did find it, I'd publish it in this newsletter and then he could have it. Another person wrote to ask if I had a recipe for Monster Cookies. I basically wrote the same answer back, because my oatmeal cookie recipe is for Monster Cookies.

Well, I came across it the other day and, since I keep my promises, I'm sharing my Monster Cookie recipe with you today. You should know there is more than one recipe for Monster Cookies. This isn't an original recipe to me. Mine is a take-off of so many others. The first Monster Cookies I ever had were baked by my friend Kathi, who is a marvelous baker. She shared her Monster Cookie recipe with me too. She considers hers a secret so I'm not sharing hers. Hers is such a secret that, when she got a divorce several years back, her ex-husband did not get a copy. When he decided to learn to cook, he was one very important recipe short. His new wife came to me years later and asked me if I had a recipe for Monster Cookies because he missed them so much. I did not share the secret recipe. I gave her mine. It was close, but it was not the same as Kathi's. I would not share the secret one. I kept my promise to Kathi too.

Winter is not quite over, at least not by the temperatures we are feeling outside, so let's get cracking and bake some Monster Cookies. If truth be told, they are good all year round. They freeze well, and they taste great almost right out of the freezer (close to frozen), so even in the summer they can be a real taste treat. They also make great "outsides" for ice cream sandwiches, so you can use them to make those too. Enjoy!

P.S. Before 400 people to write to ask . . . No, there is no flour. And No, I have not tried these with Splenda, but it might work, so if you want to be the first to try them with Splenda, let me know if they taste good!

Monster Cookies

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 cups peanut butter
3 large eggs
1 tsp light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
4-1/2 cups regular oats (I like the McCann brand.)
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks)
1 cup butterscotch chips or M&M's (your choice)

Put butter, sugars, peanut butter and eggs in a large bowl. Mix with wooden spoon or heavy duty mixer until blended. Add remaining ingredients. You'd better mix the rest by hand. The batter is going to be really stiff. This is a work out! When you have this fully mixed, get out your one-quarter cup measuring cup. You're going to pack the dough into the measuring cup to make large cookies. I spray the cup inside with butter spray first. And spray your cookie sheet too.

Place the cookie dough blobs fairly far apart (4 to 6 inches) on the cookie sheets and pat them down a bit into 3-inch circles. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. They will not be completely hard in the middle. Let them rest on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before you remove them, and do it with a large spatula. Let them cool completely on a rack or flat surface before you store them. This recipe will make about 2 dozen cookies depending upon how much dough you are tempted to eat while you bake the cookies. :-)

After you make your first batch, you can start to experiment with your own variations in adding nuts or other chips and candies. Then you'll have your own secret Monster Cookie recipe!