Baking cookies to express gratitude is a wonderful idea. But, right about now there are probably a lot of readers out there who are saying, "But, I'm no baker." It is okay if you have never baked before; I shall share 3 easiest to make cookie recipes you have ever seen. I'll start with the simplest, but they are all pretty easy to make, because they are all drop cookies--you just drop them on the pan, without bothering to shape the dough or anything. I will also comment on using them to say
thank you , share with you tips, tricks, and advice to make them better, and give you step-by step directions to make each variety of cookie.
1. No-Bake Cookies
This is probably the easiest cookie to make of all 3 varieties presented here. You do not even need an oven to bake these; however, you will need a stovetop to bring certain ingredients to a boil. My mother and I do not alter this common recipe that can pretty much be found anywhere; however, as the two of us are so practiced at dropping cookies and candy we find it much easier to scoop up a lot of batter with a large cooking spoon and drop multiple cookies before scooping more batter out of the bowl. But, do not do this unless you have a reasonably practiced hand.
Since these cookies are so easy to make, it takes only a little bit of effort to whip up and offer these as a way of saying "thank you", you should make the effort and write a
thank you note. Even though you can certainly offer these in place of a
thank you note, I recommend including a handwritten or typed note to be delivered with these, because making them is a breeze--as long as you follow the directions below. This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies, but of course how many it makes depends on how much dough you drop per cookie.
Directions:
Boil sugar, cocoa, butter, and milk together in a saucepan for two minutes. Remove from stove and add peanut butter, oats, and coconut (if desired). Mix well before dropping by teaspoon sized amounts onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. In all my recipes that say mix, beat, blend, or stir I mean you should use an electric hand mixer (unless otherwise specified). As cookies do not bake and spread out, you do not need to space them very far apart. Once sheet is full, place it in the freezer to harden.
2. Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Out of all 3 of these recipes this one seems to be the one that my mother and I have altered the most. First of all, we strongly recommend using the steel/cut oats to make the cookies crunchier. For even more crunch, add the chopped walnuts; but, do remember not to add nuts if you are thanking someone you know has peanut allergies. Also if you intend to send a typed or handwritten
thank you note with the cookies make sure to mention if they have nuts.
Another way we alter the recipe is by not chopping the raisins; when the original recipe was published in The Kansas-City Star it called for the raisins to be chopped in half, but we have found this to be unnecessary. Although we have increased the amount of raisins (for added flavor), we still abide by the one hour soaking time (as it is necessary to make the cookies moist). Therefore, anyone wanting to try this recipe must follow all directions (below) and not plan on making a batch all at once.
Directions:
First, combine eggs (beat them first), vanilla, and raisins in a covered mixing bowl and let stand for 1 hour. When that is finished, the oven should be preheated to 350 degrees. While it is warming, cream butter and sugars (both brown and white) together and combine flour, cinnamon, and baking soda in another bowl. Combine dry and creamed mixtures and once those two are mixed blend with raisin mixture until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Finally, drop dough by large tablespoon sized amounts onto ungreased cookie sheet, leaving room for them to spread, and bake until golden brown (about 12 minutes, depending on your oven).
3. Toffee Bits Cookies
Obviously, any reader will have ascertained by now that my mother and I bake avidly and as a result of this we never make single recipes of anything. However, thus far I have given single recipes for each kind of cookie to make it simpler; however, I shall deliberately offer an already tripled recipe for this type of cookie, because reporting a triple recipe is the only way I can offer a whole number for the bags of toffee bits. In other words, for a triple recipe (the recipe to the right) we increased the number of toffee bits from 3 8 ounce bags to 5 8 ounce bags. That is the only actual alteration we made to the recipe.
However, the recipe has a few other minor cosmetic changes; first of all, brand names have been removed from the recipe (which originally came off a package of Heath Bits O' Brickle toffee bits) and secondly terminology has been simplified (since anyone reading this post will be familiar with cooking terminology). One final tip, if (like me) you worry about getting egg shells in your batter crack eggs over and empty into another dish and once you have inspected cracked eggs for shell fragments you can dump the eggs into the batter. The recipe will yield 16 dozen cookies as long as you follow the directions below, more than enough to
thank, quite a few people.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease cookie sheets. Beat butter, eggs, sugars (both brown and white), vanilla, and salt. After this is mixed you can add flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. After all this is well blended the toffee bits can be added. It would theoretically be alright to dump all 5 bags of toffee bits in at once, as long as you mix well and make sure bits are fairly evenly distributed throughout the batter. However, I find it easier to get even distribution if the bits are added gradually; this tip also applies to recipes that use oats. Drop heaping teaspoons of dough onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly brown, let cookies cool before removing from sheet. Always let cookies cool before removing from sheet; you really should invest in some wire racks to place cooling cookies on.
