Cookies

When Heidi Coble taught at Clear Spring High School, she took the students in her life skills class to Fairview Outdoor School to clear trails and clean the pond. After working, the kids would beg for these cookies as they walked back to the school. The kids were getting a treat that was really very good for them. Coble adapted this recipe from one on the Quaker Oats box for "Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. " She adjusted the recipe to make cookies more healthful, using less fat, less sugar and whole grain in place of white flour.

Harriet Muldowney has been a member of the Singer Society for a decade. The Singer Society is a volunteer organization that supports the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, providing refreshments at exhibit receptions, leading tours and helping around the museum. Muldowney brought this recipe to a Singer Society event, and the recipe subsequently appeared in the Society's newsletter. People interested in volunteering with the Singer Society should contact the museum at 301-739-5727.

This recipe is a go-to treat for Funkstown resident Cindy Parks. "I make them all year-round because I love them so much," she said. "They're simple. I can make them with and without a mixer, which makes them easy. " She said she learned to cook — at least to cook some things — from her mom. "She'd come home from work and try to cook stuff fast. But on the weekend, oh, she'd cook food to die for — fried chicken, stuffed peppers," Parks said. "But I taught myself the baking stuff.

My youngest daughter was not feeling well one day and she asked that I do some baking to help her feel better and to cheer her up. So looking into the cupboard and not having enough of any one flour I worked up this recipe using bread and whole wheat flour. I also added in a partial bag of chocolate chips and an open bag of M&M peanut candies cookies.   Simply delicious were the words from my daughter as she sampled one hot from the oven. These cookies were the best cureall for the day. — Scott C. Anderson is associate food service director and chef with Shepherd University dining services in Shepherdstown, W.Va.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of Girl Scouts by Juliette Low in Savannah, Ga. In honor of the centennial, The Herald-Mail asked several local restaurants to develop recipes for adults using Girl Scout cookies, one of the most visible aspects of Girl Scouts. One of these recipes uses alcohol, which we recommend should not be shared with a Girl Scout. Here we present four recipes from four chefs in the Hagerstown area. We asked for creativity, and these recipes explore unusual uses of cookies.

Girl Scout Troop 856 members made cookies as a craft at their weekly meeting Tuesday night at the Martinsburg (W.Va.) Boys and Girls Club.

2 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 3 teaspoons vanilla 1 cup oatmeal (optional) 1 handful of walnuts (optional) 1/2 bag of milk chocolate chips (1 bag is about 12 ounces) 1/2 bag of white chocolate chips (1 bag is about 12 ounces) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put all the ingredients except the chocolate chips into a large bowl and mix until lumps of butter are gone.

1 1/2 cups flour1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/4 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon cinnamon3/4 cup butter3/4 cup granulated sugar1 large egg1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract2 tablespoons apple juice1/2 cup apple, peeled and shredded ( see cook's note )1/2 cup cranberries, dried and chopped1/2 cup chopped pecans1 cup quick oatsWhole pecans, for garnish For glaze: 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons apple juice Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

I started this recipe with a bunch of peanut butter cups and a cup of espresso in my hand. I reworked two older recipes I've used to build this new recipe, featuring Nespresso espresso coffee. I love the added kick in flavor you get when you add excellent coffee to chocolate, cookies, creams, and rubs, so I thought why not try to add coffee to peanut butter cup cookies. What you see before you is the final product, tested and approved by my family and my two sous chefs during the experiment, Jenna Rose and Jaelyn Grace.

HAGERSTOWN -- Santa isn't the only one getting free cookies this holiday season. MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Maryland has launched its Cookies for Cops campaign for the fourth straight year. That means officers at the Washington County Sheriff's Department, the Hagerstown Police Department and the Hagerstown barracks of the Maryland State Police will be receiving their share of thousands of cookies being distributed to law enforcement agencies throughout the state, program director Caroline Cash said.

In December, Clear Spring resident Lynn O'Neil entered Chunks of Coal Christmas Cookies in The Herald-Mail's Cookie Exchange Contest. Her entry was not selected to advance to the final round by judges, but it was distinctive -   worth sharing with Herald-Mail readers. O'Neil wrote on her recipe card that the cookies were an unexpected treasure. "I had this recipe for years but never made them," she said. "(In December), I made these cookies with my great-nephew Kyle. " She pulled out the recipe while preparing for an annual family holiday tradition.

Kim West of Hagerstown entered the Herald-Mail's 2012 Cookie Exchange Contest. Her entry, Mom's Cracker Jack Cookies, was not selected as a winner, but the concept was distinctive. "This is my mom's recipe," she said. "She's just one of those older women who takes things and throws them together. My nephews love this one, so I thought I would enter it. " Cooking is something of a family tradition for West. She and her sisters all cook, and West has cooked for 40 years, since she was an adolescent.

Teri Leiter and her husband, David, are co-owners of Leiters' Fine Catering in Williamsport and Hagerstown. But this Christmas sugar cookie recipe is actually a family recipe, according to Teri Leiter. "We first started doing this in the shape of a heart for Valentine's Day. We'd cut out a small heart in the top cookie," she said. She said the Leiter family has been involved with food for 40 years. David's parents owned Richardson's restaurant in the 1940s, then sold the restaurant in the early '70s and dedicated themselves to catering.

Laura Horst of Greencastle, Pa., entered a cookie in The Herald-Mail's 2012 Cookie Exchange contest. She adapted a family favorite recipe. "We have a coconut sugar cookie my family really likes," said Horst, 33. "I thought peanut butter would go with that. " Horst's recipe for Coconut Peanut Butter Cookies was not selected as a finalist in the contest, but judges liked the combination of peanut butter and coconut. Horst said she got her start in the kitchen by working with her mother, but she learned a lot about baking by watching the Food Network and trying their ideas in her kitchen.

I started this recipe with a bunch of peanut butter cups and a cup of espresso in my hand. I reworked two older recipes I've used to build this new recipe, featuring Nespresso espresso coffee. I love the added kick in flavor you get when you add excellent coffee to chocolate, cookies, creams, and rubs, so I thought why not try to add coffee to peanut butter cup cookies. What you see before you is the final product, tested and approved by my family and my two sous chefs during the experiment, Jenna Rose and Jaelyn Grace.

Just the vision of melted chocolate, sugar and vanilla mixed together into chewy Christmas cookies that melt in your mouth can tempt even those with the strongest wills. Not only are decadent sugary treats a part of the holiday season, but the familiar red kettles and sounds of Salvation Army bell ringers are synonymous with the season. The Franklin County Visitors Bureau sponsored a friendly C is for Cookie Contest at the Chambersburg (Pa.) Mall on Wednesday as part of its Food Fight on 11/30 promotional effort.

This recipe is a go-to treat for Funkstown resident Cindy Parks. "I make them all year-round because I love them so much," she said. "They're simple. I can make them with and without a mixer, which makes them easy. " She said she learned to cook — at least to cook some things — from her mom. "She'd come home from work and try to cook stuff fast. But on the weekend, oh, she'd cook food to die for — fried chicken, stuffed peppers," Parks said. "But I taught myself the baking stuff.

In The Herald-Mail's world series of food contests, Carla Cardello is going two for two. In April, the McConnellsburg, Pa., resident's chocolate-and-coconut-flavored cupcake was the winner of our 2012 Cupcake Contest. This month, of the 17 entries in The Herald-Mail's 20th Cookie Contest, Cardello's recipe was selected by judges as the winner. Her entry was, um, a chocolate-and-coconut-flavored cookie. "I didn't even mean for it to be that way. It really was a coincidence," Cardello, 25, said with a laugh.

St. Andrew's United Methodist Church  will hold its annual holiday cookie sale Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. There will be a variety of cookies and candy to purchase.  The cookies will be bagged six per bag and customers can mix and match a cookie tray.  There will also be soups and sandwiches for carryout only. Soups cost $6 per quart. Most sandwiches cost $2.75 each. Country ham sandwiches will cost $3.50 each.  The church is at 1020 Maryland Ave. across from South End Shopping Center.

Trinity Lutheran Church will host a cookie walk Saturday, Dec. 8, with the proceeds going to Micah's Backpack. Cookies of many varieties will be available for purchase from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Micah's Backpack, an outreach program of the South County Food Bank, is providing weekly backpacks containing weekend nutrition to children in the area. Rotating teams of volunteers from churches in the Boonsboro area pack the backpacks and deliver them to area elementary schools, and the children return them for the next week.