Cookie Competition: Episode 1

Happy March, my friends!

Jake returned from Duke for Spring Break just yesterday night, so we decided to have a cookie competition this evening, an event which arose from our fundamentally different baking opinions. Jake is much more of a spontaneous, experimental baker (he joked about putting salmon in cake, and I screamed.), while I'm a little bit more traditionalist about following the recipe. The rules were simple: each of us would bake a dozen cookies from a recipe of our own choosing, and our parents would be the judges.

I'll be including the recipes for both of our entries along with some of the comments our official judges had for us. Be sure to let us know if you make any (or both!) of these cookies. Happy baking!

Ellie's Peanut Butter and Banana Cookies

I think I should get bonus points for drawing smiley faces on my chocolate.

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas

• 1/3 cup peanut butter

• 1/2 tsp almond extract (or vanilla extract)

• 1.5 cups rolled oats

• 2 tbsp dried cranberries

• 2 tbsp shredded coconut flakes

• 2 tbsp chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Mash the bananas well in a large bowl. Add the peanut butter and almond extract, stirring until combined before adding the other ingredients.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Roll into balls and press down to make a cookie shape. (Note: Because there's no baking powder or baking soda, the cookies won't spread much when baking.)

4. Add extra chocolate chips on the top for presentation!

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, then remove from the oven and cool to harden.

Judge Comments

Mom:

• "Tastes like a commercial oatmeal raison cookie"

• "A little too sweet...use one banana instead"

• "Much prettier than Jake's!"

Dad:

• "Very pretty!"

• "No, if you use one banana, it won't be sweet enough."

• "Lots of colors!"

Jake's Chocolate Chickpea Cookies

They don't look like much, but they were really good!

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour

• 1/4 cup white sugar

• 1/4 cup baking powder

• 1 cup roasted chickpeas, crushed

• 1 egg

• 1/4 cup shredded coconut flakes

• 1 cup milk

• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

• 1 cup chocolate chips, melted

Instructions

1. Mix the dry ingredients, then the wet ones. (That's verbatim from Jake, by the way.)

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Judge Comments

Mom:

• "Would taste better with nuts or some sort of texture"

• "Why are they that color?"

Dad:

• "Looks like cat poop" (he used the profane version, but this blog is kid-friendly)

• "Quite crunchy, even if they don't look good!"

Final Decision

In the end, both of our parents agreed that Jake's cookies were superior, despite their subpar appearance. No worries though, I'll get him back when Cookie Competition takes place again during Jake's next break!

Have an absolutely fantastic week, and bake some cookies!

-Ellie