Two years ago, I made red, white and blue swirl cookies. I even blogged about the process of making them.
I got, I think, second or third place for Most Patriotic Dessert that year.
Last year, I made some oatmeal, flax and dried fruit concoction under the guise of "healthy," and got a second or third place, for, er, something or another category.
Undaunted, this year I present to you, and mainly to my office mates, these:
Red, White and Blue Cookies.
They're not red, white, or blue, you say? Well, they are and they aren't. Essentially, they're chocolate chip cookies, but, instead of semi-sweet chocolate morsels, you use 1 cup white chocolate chips, 1 cup dried cranberries, and 1 cup dried blueberries. See? Red, White, and Blue.
I basically followed this woman's recipe, except that I used 1 cup dark brown sugar instead of 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated.
The brown sugar makes a chewier cookie with a bit more caramel-like flavor.
After you scoop the dough onto the baking sheet, you sprinkle them with a little kosher salt.
That makes 'em classy. All classy desserts feature the salty/sweet contrast in these our modern times.
The Boy really liked them....
...until he hit a dried blueberry. Not his thing. But The Working Dad and I liked them, dried blueberries and all.
But how did they fare in the bake off, you may wonder?
Well....
PARTICIPANT?!
Really??
Philistines.
Seriously, I did get Honorable Mention for Best Tasting Dessert, and got these nifty prizes!
And five different people asked me for the recipe for my cookies, with many others telling me that they liked the cookies. That's never happened to me before with the bake off.
So maybe competition this year was just particularly fierce. (Still, participant, y'all? Not even Third in one category? What, was I half the office's second favorite, thus garnering no votes? Always the bridesmaid . . . .)
But I've come to terms with the green ribbon and I am trying to look at it this way: Now, I just need one more ribbon to have a complete set.
Better luck to me next year! And you'd better watch out, You-Know-Who-You-Are. My Kitchenaid mixer and I are coming for you.
Happy Independence Day, Y'all!
