If You Give a Spouse a Cookie
By Pat Racimora on August 24, 2008 at 2:56 AM in Bill Clinton, Michelle Obama
Favorite recipes tell you a lot about a person. And the good folks at Family Circle magazine have a contest every presidential election cycle to see which spouse of a presidential candidate has the best recipe for cookies.
For the first time in the history of our country, a male spouse got in on this contest. None other than Big Dog himself supplied the recipe for the photo shown above. I made them, and they are delicious (not to mention nice and easy to put together and bake). The clear winner.
Cindy’s and Michelle’s, not even close.
Cindy McCain’s favorite recipe makes for a nice cookie, despite containing more calories than most people need. But poor Cindy, who got the recipe from a friend, does not seem to realize that the friend got it from the back of the chip package. I don’t think Cindy bakes much.
But Michelle Obama takes the…er…cake. It is complicated to do and contains ingredients not found in your typical household. Some may keep lemon or orange zest around (maybe one but probably rarely both—that’s a trip to the store). But Amaretto? Is that on a shelf over the arugula?
Voting is over, and results will not be known until November 1st. But you can still make them. I highly recommend Bill’s.
Bill Clinton’s Oatmeal Cookies Longtime Clinton family cook Oscar Flores — he worked for them in Washington and after, but is now serving in Iraq — is famous for these treats, which tempt the former president to break his diet.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter or margarine, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
Method:
Heat oven to 350º.
Spread oats and walnuts in un-greased 151/2 x 101/2 x 1-inch baking pan. Bake 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until toasted and light brown; cool.
In small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat together brown sugar, butter or margarine, vanilla and egg in large bowl. Stir in oat mixture and then flour mixture.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto un-greased baking sheets.
Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on pans for 3 minutes; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.
Cindy McCain’s Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies. Originally reserved only for special occasions, these butterscotch-chip-studded cookies are now “a must” whenever family gets together, according to Cindy. She attributes the recipe to a good friend.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup (11/2 sticks) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 2/3 cups butterscotch chips
Method:
Heat oven to 375°.
In a large bowl beat the butter or margarine, granulated sugar and brown sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well.
In a medium-size bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; stir until blended. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto un-greased cookie sheets.
Bake at 375° for 10 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Yields: 5 1/2 dozen cookies
Michelle Obama’s Shortbread Cookies The recipe comes courtesy of Mama Kaye, the godmother of both Obama daughters. Orange and lemon zest gives the squares plenty of citrus zing.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons Amaretto (almond liqueur)
1 teaspoon each orange and lemon zest
3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg white
Chopped nuts or dried fruit (optional)
Method:
Heat oven to 325°.
Line a 17 x 12 x 1-inch baking pan with nonstick foil. In large bowl, cream together butter and 11/2 cups of the sugar.
Slowly add egg yolks, and beat well until smooth. Beat in Amaretto and zest.
Stir in flour and salt until combined.
Spread dough evenly into prepared pan, flattening as smoothly as possible.
Brush top of dough with egg white; sprinkle with nuts or fruit (if using) and with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.
Bake at 325° for 25 minutes or until brown, turn off oven and allow cookies to sit in oven (with door ajar) for 15 minutes. Cut while slightly warm.
Yields: 6 dozen 2″ x 3″ cookies
, the basis for the Best Motion Picture Nominee (Golden Globes) starring Brad Pitt.
, the novel by John Le Carre, a new motion picture starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth.
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