“Whatever I make, I just want people to like it,” said the 63-year-old grandmother of 10.
The recipe’s first taste-testers were Zumwalt’s co-workers at the West Chester Twp. medical business where she works.
“Some of the girls didn’t like coconut much,” she said, so she would add various flavors of baking chips — peanut butter, white chocolate, almond brickle — until the sweet treat became an office favorite.
“I like to bake; they like it too,” she said of her co-workers.
Her family has the same appreciation for her skills in the kitchen.
The holidays are synonymous with baking in her home. When her children were younger, she didn’t let them help her often in the kitchen. The mess seemed to be more trouble than it was worth, she said.
“As they grew older and moved away, it became a way for us to reconnect,” she said. Now she and her two daughters spend the days leading up to Christmas baking.
And the grandchildren are included, too. To heck with the mess.
CHIPS GALORE COOKIE
First place by Dottie Zumwalt of Hamilton
Ingredients:
½ cup shortening
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup peanut butter chips
¾ cup English toffee bits or almond brickle chips
¾ cup flaked coconut
2/3 cup vanilla chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Directions:
In a large bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugars.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture.
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Using large ice cream scoop, drop mixture onto baking sheets covered in parchment paper.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes until cookies start to brown around the edges. Cool on pan approximately three minutes then remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Makes 2-3 dozen
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Maybe there’s something in the name Winnie that makes you destined to be a great baker.
In addition to Winnie Brock’s mother and father, her Aunt Winnie was also among her family’s “terrific cooks and bakers.”
A lot of her baking skills were perfected by helping them in the kitchen, the Hamilton resident said. She still uses many of the same recipes they did, but her Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies are a creation she found online and made her own throughout the years.
Brock, 73, added the step of pressing down the dough with the bottom of a glass coated with sugar.
“Gives it a little more sweetness,” she said.
The cookies strike the perfect balance of rich chocolate and cool, refreshing mint. Brock’s idea to press the cookies flat adds a nice crunchy texture.
Baking is a family affair for Brock, whose daughter and sister often help her in the kitchen. Before the holidays, they will sometimes “bake all day,” she said, in anticipation of an annual family Christmas party that has grown to include about 60 people.
“It has outgrown our house,” Brock said.
Now Brock’s family, which also includes three sons, 13 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren, gathers each year to celebrate the holidays at Fairfield Wesleyan Church.
Brock, who said she doesn’t get to see her family as much as she would like during the year, is excited for this year’s gathering.
“I always look forward to seeing them at Christmas,” she said of her family, adding that the day is always entertaining with so many children in attendance.
Her nephew, who is a magician, even puts on a show for the children, she said.
But it won’t take magic for her baked goods to disappear from the family party.
ANDES MINT CHOCOLATE COOKIE
Second place by Winnie Brock of Hamilton
Ingredients:
¾ cup of butter
1½ cup of brown sugar
2 tbsp. water
2 eggs
1 bag of chocolate chips
2½ cups of flour
1¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3 boxes Andes Mints
Directions:
Melt butter in sauce pan over low heat. Add sugar and water to butter. Let sugar dissolve.
Add chocolate chips. Stir until partially melted. Remove from heat and stir until chips are melted. Cool mixture for 5 minutes.
Add eggs and beat well.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Add to chocolate mixture and mix with a mixer on slow until well blended. Chill for 1 hour.
Using a medium cookie scoop, place mixture on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 13 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately top with an Andres chocolate. Wait about 1 minute, then swirl chocolate with tip of a teaspoon. Cool on cookie rack. It will take several minutes for the chocolate mint to “set.”
Makes 5-6 dozen
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Barbara Smith is always eager for a baking challenge, and her entry in the Journal-News’ holiday cookie contest is one of her latest successful undertakings.
“I am always up for trying something different or a baking challenge, and I was intrigued by this Florentine recipe, which I found on the Food Network website,” said the 63-year-old Oxford resident.
The recipe turned out to be easy to make, she said.
The finished product was a “thin, lacy, crunchy wafer with a nice hint of orange,” Smith said. “The recipe called for the chocolate drizzle, but they were good without it, too. Even the ones that got a little overbaked were still yummy. The only tricky part was to watch them closely because they go from almost-to-overdone very quickly.”
Smith said she plans to bake only a few special varieties of cookies this holiday season. Most will be recipes she can remember from her mother’s old Betty Crocker cookbook.
“Just the smell of them baking brings back happy memories,” said Smith, who has been a teacher and served as instructional support for nutrition classes at Miami University before retiring a year ago.
“Baking is relaxing and fun for me. I might even call it a form of therapy for when I feel low,” she said. “These days I am careful to taste only a few of my creations, and then freeze the rest for sharing. I call it my cookie diplomacy plan.”
FLORENTINES
Third place by Barbara J. Smith of Oxford
Ingredients
1¾ cups sliced, blanched almonds (about 5 ounces)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Finely grated zest of 1 orange (about 2 tablespoons)
¼ teaspoon fine salt
¾ cup sugar
2 tbsp. heavy cream
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
Chocolate topping (optional)
2 to 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
Directions:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
Pulse the almonds in a food processor until finely chopped, but not pasty. Stir together the nuts, flour, zest and salt in a large bowl.
Put the sugar, cream, corn syrup, and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a rolling boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Continue to boil for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, then pour mixture into almond mixture and stir just to combine. Set aside until cool enough to handle, 30 minutes.
Scoop rounded teaspoons (for 3-inch cookies) or rounded tablespoons (for 6-inch cookies) of batter and roll into balls. Place on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 3 to 4 inches between each cookie because they spread.
Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time, about 10 to 11 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool.
Repeat with remaining batter. Serve.
Directions for optional chocolate topping:
Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very low simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. (Alternatively, put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, and continue heat until completely melted, about 1 to 2 minutes more.)
For sandwiches: Drop about ½ teaspoon chocolate onto the flat side of half of the cookies and press together with remaining halves. Return to rack and let chocolate set.
For chocolate décor: Drizzle melted chocolate over baked Florentines as desired. Set aside at room temperature until chocolate is set.
Busy baker tips: Store baked cookies carefully, separated by parchment or waxed paper, in an air-tight container for up to three days. Florentines are best stored separated from moist cookies and cakes.
Makes 5 dozen 3-inch Florentines, or 2½ dozen 6-inch Florentines
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