Friday, August 24, 2012

Grey or Bald


Despite how very hard my kids have worked on giving me this particular gift, I’ve been pulling them out (don’t tell), but I am sadly approaching a crossroads:  grey…or bald?

Life is full of choices (how cliche) but I’m so overwhelmed right now I don’t seem to be able to make any.  Big or small, meaningful or meaningless, necessary or frivolous, grey or bald, sometimes I just don’t want to make any choices.

 I think it’s in this spirit that I came up with my frozen cookie doughs.  Over the past few years I’ve made and tweaked a number of different recipes to come up with ones I could freeze then bake for the same amount of time and at the same temperature.  I have a good selection now and always have three to five of them in my freezer.  That way if I want to make cookies but can’t decide which kind, I can semi-defrost the doughs (just enough to scoop them), then make a number of different kinds of cookies on one baking sheet.  Then I refreeze the remaining dough.   Easy, peasy.  Choice avoided.

My cookie doughs are usually good for when I just don’t want to make a choice.  But if all else fails, I get out the pizza pan, make a mega cookie… and put EVERYTHING in it.








Giant Everything Cookie| www.BakingInATornado.com | #recipe

Giant Everything Cookie

 

I was talking to my son saying that I wanted a picture of my giant cookie for this particular blog.  I’ve made it many times but never took a picture.  “Oh snap, you’re just going to have to make a giant cookie.”  He didn’t sound terrible sympathetic and he sure wasn’t gonna help me.  My sons are eaters not bakers, and I have no daughters.  Mostly I'm OK with that, but in the instance where I’m baking something just for the picture (although, believe me that giant cookie will get scarfed up), I wouldn’t mind having a baking partner. 

I was traumatized years ago when I was pregnant with my second son.  I wanted a girl.  I was sure I was having a girl.  I had about 50 girl names picked out.  I went in for an ultrasound (when you go through IVF you have them frequently in the first trimester) and the room went silent.  I was the only one to speak “my daughter appears to have a penis.”  The Doctor, knowing I wanted a girl, had quickly moved on.  “Go back, I want to look again” I said.  The Doctor was firm “Karen, it is NOT going to go away.”  After all the times I almost lost him (and there were some really close calls Lightning Strikes) let me say that in the end (with just one little hiccup delivered by my sister) I was and remain thrilled to have my second son. 

The hiccup:  Five weeks after my first son was born, my sister had her first son.  A little over a year later I had my second son.  Then about a year and a half later, my sister went and had a daughter.  Ouch.  My sister is an amazing cook but she doesn’t bake, like at all.  But eventually I got over it because I realized that having a daughter instead of a son was luck.  It’s not like she had been able to make a choice.





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Giant Everything Cookie
                                        ©www.BakingInATornado.com


Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened                                
1 stick margarine, softened                          
1/2cup sugar                                              
1 cup brown sugar                                        
2 eggs                                                           
1 tsp vanilla                                                  
2 1/4 cups flour 
1 tsp baking soda 
1/2tsp salt
1/2cup mini chocolate chips
1/2cup baking mini M&Ms
1/2cup white chocolate chips
1/2cup butterscotch chips                                                                                      




Directions:
*Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a pizza pan.

*Cream butter, margarine and sugars.  Beat in eggs and vanilla

*Mix in flour, baking soda and salt.  Stir in mix-ins.
*Pat out onto the pizza pan until the consistency is fairly even.  Best to just put onto the pan and flatten out and move around with your hands.
*Bake approx. 18 minutes, till it’s puffed and lightly browned.  








28 comments:

  1. Dear Lord, woman. Three kinds of cookies in the freezer? This is why I love you, even though we haven't met. A giant everything cookie sounds perfect for our first school Friday night. If it helps, it's more often than not, that my boys are helping in the kitchen while my daughter is doing anything else. She has an amazing talent of knowing WHEN the sweets are finished baking, and then showing up.....Happy Friday :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe we could do a little trade, send your boys here to help in my kitchen and I'll send my 2 to your house to eat you out of house and home. Happy Friday right back at ya!

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  2. Karen, very rarely do I bake homemade cookies, maybe 5 or 6 times since having kids - my oldest is 21! I do plan to try the Giant Everything Cookie recipe. My daughter loves to bake and this is right up her alley. If I had to choose, I'd pick bald. You can always buy whatever color hair you want.

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  3. sounds so yummy and looks it too!! Thanks for linking to the Mommy Brain Mixer! You did everything just great!!

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  4. I love the "good mom's let their kids lick beaters" thank you for the big cookie!
    -jesika
    www.withlovejka.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hope you make the cookie and enjoy it as much as my family does.

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  5. Great idea making the cookie dough and keeping in the freezer. I have never done that. I usually make a bunch of cookies and freeze them after they are baked. Freezing them before they are baked is a great idea that way you can have nice freshly baked cookie anytime you want.

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    Replies
    1. It really has worked out well, especially with a house full of teenaged boys and not enough snacks around.

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  6. Really, that's a great idea to freeze the dough. I never thought of that! I will definitely follow your example and try out your recipe. Thanks!

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    1. I love the look on my kids' faces when I take that huge cookie out of the oven. Enjoy.

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  7. Great post. Another touching story first. What a great idea to freeze several type of dough Always a crowd pleaser.

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    Replies
    1. It really is great to be able to bring out a bunch of different kinds of cookies all baked at once, everyone ends up happy and with minimal work.

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  8. Wow! I'll be trying out the Giant Everything Cookie! I saw your tweet and am now following. I hope you make it to 100. Good luck!

    -Reese

    http://beingreese.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, you'll like the cookie. Followed your blog as well.

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  9. I am so impressed that you keep all these cookies on stock--and fun idea too, with this giant cookie. I'm saving this recipe--I think my kids would love it :)

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    Replies
    1. Hope you try it, kids love seeing that giant cookie come out of the oven!

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  10. Hi Karen - I just found you through BlogHer - and I am so glad I did! I laughed so hard -- just loved the post and can almost smell that fabulous cookie! I just love the Good Moms let their kids lick the beaters. Fortunately, I have a great mom! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm a new blogger and even newer to BlogHer, so I'm glad you found me there. I think ALL baking Moms must be good Moms!

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    2. Technically, my Mom wasn't so much of a baker... but she ALWAYS stopped the mixer first! :) You may be new, but you have a terrific style, and will surely do well! Thanks so much for visiting my site and I will be back many times!

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  11. Loving your sense of humor and your coping skills:) Loving that "big ol cookie"!! Just dropping in from Oh So Amelia and following you:)

    I also would love to invite you to share this cookie and any of your other favorite posts at freedom Fridays Blog Hop:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, sounds like fun. I'll stop by next Friday and check you out!

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  12. I nominated you for a Liebster Award. Check out my blog for more details :)
    http://dawnsdisaster.blogspot.com/2012/08/oh-my-goodness-another-award.html

    www.dawnsdisaster.blogspot.com
    {All follows are followed back}

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    Replies
    1. Wow, like you, this is my second. Thank you so much for the vote of confidence. I'm honored.

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  13. omg! looks amazing!

    Have a great day! Stop by and say hello!

    ReplyDelete

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