Operation Baking Girls – Round 13
Today is the day I shipped my baked goods for Operation Baking Gals (be sure to check out the article on Taste of Home about OBG). As a reminder, I paired up with Heather Drive to co-lead a team this round. The soldier we sponsored this round is a friend of mine from high school. If you have someone who you’d like to have sponsored by a team, please let me know. This time around, we had 36 members for our team, so Jon and his buddies are going to have a LOT of goodies to enjoy!! Thanks to everyone who joined the team!!
As I mentioned in the post announcing the Round 13 team, I ordered a 10-pack of Flat Rate boxes from the US Post Office. They came in the mail shrink wrapped and ready to be used. It’s so great that the USPS does this. It definitely makes things so much easier when sending a package overseas.
I made my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (The Chewy), and a batch of Pecan Pie cookies. I actually froze the cookies for about 5 days prior to sending them. I didn’t do that last time, but I’m hoping that they will be fresher when the arrive because of it. In the bio that we had about Jon, he said he loved pecan pie. Obviously I couldn’t send a pie, so I Googled pecan pie cookies and used the first recipe that came up. I’ll be blogging these soon. Hubby and I both enjoyed them and I hope Jon does as well.
The cookies I made only filled about 1/2 the box, but due to travel and other things going on, I didn’t have time to bake anything else. I decided to throw in the Nature Valley nut cluster packs that I won in a blog giveaway recently. I figured Jon might enjoy them as a snack.
I used the generic grocery store brand tupperware containers to package my cookies. I didn’t put any paper towel or apple peal in them this time, and I’m hoping that it works out ok. I’ll let everyone know what Jon says about this…
I also wrote a little note for Jon saying hi and that he’s in our thoughts. Again, if you know someone who is stationed overseas right now, send me an email if you’d like to find out more about having them be a sponsored soldier. And be sure to check out the Operation Baking Gals website for more information about participating as a baker.
Don’t forget about my Power of Pink Challenge going on all month.
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Aren’t they the best? They’re so addicting. I’ve actually starting using the same ingredients, but mixing them like a more traditional chocolate chip cookie (i.e., softened butter instead of melted), because I like the dough better with softened butter. The baked cookies were just as good. Best of both worlds!
These look gorgeous. Don’t you just love AB??? 🙂
The cookies look great. I love AB too..he’s such a dork (in a good way).
I love the ATK/CI Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. I will have to try these to see what I think. I remember seeing that the recipes looked similar so I am sure I will love them.
Another AB lover here. My husband gives me a hard time about my DVR list with him but loves it when I give him a fun tidbit or cook him something from AB.
I completely agree CoCo. Hubby does the same thing. I sometimes even watch episodes I’ve seen before! Hubby doesn’t like to admit it, but he loves AB too. Sometimes he’ll be the one saying “AB says to do this…”
They look SO good!! I am a sucker for a chewy chocolate chip cookie. Although, I must side with your hubby – I prefer mine with just a bit of chocolate.
How much is a stick of butter? I’m not in the US and have never come across this measurement before.
Sorry about that Naomi – 1 stick of butter = 8 Tbsp. Does that help?
this is very similar to the ccc recipe i use, but anything that makes it chewier is good in my books! i will have to keep this one in mind 🙂
Yes Jen, thank you!
Yum! I will definitely be trying these. I always chill my cookie dough too usually because I’m too busy with 3 little ones but I also read that article in the NY times awhile ago and I felt like I deserved a nice big pat on the back for always doing the 24hour chill 🙂 Great post and beautiful cookies!
I love Alton Brown because of his scientific approach to cooking and baking. I’ve been baking “The Chewy” for years. One thing I do differently: Before chilling the dough, I scoop it into balls. This makes the process much easier. Sometimes I freeze the balls for baking later. After I place the balls on parchment, I carefully place a few extra chocolate morsels on top, pointy side up. This extra step produces picture-perfect cookies every time.
The Chewy is my go to recipe for cookies. I make a few alterations, occasionally, such as substituting 1/4 of the brown sugar with dark brown sugar. I bake small portions in mini muffin tins; one batch makes 48 cookie bites that are super chewy and the perfect size bite. I’ve made them every year for Christmas gifts for a few years now.