Making Cookies

It's The Holidays, and that means a mandate for making Monster Cookies. I decided to go ahead make the BIG BATCH of these peanut butter oatmeal delights this year. That means big amounts of ingredients: 1 pound of butter... 1 dozen eggs... 4 cups of white sugar, 2 pounds of brown... and one petite helper in the kitchen, who was delighted to wear this apron and help.

Apron!

Pouring the sugar.

Maia helped me pour the sugar... ... and the eggs (with only a little drama!)
 And, to help me enter a new record in the "Proud Moments in Parenting" archives: Maia wanted to taste each ingredient before we added it. Karo syrup, yum! Baking soda... Well, I warned her, you can taste it, but it won't taste very good to you. Finger into soda, finger into mouth. She pulls a face. That sucks! she says seriously.
Oh, so proud. Anyway.
We pour it all the mixed ingredients into the Big Bowl and start mixing by hand.

Butter. Eggs. Sugar. More Sugar. Vanilla. Sucky Baking Soda.

 

... and add 3 pounds of Peanut Butter.

Then oatmeal. LOTS of oatmeal.

The oatmeal incorporation starts.

Usually by the time I get half of the oatmeal mixed in, my arm is exhausted, and it's time to call in the reinforcements. By this time, Maia is down for a nap; but this is an all-day prospect, so I keep working.

M&Ms and Chocolate Chips.

Mmmmm M & Ms! Chocolate Chips!

Completed dough

 Maia and her ice pack. Why? Because any little bump, bruise, minor perception of near-miss injury requires an ice pack.

Maia and her Ice Pack

 '

Cookies on well-seasoned baking stones.

Finished Cookies.

They have to be some of the ugliest (but yummiest) cookies in the world. But after all that work, and with warm cookies fresh from the oven, what did my daughter want to eat for a snack?

Milk and Pomegranate.

Weirdo.