2015 Annual Great Cookie Contest and Swap Is a Hit with the People

There were more than a dozen entries in the Fifth Annual Great Cookie Contest and Swap trying to earn the title of Durham Tech's Best Cookie.  Our judges this year, Susan Paris and Laura Rogers, sampled each of the entries beside a virtual yule log in the TLC.

Susan Paris and Laura Rogers testing the entries.

The competition was stiff, but there were clear winners:

1. Julie Humphrey's Coconut Macaroons  

   

   Julie Humphrey's Award-Winning Coconut Macaroons!

   
   
2. Karin Abell's Nanaimo Cookie Bars

   

   Karin Abell's Canadian Nanaimo Cookie Bars

   
   
   
   
3. Lance Lee's Christmas Toffee Cookies (no photo--they went too fast) and Mary Kennery's Lemon Lavender Cookies (tie)

   

   Mary Kennery's Lemon Lavender Cookies

Other amazing entries this year included:

• Heidi White's Seven-Layer Cookies
• Heidi White's Fudgie Cookies (OK, fine.  It was just fudge.  Peanut butter fudge and chocolate fudge.)
• Mary Moore's Haystack Cookies
• Gina Perryman's Cherry Kiss Cookies
• Mary Moore's Meringue Cookies
• Kerry Cantwell's Spicy Mexican Chocolate Cookies 
• "Spacy" Tracy Mancini's Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies with Oats, Raisins, and Chocolate Chips (recipe below)
• Rolo Turtle Cookies
• Pecan Pie Bars

Below are two of the recipes for this year's contestants:

Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies with Oats, Raisins, and Chocolate Chips

Ingredients:

1 box chocolate cake mix

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup long cooking oats

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs beaten

1. Mix all ingredients in large bowl.
2. Spoon onto greased baking sheet about two-inches apart.
3. Bake 7 to 9 minutes at 350 degrees.

Makes 5 dozen cookies.

Spicy Mexican Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter

2.7 ounces good quality sweetened chocolate with guajillo chili powder, coarsely chopped

1 cup packed turbinado sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 cup self-rising flour

3/4 cup unsweetened coca powder

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the butter and chopped chocolate together, whisking until glossy and smooth.  Cool the chocolate mixture to room temperature.
3. In a bowl, beat the brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs on low speed until well-combined.  Pour in the cooled chocolate and continue to mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
4. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, chili powder, baking powder, salt, and cayenne pepper.  Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate batter and mix on low speed until just combined and no visible flour remains.  Fold in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.  
5. Working in two batches, scoop balls of fough, about 1 1/2 tablespoon size, onto a parchment-lined baking pan, leaving at least 1 1/2 inches between each cookie.  Bake the cookies, one pan at a time, for approximately 14 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time.  The cookies should be puffy and still fairly soft when removed from the oven.
6. Immediately, slide the cookies, still on the parchment paper, onto a wire cooling rack.  Cool just a bit before serving, about 5-10 minutes.  Cookies can be stored in airtight container for up to three days.  
7. Spend those three days cleaning the kitchen.  You just made a colossal mess.