One Great . . . Cookie Book

If you saw my column a couple of months ago on Gretchen Holt-Witt and Cookies For Kids' Cancer, you know Charlotte is a big player in the group. We give better bake sales than just about any place to raise money for pediatric cancer research.

Now Holt-Witt's cookie cookbook is out, with all author proceeds going to the group. It's a sweet book and a sweet story, and yes, there are Charlotte people pictured in there. Holt-Witt, whose son Liam died last year, is working on arranging a book-signing here. But in the meantime, "Cookies For Kids' Cancer Best Bake Sale Cookbook" is $19.99 from Wiley and has 70 recipes for bake-sale worthy cookies, brownies, cupcakes, scones and candies.

Dried Cranberry and Chocolate Cookies From "Cookies For Kids' Cancer Best Bake Sale Cookbook," by Gretchen Holt-Witt (Wiley, $19.99).

2 1/2 sticks (10 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, either semisweet or white chocolate
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

PREHEAT oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

PLACE the butter and sugars in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle and beat until smooth and creamy. Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla, one at a time, beating well between additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Place the flour oats, baking powder, baking soda and sal tin a separate bowl and mix well. Add to the butter mixture and beat until everything is well-incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the chocolate chips and cranberries and beat again.

DROP the dough by heaping teaspoons about 2 inches apeart on the prepared cookie sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake until the cookies begin to brown at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheet. Transfer to a wire rack and repeat with remaining ingredients.

Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies.

Eating for Cookies For Kids Cancer

Last month, I wrote a column about my old friend Gretchen Holt and Cookies For Kids' Cancer, the group she founded when her son, Liam Witt, was diagnosed with pediatric cancer. CFKC does bake sales and other cookie-related events to raise money to fund pediatric cancer drug trials and research. Charlotte is the top money-raising site for CFKC.

Friday afternoon, I had the honor of helping judge a cookie contest for CFKC, sitting next to my fellow judge, Grier Cristenbury, 7, (above) at the Flying Biscuit Cafe at Park Road Shopping Center. The other judges were Kiran Smith of Little Ones magazine, Lisa Frame of Daily Pinch and Kerry McCray of the Meetup group Good Eats & Meets.

Twenty-five cookie recipes were entered, but luckily it had been narrowed down to seven finalists. Still, it was a tough job, people. I am here to tell you, that Grier Cristenbury is one tough cookie judge. I helped him fill out his judge's score card, with all the moms and kids watching us take every bite.

There was a lot riding on the contest. The winner gets free food for a year at the Stomp Chomp & Roll restaurants in Charlotte, the group that owns Flying Biscuit at Park Road and Stonecrest, Mama Fu's and the Pizza Peel in Cotswold, Monkey Joe's at Park Road and Moe's at Northlake.

But that's not why there's a lot riding on it. Those restaurants also will make and sell the winning cookie until the end of September, with all proceeds going to Cookies For Kids' Cancer. Just recently, New York finally passed Charlotte as the site of the biggest CFKC bake sale. With enough cookies sold, we could put that upstart Little Apple back in its place.

So, the winners: Third place went to Angela Sluder's Triple Chip Cookies and second was Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies by Catherine Coltrin.

The winner was Jane Cole, with Millionaire Shortbread Cookies, a three-layer arrangement of shortbread, caramel and chocolate. (That's it in the paper cup at the front of the plate.)

Here's the recipe. It's a bit British, as is Jane. But instead of making it, consider stopping by one of the Stomp, Chomp & Roll restaurants listed above and buy it. See Grier, the kid with the big smile and the big cookie? He became friends with Liam Witt when they were both patients at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Grier's buddy Liam died in January, at the age of 6 1/2. Let's buy a lot of cookies and eat 'em all for Grier and his fellow cancer-warriors out there.

Millionaire Shortbread
By Jane Cole, Charlotte.
Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup icing sugar (AKA confectioners sugar)
Salt (amount not given; I'd start with 1/2 teaspoon)
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature
Caramel:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tins (cans) sweetened condensed milk
6 tablespoons Lyles golden syrup
Chocolate layer:
4 bars Cadbury Milk Chocolate
3 tablespoons margarine
Whipping cream (amount not specified)

Preheat oven to 320 degrees. (yes, that's how it reads, although 325 would probably work fine).

Lightly grease a 13-by-9-inch pan. Combine the flour, confectioners sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter to make a crumbly mixture. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Caramel layer: Melt the butter. Mix the sweetened condensed milk and syrup well, then stir in the melted butter. Microwave 1 minute and stir well. Repeat 6 times, until mixture is thick and deeply colored. Pour over the shortbread crust.

Chocolate: Melt chocolate and margarine in a double boiler (or in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat). Add cream until all is melted and shiny. Pour over the caramel layer. Refrigerate until set. Sprinkle with a little confectioners sugar and cut into squares.