Aunt Dot's Oatmeal Cookies 2/325

Aunt Dot's House

The Relation

Aunt Dot, for who this recipe is named after, would be my great-great-aunt. Mary L., who submitted this recipe, would be her daughter, and therefore, my second cousin, twice removed? Who knows. Dot was one of the original 14 kids that the Webers produced. While her sister's (my great-great-grandmother's) descendants wear Gassmann Gold at the family reunions, Dot's descendants wear purple. She lived in a big house, two houses down from where the Henry Gassmanns were brought up.

The Process

Under baked :(

Overall, these are a pretty easy bake. I recommend using softened butter, though the recipe doesn't specifically ask for it. I used my handy dandy electric mixer to cream the sugar and butter (because what sentient life form hand mixes anything these days?). 

The challenges with this recipe start once your dough is mixed. It's a very sticky dough, so getting it onto a spoon and then onto a pan was messy, to say the least. I highly recommend using parchment paper to line your pans (not wax paper... rookie mistake). When the recipe calls for teaspoon-sized drops, it means it! Aunt Dot was not playing around. If you go too big, not only will you end up with fused cookies, but the center will remain gooey - and not the good sort of gooey. Straight up raw.

Over baked :(

The instructions specifically say “Don’t over bake.” A cautionary tale to be sure. These baddies bake fast. After 3 trays to experiment, I had decided that 5 minutes was just right. Only after I threw the last batch in for 5 minutes, they came out underdone. Results inconclusive *big sigh*.

Further experiments were performed at the Weber Mecca (Olney, IL) under the watchful eye of Will (Gertrude>Henry>John). We lowered the temperature to 350° F and increased cooking time to 8 minutes. The results were indeed better, but even more so after Genie (Will's mother, and John's wife), helped us to move all the cookies to a cooling rack immediately out of the oven. No pressure to apply these changes, but I will say that cookies were crisper and evenly baked.

Just right :)

At the end of my baking, I realize that I never added in the nuts (which would have been leftover almonds from the Double Almond Crunch).  To be fair, the recipe technically never calls to add the nuts! Very confusing.

The Feedback

Climbers and family members alike were very fond of these cookies. Their thin and lacey texture received a special mention from both parties. The Henry Gassmann clan consistently referred to them as "Illini Crispies" which they are NOT! Illini Crispies are an altogether different recipe and should not be confused!

AUNT DOT’S OATMEAL COOKIES       CC90

Mary L.

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup – 2 sticks – butter or margarine

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 tsp soda

½ tsp salt

2 cups “quick cook” oatmeal

½ cup nuts – more or less

Cream brown sugar and butter well. Add vanilla and egg and beat well. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Add oats. Drop by teaspoon on cookie sheet 1– 1½ inch apart. Bake at 375 for 7 – 10 minutes. Don’t over bake.

Double Almond Crunch 1/325

The Relation

Nothing complicated today - Mary Pat is my aunt. She is the 2nd oldest child of my grandmother and the ONLY daughter (of 7 kids).  I first had this candy (I will refer to it as toffee even though I don’t think it technically is???)  when I was visiting her and my cousins for Christmas in 2017. I was HOOKED. Mary Pat shows up quite a few times in this recipe book, so more on her later.

The Process

Coarsely chopped nuts?

Okay, I’m not going to lie - this is my second time making this. The first time was much less successful. Last Thanksgiving the offer was extended again to join Mary Pat & Co. in Maryland for the holidays, but I stayed in Las Vegas as leaving dear old mom-sicle was simply not an option. SO! Instead, I made her toffee - err candy - in her honor.

The most challenging part of this recipe? CHOPPING NUTS. Per Mary Pat’s instruction, I bought pre-roasted almonds from Trader Joes (it was the first time I ever went to Trader Joe’s - can I just say: it was an overwhelming experience). My first time making it, I roasted the nuts myself - honestly, I think chopping raw nuts is easier than chopping roasted nuts??? Is there a study on this?? Please let me know.

Thas a lot of butter...

ANYWAYS - I first used my ninja blender to chop them. This was a bad idea, you will get almond flour. THEN I moved them to my food processor (similar results). In the end, I was forced to hand chop them like some sort of cavewoman. I still ended up with a fair amount of almond flour (which I attempted to sift out using a colander - probably unnecessary but oh well).

ASMR Stage

Probably the best part about making this is the ASMR sound that the melting sugar makes at about 250 degrees. Ooooooh baby - that’s the stuff. The recipe specifically states that you should watch carefully at 280 degrees to make sure it doesn’t go over 300. I literally sit there and take videos of the melted sugar for those last 20 degrees.

Heads up: it takes FOREVER for the sugar/butter mix to get to the right temperature. Like, 30 whole minutes. Maybe more.

READY TO ADD NUTS!

While nut chopping takes the cake for being the most challenging part of this recipe, the part I still haven’t mastered is pouring the concoction into the pan. I always, ALWAYS (she says only having made it twice) end up having thinner sections towards the edges of the pan. I just cannot get the stuff to spread enough before it begins to cool.

This most recent time I made it, I achieved what I thought was impossible - releasing the candy from the pan WITH NO BREAKAGE. There was a tiny, lil baby crack, but it popped out in one piece! My first attempt, I ended up with 4 very large pieces that I had to glue together with chocolate (hindsight is 20/20 here, as you have to break the whole thing into pieces anyway…).

The Feedback

The climbing gym gave this recipe a 10/10, as did my pregnant boss. In the words of my father, "those types of audiences may not be that picky." But HEY, a win is a win. One climbing pal took some home!

The Recipe

DOUBLE ALMOND CRUNCH CC90
Mary Pat G.

1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup – 2 sticks – butter
1⅓ cup sugar
1 Tbs light corn syrup
3 Tbs water
3 bars – 4½ oz each – melted milk chocolate

Spread almonds in separate shallow pans. Place in slow oven – 300° – until nuts are delicately browned or until time to add them to candy. Watch carefully.

Meanwhile melt butter over low heat in 2-quart heavy saucepan. Add sugar, corn syrup and water. Cook, stirring occasionally, to the hard crack stage – 300°. Watch carefully after candy reaches 280°. Quickly stir in warmed, toasted coarsely chopped almonds. Spread in ungreased 13 x 9 x 2 pan. Cool thoroughly. Turn onto waxed paper. Spread top with half of chocolate and sprinkle with half of finely chopped almonds. Cove with waxed paper and turn over. Spread candy with remaining chocolate and sprinkle with remaining almonds. Set in cold place until chocolate is firm. Break in pieces.

Makes 2½ lbs