My September Recipe - Crazy Cookies

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Mom's Crazy Cookie Recipe
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My mother was always known for her cooking skills amoungst her peers. She headed up all the church banquets and regularly hosted dinner parties for her friends and family. But, her greatest cullinary accomplishment was planning and cooking the meals for three weeks each summer at a girls summer camp - Brook Cherith. A camp where she had to plan a weeks worth of tasty, well rounded meals that young girls of every age (as well as the camp staff) were willing to eat. And to do it all in a camp kitchen in the middle of July with no air-conditioning. No, she isn't super woman, though some might disagree. She did have a kitchen staff to help get the job done afterall. But I do recall some very hot summers at that camp and peering through the dininghall window to seeing her and her staff sitting at a table furiously fanning themselves, drinking lemonaide and munching on freshly baked Crazy Cookies. How many kids get to take their mothers along to summer camp? PS - She did all that camp cooking in that hot kitchen for free as a camp volunteer!

So, anyway, one of mom's friends met the local recipe columnist at some seminar or something and she told her all about mom and gave her mom's number. Mom could hardly believe this columnist actually called her and asked her to place a recipe in the column. The recipe she gave is her famous old "Crazy Cookie" recipe which was (and still is) my favorite cookie. Unforetunately she decided to re-name her cookies and call them "Dutch Treat" cookies for the column. She was afraid "Crazy" sounded, well, CrAzY! Heck, the name was half of the draw when we were kids. So, here is the famous "Crazy Cookie" recipe -

Crazy Cookies -

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1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1cup oil

1 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1 t salt

1 t baking soda

1 t vanilla

3 1/2 c flour

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup Rice Krispies

1/2 c flaked coconut

1/2 c chopped pecans

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Blend together sugars and oil, add butter and cream well.

Beat in the egg. Stir in the rest of the ingredients in the order given.

Drop by teaspoons full onto ungreased cookie sheet. Press each cookie down slightly with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake in an oven at 375 degree's till light brown (about 10-12 minutes, turning cookie sheet about half way through for even baking). Cool briefly on cookie sheet then remove to racks to cool completely.

This is a very crisp and sometimes crumbly cookie that simply seems to melt in your mouth.

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The above photo is Great Grandma holding her 1st great grandchild for the 1st time.

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