BRUSH
Keeping It Clean

To the Cookie Lady, a new school year means cooler weather, baking weather, and a new cookie recipe for snacking at lunch and after school.

We know so many kids -- and even adults -- who have become allergic to nuts (it can happen any time and at any age), that it seemed natural to try to find a substitute for nuts, and your intrepid Cookie Lady and the official taster, a.k.a. Dr. M., have come up with a good and sneaky change…Yummy Tummy Pretzel Cookies.

Please read the whole recipe before you start and make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature before you begin.

Beat together until light and fluffy, 5 to 8 minutes:

• 1½ sticks (12 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 c. white sugar
• ¼ tsp. salt

Add to mixer:

• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. orange zest, optional

At this point, the Cookie Lady likes to chill the dough for one hour or even overnight. However, the recipe does not need to be chilled. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°.

Scoop cookie dough with small ice cream scoop and form into 1-inch dough balls. Dip the dough balls into a small bowl of sugar; either regular granulated sugar, white sparkle sugar, or Demerara (raw) sugar.

Bake the cookies about 2 inches apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets for 10 to 12 minutes; just until the cookies begin to look golden at the edges.

Cool cookies on cookie sheets two to three minutes, remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container. These cookies freeze well.

Yield: about 4 to 5 dozen cookies, depending on the size of each cookie.

Notes:

1. The original recipe for these cookies used 2 c. of regular potato chips, crushed.
2. The first time the Cookie Lady made these cookies, the only pretzels available were chocolate covered. Everyone in the first group of tasters seemed happy (that means lots of you!).
3. I have added both potato chips and pretzels or one or the other. Both ways are tasty.
4. The Cookie Lady's Northern Branch of her Testing and Tasting Lab (Junior Chef Divsion) came up with this cookie's name, and the Junior Chefs added their own spin on the recipe by personally hand-smashing the pretzels and by using festive colored sugar to roll the cookies.

A Cookie Lady Recipe