Which cookie will win the White House?
If you are one of the scores of independent voters yet to decide how you will cast your vote come November, here's a taste test that could tip your ballot: the great Presidential Cookie Bake-Off.听A recipe for success is what this country needs, after all.听
For the past 20 years,听Family Circle'蝉听听has squared-off the mixing bowls of the candidates' spouses and asked their readers to decide: Who has the better cookie recipe? The editors at Family Circle claim their contest, in which readers test the dueling recipes and vote for their favorite, has resulted in correctly calling the actual elections outcome since 1992 鈥� except once.
In 2008, Cindy McCain's Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies beat out Michelle Obama's Shortbread Cookies, only to have John McCain lose to Barack Obama in the general election. It's just the way the cookie crumbled. (Bill Clinton even got in the act that year with a healthy Oatmeal Cookie recipe when Hillary Rodham Clinton was dueling for the Democratic nomination.)
After four years in the White House, Michelle Obama is leading a nationwide campaign centered on cooking healthy food at home. Has she departed from her war on obesity to dole out cookies? We wonder about these things and if they may just give the upper oven mitt to Ann Romney's M&M Cookies over听Michelle's inclusive-sounding White and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies.
The future can only declare if cookie history will repeat itself. Family Circle readers have already decided that it is Michelle Obama who will be heading back to the White House with more than 9,000 readers weighing in. "Just 287 votes separated the two women, our smallest margin ever," say the editors at Family Circle.
听a few blocks from the White House at the听Occidental Grill & Seafood, where diners are given a sample of each cookie and asked to vote on their preferred choice. Weekly tallies are shared through the restaurant's social networks. The most recent results as of Sept. 29:听56 percent for Michelle;听41 percent for Ann;听3 percent are undecided.
Other retailers are getting into the election spirit with their own spin on things: Participating听7-Eleven chain stores are running the fourth听听voting campaign by having customers select either a red (Romney) or blue (Obama) coffee cup. The chain claims that their previous results have not only closely mimicked those of the past two elections, they have accurately predicted the winners. At the moment, the blue coffee cups are carrying most of the country on the campaign's . (We don't know how many of those coffees were decaf.)
With such a close election, here in the newsroom we held our own cookie ballot to gain an edge on election night coverage. Since all journalists like to hide their political stripes, party affiliations were left off the ballots, er, cookies, so the votes were based on taste alone (and also size). An election monitor made sure it was one person, two cookies; and any remaining uncast ballots were eaten immediately. A few broken cookies were tossed out for not having proper IDs.
Michelle's recipe has a surprising amount of butter听and听vegetable shortening but also an unexpected mint finish. She packed a lot in with three kinds of chips. The cookies seemed to spread thin in the oven, however, even though there were a lot of them. There were fewer of Ann's cookies although they were rich, colorful, hefty, and a little dry. They also called for the use of corn syrup, which could be problematic with the rising cost of corn. Voters were either drawn to or repulsed by mint and/or peanut butter flavors. Absentee ballots for the bureaus were not counted due to a mess-up at headquarters. Exit polls were too close to call.
Our newsroom results:
M&M Cookies: 55 percent
White and Dark Chocolate Chip: 45 percent
Ann Romney's M&M Cookies carried the newsroom! Now, anyone got milk?
Cast your vote!
The following recipes are reprinted with permission from .
Michelle Obama's Mama Kaye's White and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield:听5 dozen cookies
Prep:听听 15 mins听
Bake:听听 12 minutes 375 degrees F.听
2-1/4听cups听all-purpose flour
1听teaspoon听baking soda
1听迟别补蝉辫辞辞苍听蝉补濒迟
1听肠耻辫听(2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1听stick Crisco butter-flavored solid vegetable shortening
3/4听cup听granulated sugar
3/4听cup听packed brown sugar
1听teaspoon听vanilla extract
2听别驳驳蝉
1听肠耻辫听each听white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips and mint chocolate chips (or Andes mint pieces)
2听cups听chopped walnuts
Directions
1.听Heat oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream butter, vegetable shortening, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract.
2.听Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, beat in flour mixture. By hand, stir in white and milk chocolate chips, mint chips and walnuts.
3.听Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Ann Romney's M&M's cookies
Yield:听3 dozen cookies
Prep:听听 15 mins听
Bake:听听 18 minutes 听325 degrees F.听
听
1听肠耻辫听granulated sugar
1听肠耻辫听packed light brown sugar
1/2听cup听(1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2听cups听crunchy peanut butter
1听tablespoon听light corn syrup (such as Karo)
3听eggs
1/2听teaspoon听vanilla extract
4-1/2听cups听old-fashioned rolled oats
2听teaspoons听baking soda
6听ounces听chocolate chips
2/3听cup听M&M's candies
Directions
1.听Heat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, cream sugars, butter, peanut butter and corn syrup on high speed until well combined. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in vanilla extract.
2.听In a separate bowl, mix together oats and baking soda. Stir into peanut butter mixture until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and M&M's.
3.听Using a standard-size ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets (about 9 per sheet). Bake at 325 degrees F for 18 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
