Newton Citizen

Rockdale County 4-H's Annual Cookie Contest is a good example of how 4-H helps youth bake up magic every day. This year, 123 fifth-grade students and four sixth-grade students participated. The participants in fifth grade entered their cookies in one of six categories: Best Tasting Chocolate, Best Tasting Peanut Butter, Best Tasting Other, Most Nutritious, Easiest to Prepare and Best Decorated. The sixth-grade students entered cookies in the categories of Best Tasting Other, Most Nutritious, Easiest to Prepare and Best Decorated. Various individuals from the community came to the Cooperative Extension Office to judge the cookies.

SideBar: First Place recipes:

-Best Tasting Chocolate

Shaquita Barnes - Sims Elementary

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 C all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 C (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 C granulated sugar

1 C packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

2 C (12 oz. package) semi-sweet morsels

1 C chopped nuts

1 C M&M's

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels, nuts and M&M's. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake nine to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for two minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

-Best Tasting Peanut Butter

Savannah Guenthner - Young American Christian School

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1 C creamy peanut butter

1 C sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Stir well. Roll the dough into 18 small balls. Place the balls on the baking sheet. Press a crisscross design onto each cookie with a fork. Bake 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with a little extra sugar. Cool slightly before removing from pan. Yields 18 cookies.

-Best Tasting Other

Nicholas Stewart - Barksdale Elementary

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter or margarine

2 C graham cracker crumbs

14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk

1 C peanut butter chips

1 C chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt butter or margarine. Pour melted butter/margarine into a 9X13 baking dish. Pour in 2 C graham cracker crumbs, mix well. Pack graham crumbs to the bottom of the pan. Pour 1 can of condensed milk over the graham crumbs. Pour 1 C peanut butter chips and 1 C chocolate chips in pan and spread. Pat down until the butter/margarine is in the chips. Bake for 25 minutes, until the milk is bubbling. Let cool overnight, cut and enjoy.

-Easiest to Prepare

Kathy Dzyuba - Hightower Trail Elementary

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

24 Town House Crackers

12 Tbs. peanut butter

Baking Classics Almond Bark Chocolate (any type)

Directions:

Lay out 12 crackers on top of wax paper. Smear a tablespoon of peanut butter on the crackers. Top with another cracker. Take out half of the chocolate and melt for two minutes or until melted. After chocolate is melted, carefully dip crackers in the chocolate one by one. Place on another piece of wax paper to cool. Cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

-Most Nutritious

Josie Crane - Lorraine Elementary

Fruit cookies

Ingredients:

2 C all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 C butter, softened

1 C white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

Honey nut cream cheese

Blueberries, kiwi, strawberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Stir flour, baking soda and baking powder in a small bowl. Set aside. In another bowl mix the butter and sugar until smooth. Put in the egg and vanilla. Blend in the dry ingredients. Roll teaspoon size balls and put them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake them eight to 10 minutes. Let them cool. Spread honey nut cream cheese on the cooled cookies. Top with sliced kiwi, sliced strawberry and blueberry. You can hold the fruit in place with a toothpick.

-Middle School Best Tasting Other

Alaina Dillard - Memorial Middle School

Alaina's Spicy Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

2 C peanut butter

2 large eggs

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 C sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease baking sheets. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together peanut butter and sugar until combined well. In a small bowl lightly beat egg and beat into peanut butter mixture with baking soda and cinnamon until combined well. Roll level teaspoons of dough into balls and arrange about 1 inch apart on baking sheets. With tines of fork flatten balls to about 1 inches in diameter, making a cross hatch pattern. Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven until puffed and pale golden, about 10 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets two minutes and transfer with a spatula to racks to cool completely. Cookies may be kept in an airtight container at room temperature five days.

-Middle School Easiest to Prepare

Jenna Chrisman - Conyers Middle School

Fudgy Wudgy Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

12 oz. package semi sweet chocolate chips

2 Tbs. butter

1 C flour

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

2 C chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt chocolate chips in a glass bowl with butter. Blend in flour and vanilla. Add milk and mix well. Stir in pecans. Drop on foil lined greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Cool on racks.