Keep Smiling Cookies

Baking is more than just combining ingredients; it's about creating memories. And sometimes, the best recipes are the ones that tell a story. Our "Keep Smiling Cookies" are just such a recipe, a delicious blend of family history, a dash of childhood nostalgia, and a whole lot of love. They're inspired by two very special men in my life: my great-uncle Amos and my Grandpa Giles.

My great-uncle Amos, who lived with my grandparents, was like a grandfather to me. He made the most incredible chocolate chip cookies. My dad recalls, "Growing up there was always a favorite dessert that I continually looked forward to - chocolate chip cookies. These cookies were a special treat that was most often made by my Uncle Amos. Now these are not the "Famous Amos Cookies" you might find on a shelf - these were SO much better. I do not know the exact ingredients for the cookies, but I seem to remember they were simple to make. That said, I am not sure what Uncle Amos did to make them the perfect cookie. They came out rather thin, with a crispy edge and soft in the middle. I loved the crunch of the crispy edges followed by the middle of the cookie that simply melted in your mouth.” I'm pretty sure his secret ingredient was simply love, because even though I suspect he used the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag, I've never tasted anything quite as good. His signature touch? Cooling the cookies on flattened paper grocery bags. To this day, when I see a brown paper bag, I think of him and his warm, comforting cookies.

My dad also recalled, “Uncle would make up many batches, storing them in round cookie tins or in ZipLock bags if he made an extra large batch. When I was in college I loved to bring back a bag of cookies after visiting home. Once out of college and married, I still got a thrill when I saw some freshly baked cookies in the kitchen!" I remember how there would be crumbled up cookie bits at the bottom of the bag and those somehow always ended up being the best pieces.

The other key ingredient in our Keep Smiling Cookies is walnuts, another nod to family tradition. My Grandpa (my dad's dad) had walnut trees on his property, and he'd harvest and process the walnuts himself. My parents shared some vivid memories of this process.

My dad remembers, "I just remember him cleaning, cracking them, and using what looks sort of like a dental tool to pry the walnut meat out of the shell. I don’t really have any memorable stories about it, other than getting really tired of shelling them after only about 10 minutes when I was young. I’m pretty sure he collected most of them from the 5 acres that we used to own down the road on 129. However, I may be incorrect on that. I’m pretty sure that I remember there always being a dish of cracked and uncracked walnuts on an end table in the living room."

My mom's recollections paint a picture of dedication and a bit of ingenuity: "He always wore gloves because the walnut juice stained your fingers black. He’d collect the nuts while they still had the green shell over them. He’d collect put them in a bag and then run the car over the bag to crack them. He would crack them all winter and we would get a big Mason jar of the nuts in the summer."

The name "Keep Smiling Cookies" comes from a funny family story involving my dad, his brother, and my grandparents on a rather chaotic family vacation. Let's just say there were some mishaps, and "Keep Smiling" became their mantra. It's a reminder that even when things go awry, a positive attitude (and a delicious cookie!) can make all the difference.

Finally, to perfect our cookie recipe, we turned to Kristin Hoffman's Baker Bettie's Better Baking Book. Kristin's book is a fantastic resource for any baker, and it helped us nail the texture and flavor we were aiming for.

So, here it is, our family's "Keep Smiling Cookie" recipe. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do, and that they bring a smile to your face, too!

Keep Smiling Cookies Recipe

Note: this recipe was created by modifying the Drop Cookie Master Recipe in Baker Bettie's Better Baking Book.. I can’t recommend her book enough for those of you who want to perfect a recipe to your individual tastes.

Ingredients:

• 100 grams granulated sugar

• 50 grams brown sugar

• 113 grams room temperature unsalted butter

• 1.5 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 large room temperature egg

• 2 grams kosher salt (plus more to garnish

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• .5 teaspoon baking powder

• 135 grams oat flour

• 1 cup oats

• 1 cup walnuts

• 1/4 cup chocolate chips (plus more to garnish)

Directions:

1. reheat your oven to 325°F (163°C).

2. Before you begin, gather all your ingredients—this is called your mise en place—and measure them out. It makes the baking process so much smoother!

3. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick aluminum foil. (We actually used foil once by accident and discovered we loved how the cookies turned out, so now it's our preferred method!)

4. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed for a full three minutes. This creaming process is key for light and airy cookies.

5. Add the vanilla extract and room-temperature egg, mixing on medium speed until just combined.

6. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oat flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

7. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until just incorporated. Overmixing can lead to tough cookies, so be gentle!

8. Fold in the oats, chopped walnuts, and chocolate chips until everything is evenly distributed.

9. Using an ice cream scoop (about 2 tablespoons per scoop), drop mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving ample space between each cookie. We usually fit about eight scoops per sheet.

10. For a little extra something special, top each mound with a few extra chocolate chips and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.

11. Bake both cookie sheets simultaneously at 325°F (163°C) for 16 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom halfway through to ensure even baking.

12. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least five minutes (or until you simply can't resist any longer!).

Enjoy your Keep Smiling Cookies! And remember, even when life throws you curveballs, keep smiling