Because it's fun to say and good to eat!

I mentioned yesterday that Karen gave me another great recipe while we were visiting them.  Actually she said … “have you ever had a smush cookie?”  To which I said … “no, but it sounds like something I might like.”  I mean, its fun to say if nothing else!

She said she wanted to make me some and proceeded to whip a frozen log of dough out of the freezer and started slicing cookies.  I have to say … my hats off to everyone who has homemade cookies or meals in their freezers ready to pull out at a moments notice.  I want to be like you.  I want to be that mom.

But I’m not.

Just last week I showed up for the school fund-raising dinner at a local Mexican restaurant a week early.  I didn’t find out until I paid that it was actually the following Tuesday.  It helped explain why I didn’t see anyone I knew!  The school had announced it over a week and a half in advance.  I’m sure it’s because they knew other moms plan out their meals, know what they are going to get at the store and what they are going to feed their families.  But I’m not one of them.  I also know that I vowed at New Years to try and do better at all this … and I’m working on it.

Kind of.

So back to the cookies … they have one of my FAVORITE candies in them so before I even tasted them I knew I loved them.  You see, every year at Christmas my mom gives me a box of thin chocolate mint patties (we get them at Walgreens) in my stocking.  To be honest, they are rarely in my stocking.  She pulls them out of a bag and says she meant to put them in our stockings.

We’re a lot alike.

I was going to take a picture of the box of candies used to make these cookies but that would have meant I thought of it before we plowed through three boxes and I threw all the boxes away.  Just think York Peppermint patties (which I’m sure would be good too).

Here’s the recipe for the cookie that is as fun to say as it is to eat!

Smush Cookie

1 cup shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 cups oatmeal

Also need about 6-8 boxes of chocolate mint candies.  I use Necco brand (found easily at Walgreens - each has about 24 mints).

Mix ingredients in order given.  Shake dough into rolls (diameter smaller than a quarter).  Wrap up in plastic wrap and freeze.  Once frozen, take dough out a few rolls at a time, slice about 1/8" thick circles and bake at 375 degrees for about 7 minutes on a greased cookie sheet.  Take off cookie sheet and while hot, put a mint between two cookies, wait about a minute, and then “smush”.

It works well to put cookies on a brown bag that has been cut open and then smush them on that.

Enjoy!!!