A Haven for Vee

Friday, March 14, 2008

He-Man Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yesterday afternoon, I was in need of a cookie ministry. A pack of chocolate chips from before Christmas was sitting open in my pantry. Rather than munch on them by the handfuls, I decided to bake.

Out came my recipe book, actually a photo album where my hand-written recipes live, and there was my recipe for He-Man Cookies. They contain a lot of oatmeal so, since they would be so much more healthful... This recipe is from the Yankee Kitchen Radio Program, which ended in the late 90s.

I loved Gus Saunders the host of the Yankee Kitchen. Googling this morning, I found that Gus passed away last year and I felt sad as if I had lost an old friend and hadn't been told.

On summer vacations, my children would be off playing in their "secret" playhouse under the 100 foot pine whose branches swept down to touch the lawn. And I would spend many afternoons puttering in my blueberry kitchen cleaning or preparing for supper all the while listening to Gus's mellow voice sharing recipes and cooking tips. The premise was that in order to request a recipe, you had to offer one. It was a swap thing. My notebook and pencil sat at the ready to hurriedly snag a recipe the old-fashioned way. Good thing that Gus was a gentleman who knew just how to slow down and repeat things in the right moments. Ahhhh, dear Gus.



He-Man Chocolate Chip Cookies
from the Yankee Kitchen Radio Program

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup butter
* 1/2 cup shortening
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 2 unbeaten eggs
* 2 tsp vanilla
* 1 TBS hot water
* 2 cups quick oatmeal
* 1 1/2 cups flour
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 cup chopped nuts
* 1 12 oz package of chocolate chips

Method:

Mix butter and shortening, sugars, eggs, hot water, and vanilla.

Add oatmeal and the remainder of the dry ingredients. Lastly, add the chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop onto parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake 10–12 minutes @ 375°

These are a tasty, crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside cookie. Hope that you'll try them sometime!

21 comments:

  1. Oooooo! How did you know this is just what the Dr. ordered? : ) Hello dear friend and thank you for posting this wonderful recipe! It has already been added to my list of recipes from bloggy friends and will be put together this weekend for sure! Thanks!
    Love,
    Jan

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  2. Take a recipe and share one in return..sounds like a great idea.

    Here is one from my recipe blog...I actually worked on this for months to perfect it to my liking.

    Lemon Cranberry (or Blueberry) Muffins

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  3. Oh yummo...great with coffee too!
    Hugs,
    Robin

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  4. Oh, I love chocolate chip cookies. The most evocative passage in your post is the image of your children hiding in their secret playhouse. Oh, the memories.

    Gus sounds like a great communicator. And I understand how you must feel about his loss. Such a surprise and ... why didn't I know all rolled up in one.

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  5. Mmmmmm! to quote my grandson when he takes a bite of cookie! This looks like a must try recipe! Wish I'd been there to share a cookie with you!

    I have the same sentimental feelings about a cooking show that used to come on public television on Saturday, Amish Country Cooking. I loved the hostess of the show and spent many happy Saturday mornings scribbling down good down home fair.

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  6. Oh Vee! They sound delightful and perfect!
    Hmmmm.. I might have to mix up a batch!
    Have a fabulous day!
    :) Abbie

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  7. My grandkids will thank you for reminding me about chocolate chip cookies...it's been awhile! Gus is not a familiar name is these parts...but Yankee Kitchen sounds like my kind of show!

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  8. Oh, I love cookies - thanks for sharing!

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  9. Lovely rememberance--and I bet those cookies are killers. Yum Yum!

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  10. Vee, you're killin' me...I love oatmeal cookies the best in the world...I mean t h e b e s t . I am going on a diet on Monday, I'm baking these on Saturday. I'm eating every last one (except for the ones Mac scarfs down)by Sunday night. I'll be thanking you on Sunday but won't promise what names I'll be calling you on Monday!
    hugs Sandi

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  11. I love a cookie and coffee breakfast, yummmmmm! Your recipe looks like a keeper. I'll have to show my hubby this one, he's the baker in the family, not me! I'm the knitter...hee hee!!

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  12. Um...... that looks so good! I think like you do... The oatmeal makes the cookie much healthier and we all need our fiber. Thank you for the wonderful recipe. I will be trying it soon. I just love your tea cup and saucer.

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  13. Hi Vee...The cookies sound delicious.....Hmmmm...I believe that somewhere, sometime..other good cookies have contributed to my more than voluptuously rounded Victorian style figure... :) What the heck!.... I'll try your recipe soon...Dee Dee

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  14. A cookie ministry, hu? I ministerd with peanut butter cookies yesterday myself!

    I'll have to try your "he man" recipe next time I make cookies!
    God bless!

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  15. What a wonderful memory! And those cookies sound great!
    Penny

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  16. The recipe sounds great - and just in time - I blogged about baking chocolate chip cookies from the sotre! I'll have to try these and surprise everyone - including me! Thanks for sharing.
    Colleen

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  17. Hmmm, those cookies sound delicious! I am sitting in a hotel room in NYC, catching up with some of my favorite blogging friends via my lap top. And you know when you are in a hotel room and you want some cookies that is a terrible thing. No cookies to be found at nearly midnight in a hotel room.

    Happy weekend!
    Melissa

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  18. Vee, thank you for the wonderful story, I immediately went to google to search for the Yankee Kitchen and Gus, I don't believe I ever heard the program. Being a yankee myself I couldn't wait to see what I could find :). The recipe sounds wonderful and somewhat healthy!

    Have a wonderful day,
    Kathi :)

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  19. This recipe sounds great. I should be eating cookies again by Christmas and I'm going to add these to the ones I bake.

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  20. If you read my blog I was looking for a recipe exactly as you have posted....lets see if it is possible for even an 'unbaker' like me to pull it off.

    Thanks again

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  21. Oh, how I loved Gus Saunders and the Yankee Kitchen! Every afternoon (after discovering the show sometime in the mid-90s) would find me by the radio just as you said, ready to copy a recipe or three. (I was usually trying to multi-task by working on a craft as well! But I had to keep putting it down to write.) I have 2 notebooks with many, many Yankee Kitchen recipes in each, and so many of them have become standards in our home.

    Thanks for bringing back a nice memory today!

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