Michelle-shortbread cookies | Cindy-oatmeal butterscotch cookies

[underpants]

White House recipe for success

6 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The heat is on, and the stakes are high, with the potential first ladies' bake-off underway and organizer Family Circle magazine looking to see which way the cookie is going to crumble.

In the past four presidential elections, readers of the magazine have successfully predicted who would be America's next first lady by favoring her recipe in the magazine's competition.

Something with chocolate has melted the hearts of readers in the last four elections. So both Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain might be taking a risk by eschewing everyone's favorite treat.

Instead, Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic Illinois Senator Barack Obama, has put forward a recipe for shortbread cookies with zest of lemon and orange, and a cheeky kick of almond liqueur Amaretto.

The recipe comes courtesy of Mama Kaye, the godmother of both her daughters, Sasha and Malia.

Cindy McCain, who earlier this year had to apologize for plagiarizing a recipe for passion fruit mousse from Food Network, went for oatmeal butterscotch cookies.

They are "an absolute must whenever the whole family gets together," says the multi-millionaire heiress to a large beer distribution firm, married to Republican presidential hopeful John McCain.

Readers can vote online at the magazine's website with the results to be published in mid-October, just ahead of the November 4 elections.

At the end of the week, Cindy McCain's recipe seemed to be slicing through the competition, with one online reader complaining that he had had to go out specially to buy Amaretto so his wife could bake Michelle Obama's treats.

If history is anything to go by, Obama might be in for a rough ride. In 2004, Teresa Heinz Kerry's pumpkin spice cookies failed to beat off the competition from Laura Bush's oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5haqFOG4C6X_x1hB5c5kwSGzR7p9Q

[nuxvomica]

1. I'm not fond of Amaretto but I despise butterscotch

Not a tough call.

[AspenRose]

2. Amaretto in cookies? How ELITIST!

:rofl:

"...one online reader complaining that he had had to go out specially to buy Amaretto so his wife could bake Michelle Obama's treats."

[hokies4ever]

68. Amaretto sour cookies maybe?

:hangover:

:rofl:

[goldcanyonaz]

3. Shortbread cookies are my favorite cookies in the WORLD!

w/o ameretto in mine though

[cali]

4. Love shortbread cookies. I make lavender

ones, rose geranium ones and espresso ones. I'll try Michelle's.

[AspenRose]

6. You eat them with your LATTES, don't you?

;-) :hug:

[underpants]

7. Probably listening to the NPR too

:eyes:

[Stephanie]

9. While driving her VOLVO

[underpants]

17. Sandals

bet they wear "Jerusalem cruisers"

[cali]

10. possibly worse. I *gasp* eat them

with a proper pot of tea- something like melange de chamonix- and I'm talking loose tea leaves, too!

[KittyWampus]

22. Cali, can you please post your recipe for lavender and rose geranium PLEASE please please

[cali]

30. yes I can. Here you go.

Basic recipe:

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
pinch of salt

I make it in my stan mixer. You can also make it by hand. Mix sugar, salt and flour, add cut up butter. Mix until dough forms. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Form 2 6 to 7 inch rounds about 1/4 inch thick. Place on cookie sheets and bake in a 300 degree oven for approximately 40 minutes. Around 25 minutes into baking, score shortbread into wedges. When done, score deeply again. When cool cut through scores and separate.

For lavender shortbread: Use about a 2 tsp of organic lavender flower. I whir mine up into an almost powder in an electric coffee grinder that I only use for herbs. I'm sure a mini food processor or blender would also work. And lavender to flour and sugar mixture.

For rose geranium: Use 5 or 6 fresh leaves finely chopped. Again, I use my coffee grinder. I also use a half teaspoon of rose water.

I store flower flavored shortbread in granulated sugar flavored by the flower used in the shortbread.

You can also chill and then roll out the dough as thinly as you wish and cut into shapes.

I make these for a friend who runs a tea room.

[pansypoo53219]

26. expresso ons?

can i have a recipe?!?
i do coffee sugar cookies. and then the coffeee frosted melting moments.

[kimmylavin]

44. Yum!

Any chance you could post (or send) those recipes???

[kimmylavin]

45. Oops!

You did.
I got ahead of myself! :hi:

[Lucinda]

50. Espresso shortbread cookies sound great!

:thumbsup: Gonna have to give that a try...

[Stephanie]

5. Does Cindy order the housekeeper to make the cookies when the family's getting together?

[CrispyQ]

8. I love shortbread cookies & the addition of Amaretto sounds divine!

:9

[Dollface]

11. Oatmeal, Republicans.... there is a certain symmetry there. Go shortbread!

[SoCalDem]

46. Barbara Bush is on the Quaker Oats box n/t

[Shakespeare]

12. Here's a link to the recipes, in case you don't want to buy the magazine. (and a link to vote)

I love anything almond-flavored, and REALLY love shortbread. I'm going to try the recipe soon.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364021,00.html

And here's the link to vote, but you do have to register:

http://www.parents.com/app/voting/index.jsp;jsessionid=X1VOCEKDCWGERQFIBQNR5VQ?id=/templatedata/parents/voting/data/1211208167842.xml&sid=0

[Irishonly]

13. McCain is ahead

I sucked it up and registered to vote with my email addy I hardly use. Michelle has 75 votes, Hillary 35 and McCain 175+. I don't like shortbread or butterscotch but I figure I would help my candidate.

[housewolf]

48. ahem... uh.. that's BILL's favorite cookie recipe

not Hillary's!

http://www.parents.com/app/voting/index.jsp?id=/templatedata/parents/voting/data/1211208167842.xml&sid=1

Bill Clinton's Oatmeal Cookies

Longtime Clinton family cook Oscar Flores -- he worked for them in Washington and after but is now serving in Iraq -- is famous for these brown-sugar treats, which tempt the former president to break his diet.



:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[1Hippiechick]

14. "Cindy McCain, who earlier this year had to apologize for plagiarizing a recipe for passion fruit.."

mousse from Food Network..."
Did no one else catch this?

:rofl:

[underpants]

15. I already knew about that

that got little attention when it happened (3 months ago-or about there) other than on the lib blogosphere

[SwampG8r]

62. as a cook i have to say

we dont "plagiarize"recipes

we STEAL them
any real cook would admit it

i have a huge recipe database
almost all is stolen

if i make a recipe it gets a flag
if the recipe works as written it gets another or a correction and a flag
if its good it gets yet another flag

the only cooks i know that dont steal recipes are all dead

this is not a defense of mrs mccain but an explanation of why her choice of words proves she is not a cook at all

[Rosemary2205]

16. Michelle used alcohol? Ugh -- and Americans prefer lumpy cookies. - Cindy will win.

Not only did Michelle go for something flat, but she went with something with an expensive ingredient most American's will never need or use again ever for anything? forget it Cindy wins hands down.

[underpants]

18. Cindy didn't use alcohol in her cookies

never got into the mixing bowl

[Rosemary2205]

21. Yup, everyday grocery store ingredients and lumpy cookies

Cindy will win in a landslide.

[KittyWampus]

24. Good call Rosemary, you're a smart cookie

:)

[AlCzervik]

31. Cindy McCain=Sandra Lee?

not so much lemonade concentrate, you'll dilute the vodka! 1 part lemoade, 98 parts greygoose.

[underpants]

66. Have you seen the one where Sandra Lee did asparagus? Who what she said went well with it?

GIN

[kenny blankenship]

35. Not only does Michelle use alcohol but I happen to know she also *wears women's clothes !*

[DesertRat]

19. I love shortbread cookies but

the addition of the dried fruit makes these look unappetizing, imo. They've been rated 3 out of 5 by users of the site.

http://www.parents.com/recipes/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=R118093

[Shakespeare]

20. The nuts and/or dried fruit are optional.

I bet they're tastiest without. The addition of pistachios and dried fruit in that pic was probably the decision of the food stylist working with the photographer for the story.

[AlCzervik]

33. i like plain shortbread, i have a good recipe somewhere for brown sugar shortbread

which is to die for, if i can find it i'll post it.

[saracat]

23. Sorry to say Cindy's recipe sounds better! And I like my shorbread plain.

I love both butterscotch and oatmeal cookies and the lemson zst and ammaretto sounds awful in shortbread! But I would have to try it I suppose. Just doesn't sound good to me but I do like Ammaretto!

[Madam Mossfern]

32. I agree with you

I love shortbread and have made it for 'tea and conversation' since my children were toddlers. The thought of adding amaretto and lemon zest looked weird to me when I saw the recipe. I do have to admit that the lavender and rose geranium ones look interesting though.

[Mudoria]

25. I hate shortbread but love oatmeal and butterscotch.

[jakem]

27. All i want is for the DEMS to bake up a big batch of "kick your ass in the fall"

[varelse]

28. Funny

to look at either one of them, you wouldn't think they had much truck with cookies of any stripe :P

[donco6]

29. "It's the PRUNES that work the magic!" - Cindy McCain NT

[Cha]

34. Whoever gets the cookie

contest..it doesn't matter 'cause Obama is going to win.

As far as the ingredients in Michelle's recipe being too "elitist"..you should know the different kinds of ingredients, herbs, and spices people come into the co-op looking for. It seems a lot of them watch those cooking shows and are eager to try their hand.

[ruggerson]

36. I find this entire thing kind of sexist

[Bucky]

38. Yeah, why don't they compare Michelle's shortbread cookies to McCain's barbecue sauce?!

Anyway, everyone knows Michelle went with shortbread cookies to remind the world of how much taller than me she is.

Um, I'm not projecting here, am I...?

[BklynChick]

42. kind of? it's completely archaic and sexist.

[Runcible Spoon]

51. seriously. now if this was a PRETZEL contest and Bush was judging......

:rofl:

[me b zola]

63. ...he'd choke

:rofl:

[crankychatter]

37. finally, a substantive, issue oriented thread

I have a near cellular level relationship with cookies

I never got cookies unless I was good

Now... when I don't feel good? I eat cookies.

This thread makes me feel good.

Folks seem to be grasping for issues up in here lately. Weird, unenthusiastic, hand wringing posts about Media generated non-issues.

You probably think I'm being sarcastic, but honestly... THIS post has more currency than a dozen others here now, that I will not name.

edited to add: I hate Amaretto

[Barack_America]

39. I'd love to help Michelle out, but I'm not willing to register for that god forsaken site.

I will bake her cookies next weekend though and let you know how they turn out. My boyfriend will love these and it's his birthday.

He would also love the butterscotch cookies. But, come on, just butterscotch chips and oatmeal? How utterly uncreative. Michelle's recipe will at least challenge people.

[crankychatter]

40. I get to be the first "rec?" Where are people's priorities? nt

[BklynChick]

41. ok, all joking aside, this is utter bullshit. I'd like to know if Hillary was the nominee what Bill

would be baking. Seriously, it's 2008!!! :mad:

[Upton]

43. Lighten up

women, generally speaking, like to cook more than men. My partner is proud of her, from scratch, chocolate chip cookies.

[kimmylavin]

47. Generally speaking,

I'd have to disagree.
Women HAD to cook, and are still stuck with traditional gender roles - that doesn't mean they LIKE it.

I hate cooking.
Hate it.

I'll bake every once in a while - cookies and pies, but I'm terrible at cakes - but again, its more to help my mother out at family functions.

My husband does all the cooking at home - HE likes it.

[housewolf]

49. Bill has a favorite cookie recipe in the competition too...

only it's not his recipe, it's his CHEF's recipe! A brown sugar oatmeal cookie.

It's a 3-way competition between Michelle, Bill & Cindy.

[Stephanie]

52. DID CINDY STEAL HER RECIPE FROM THE BACK OF THE BUTTERSCOTCH CHIP PACKAGE?

Cindy McCain's Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies
Originally for special occasions only, these butterscotch-chip-studded cookies are now "an absolute must" whenever the whole family gets together, says Cindy. The recipe came from a good friend.


http://www.parents.com/recipes/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=R118092

Cindy McCain's Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies
Rated by 6 people



Ingredients
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1-2/3 cups butterscotch chips

Directions
1. Heat oven to 375 degree F.

2. In a large bowl beat the butter or margarine, granulated sugar and brown sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well.

3. In a medium-size bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; stir until blended. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

4. Bake at 375 degree F for 10 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.



COMMENTS:

CorneliaMarieGirl wrote:
very good cookies, they are almost an exact copy of oatmeal scotchies from a very popular butterscotch chip maker...only a 1/4 cup of butter is the differance

[Stephanie]

53. Here are the Obama & Clinton recipes - Clinton credits his cook, Obama the girls' godmother:

http://www.parents.com/recipes/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=R118093

Michelle Obama's Shortbread Cookies



Makes: 6 dozen 2-inch x 3-inch cookies
View Nutrition Facts
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons Amaretto (almond liqueur)
1 teaspoon each orange and lemon zest
3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg white
Chopped nuts or dried fruit (optional)

Directions
1. Heat oven to 325 degree F. Line a 17 x 12 x 1-inch baking pan with nonstick foil. In large bowl, cream together butter and 1-1/2 cups of the sugar.

2. Slowly add egg yolks, and beat well until smooth. Beat in Amaretto and zest.

3. Stir in flour and salt until combined.

4. Spread dough evenly into prepared pan, flattening as smoothly as possible.

5. Brush top of dough with egg white; sprinkle with nuts or fruit (if using) and with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.

6. Bake at 325 degree F for 25 minutes or until brown, turn off oven and allow cookies to sit in oven (with door ajar) for 15 minutes. Cut while slightly warm.




==============================================================

http://www.parents.com/app/voting/index.jsp?id=/templatedata/parents/voting/data/1211208167842.xml



Bill Clinton's Oatmeal Cookies


Makes: 3-1/2 dozen cookies
View Nutrition Facts
Ingredients
2-1/2 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter or margarine, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FamilyCircleBetty wrote:
It's 1 egg. So sorry the recipe got cut off. We are correcting it now.

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degree F.

2. Spread oats and walnuts in ungreased 15-1/2 x 10-1/2 x 1-inch baking pan. Bake 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until toasted and light brown; cool.

3. In small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat together brown sugar, butter or margarine, vanilla and egg in large bowl. Stir in oat mixture and then flour mixture.

4. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

5. Bake at 350 degree F for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on pans for 3 minutes; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.

=================================================================

[Canuckistanian]

54. Good Catch!

And somehow, I don't think that the millionaire heiress has spent ONE SECOND in the kitchen, dreaming up complicated recipes.

That what servants are for in her world.

[Stephanie]

56. Check the recipe I just posted below! IDENTICAL!

Ooops! She did it again!

[dogday]

59. Contact Family Circle Magazine

and let them know what a fake this woman is.... Great catch :thumbsup:

[Stephanie]

60. I posted it in their comments

:rofl:

[dogday]

61. Way to Go

:rofl:

[Stephanie]

55. HA HA HA HA HAH! CINDY'S RECIPE IS STRAIGHT OFF THE HERSHEYS CHIPS PACKAGE (or Hershey's website...)

http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/recipes/detail.asp?id=3909&page=1&per=25&product_ID=8#


Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking or regular rolled oats, uncooked
1-3/4 cups (11-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Butterscotch Chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

3. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips; mix well. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

=========================================================

"The recipe came from a good friend."

http://www.parents.com/recipes/recipedetail.jsp?recipeId=R118092

Cindy McCain's Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1-2/3 cups butterscotch chips

Directions
1. Heat oven to 375 degree F.

2. In a large bowl beat the butter or margarine, granulated sugar and brown sugar together. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well.

3. In a medium-size bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture; stir until blended. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

4. Bake at 375 degree F for 10 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

58. LMAO! Is she friends with the Hershey family?

Well done!

[johnaries]

67. So she stole a previous recipe, and tries to make up by stealing another.

This time from the back of the butterscotch chips that everyone will buy, and can see for themselves.
:rofl:

[frickaline]

57. oatmeal butterscotch? So that is that what you eat with painkillers?

[underpants]

65. I thought it was an odd combination too

:shrug:

[Madam Mossfern]

64. I don't care

I want a cookie....
NOW!

Dammit...the diet, the diet.