Presidential Debate

For the past four presidential elections the wives of the presidential nominees have submited a cookie recipe to Family Circle magazine. Readers then voted on their favorite cookie, and every time the reader's favorite cookie has accurately predicted the elected president. So when this year's recipes were announced I knew I wanted to try them. I made both batches within a couple days of each other, so we were able to compare them side-by-side. We also have had cookies in the house for the past week and a half, perhaps I should have halved each recipe. The following recipes came from FamilyCircle.com.

Cindy McCain's Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients
3/4 cup 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 salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 2/3 cups butterscotch chips

Directions
In a large bowl beat butter and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, and stir until blended. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips.

Drop by tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375º for 10 minutes, until the edges begin to brown.

Michelle Obama's Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoon Amaretto (almond liqueur) (I omitted this)
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) (I used chopped walnuts)

Directions
Line a 17x12x1 inch baking pan with nonstick foil.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Slowly add egg yolks, and beat until smooth. Beat in Amaretto and zest.

Stir in flour and salt until combined.

Spread dough evenly into prepared pan, flattening as smoothly as possible. Brush top of dough with egg white and sprinkle with nuts or fruit (if desired) and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar (I forgot to add the sugar, but I don't think it needed it).

Bake at 325° for 25 minutes (I baked mine for only 15 minutes)

Verdict:

Neither of these cookies seemed worthy of our vote. Each had their high and low points but in the end they were very underwhelming. We were expecting the Oatmeal-Butterscotch Cookies to be pretty good, but they came out of the oven very greasy and flat. I think potential in the flavors is there, but the recipe needs some tweaking. On the other hand, we were expecting the Shortbread Cookies to be dry and tasteless, but they turned out to be pretty moist and and the citrus zests added quite a bit of flavor. However, we don't think either of these will become our favorite cookie any time soon.

At the last moment a new challenger emerged. This cookie towered above the others and dominated on all fronts. It was a very delectible treat that won the contest with ease. This year my vote is going to the ol' standby. The OREO!!!

Disclaimer:
This post in no way represents our political affiliation. It's all about the cookies!