Short Stack Cookies

Confession: I’m not crazy about pancakes. I’ll make ’em (for Dan, mainly), I’ll eat ’em, but I don’t love ’em. If there are chocolate chips involved, I’ll enjoy them more, but that’s mainly because of the chocolate. I have nothing against pancakes, really. It’s just that, given a choice, I’d far rather have something savory for breakfast — bacon, cheesy scrambled, hash browns…mmm.

You know what’s great though? Cookies that taste like pancakes slathered with butter and maple syrup. If I could get away with it, I’d eat a dozen of these chewy, melt-in-your-mouth cookies instead of real pancakes for breakfast any day. They’re not only super delicious, but also incredibly versatile — eat ’em plain with milk, and you’ve got the perfect on-the-go pancake breakfast; slather on some blueberry jam, and you’ve basically made yourself blueberry pancakes; dip ’em in melted chocolate, and suddenly you’re eating chocolate chip pancakes. Fantastic!

Short Stack Cookies (Another Hannah Swensen recipe — Blueberry Muffin Murder)

Ingredients:**
– 3 sticks butter, melted
– 2 cups sugar + 1/2 cup for coating cookie balls
– 2 large eggs
– 1/2 cup maple syrup
– 4 tsp baking soda
– 1 tsp salt
– 1 tsp vanilla
– 4 cups flour

** This recipe makes a LOT of cookie dough. The book’s main character, Hannah Swensen, runs a bakery, so she needs to make her cookies in bulk. If you want to make a more reasonable number of cookies, I would suggest cutting some of those measures in half — I didn’t, and now I have a ton of leftover cookie dough.

Steps:
(1) Do NOT preheat oven. Grease some cookie sheets.
(2) In a large bowl, mix melted butter and 2 cups sugar. If you’re using just-melted butter, let mixture cool before the next step.
(3) Add eggs, syrup, salt, baking soda, and vanilla.
(4) Mix in flour. Stir until well-combined.
(5) Cover mixing bowl, and allow your dough to chill in the fridge for at least an hour, or overnight.
** I chilled my dough overnight, and it was hard to work with right out of the fridge. But, after letting it thaw for about 10 minutes, the dough became much more malleable.
(6) Preheat oven to 350.
(7) Pull your bowl out of the fridge. Roll your dough into 1-1/2 inch balls with your palms.
(8) Fill a small bowl with remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Roll each ball in the sugar to coat.
(9) Line cookie balls at least 2 inches apart on your cookie sheet. Press down with a spatula, or anything else with a flat bottom/surface.
** These cookies spread a LOT in the oven, so make sure there is enough space between your cookies.
(10) Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
(11) Serve warm, with a glass of milk.
** These cookies can be eaten plain, slathered with jam, dipped chocolate, or any other way you can think of! Dan has been eating them with coffee ice cream, and he says they go really well together. Pancakes and coffee!

For other great recipe ideas, click here or here.