The original recipe, by a friend of Grandma G’s, looked quite similar to those that I have used in the past so I thought I would start with it. It wouldn’t be too time consuming, the husband would surely love them, and I would be well on my way to getting this blog going.
So, here is the recipe – although, I would be very careful in using it.
In a heavy sauce pan, add 2 cups white sugar, 1/2 cup canned milk, 1/2 cup margarine and 1/4 tsp. salt. Boil for 5 minutes (careful not to scorch it). Then add 1 tsp. vanilla and stir.
Mix together 2 1/2 cups oatmeal, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, and 1/2 cup coconut. Mix well with milk mixture. Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper or greased cookie sheet.
-Barbara Bedwell Grand Forks, B.C.
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Now before I start, I cannot blame the recipe or Mrs. Bedwell. A few things dawned on me while I was trying to figure out the dilemma that sat before me.
First I picked the biggest sauce pan I own and in it I began to follow the first few instructions. Add white sugar – 1/2 cup canned milk – STOP!
To me canned milk has always been Evaporated Milk but not wanting to foul up the recipe, I thought I’d better check. Turns out it can either be evaporated milk OR sweetened condensed milk. Since other recipes similar call for regular milk, I decided that evaporated milk would be my best choice.
So I proceeded. 1/2 cup evaporated milk, 1/2 cup margarine, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
Boil for 5 minutes (careful not to scorch it). Here is where I did bring it to a boil and let it boil on high for about 3 minutes then I chose to turn it down on medium heat since I have a gas stove and it tends to burn hot. I boiled the remaining 2 minutes and added my vanilla.
A note** I think it would be a good idea to mix your dry ingredients before hand. Trying to measure and mix those while this milk is cooking can be quite a chore.
I then added the dry ingredients to the milk mixture and stirred til well mixed. The dough looked and smelled lovely! I proceeded to drop my dough on my waxed paper and before I got 6 cookies down…
my dough was no longer “doughy” but this dry crumbly mixture.
To say I was disappointed was an understatement!
However, there is a reason why this may (and most likely) occurred.
My pots are way thinner and don’t hold heat as well as those back when my grandmothers were cooking – Just an idea.
In the future, I may make this again and instead of making dropped cookies, just butter a 8×8 pan and make bars. This may work better.
Well, suffice it to say, not all is lost. I will store the crumbly mixture in an airtight container and use it to top ice cream or just to nibble on when I “think” I need some chocolate!
The Gingham Cottage
The Gingham Cottage 