Here at FoodMix, one of our favorite things about the holiday season is of course all the Cookies. Lucky for us, we just so happen to have a direct descendent of a rather famous cookie creator on our very own staff. You see, our business coordinator, Dana Smith is the Great Niece of Laura Rott, the visionary baker behind the recipe for “Starlight Mint Surprise Cookies”. These amazing cookies were actually the runner-up winner in the first ever Pillsbury Bake Off way back in 1949.
As Dana tells us, Great Aunt Laura was honored to have been chosen as a contestant in the inaugural bake off. She was, however, a little overwhelmed at the idea of travelling all the way to the Waldorf Astoria in New York City by train, but she knew she had a recipe that had a pretty good shot at winning. According to family legend, she first created the recipe to get rid of some unwanted mint chocolate candies that nobody in the family seemed to want to eat. So, she hid those unwanted minty treats inside of her homemade cookie dough, and then topped it with a walnut to keep the mint camouflaged. Turns out that all 9 of her brothers and sisters loved them so much that Great Aunt Laura instantly knew she had a hit on her hands.
She was nervous when she arrived at the bake-off as she soon learned she would be competing against 99 other finalists. Turns out though, she had nothing to worry about – her “Starlight Mint Surprise Cookies” easily ended up winning first runner up. She won $10,000, got to meet Eleanor Roosevelt, and was also the proud winner of a brand-new stove. According to Dana, she lovingly maintained and used that stove until the day she died in 2019 at the grand age of 101. The family was happy to donate that stove back to Pillsbury who were so thrilled that it had been so well maintained over the years that they put it in the official Pillsbury Museum. One thing the family did keep though was Aunt Laura’s treasured recipe and lucky for all of us here at FoodMix, we get to look forward to having “Starlight Mint Surprise Cookies” straight from the original recipe every holiday season.
Starlight Mint Surprise Cookies Recipe:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 60 thin rectangular crème de menthe chocolate candies (from three 4.67-oz packages), unwrapped
- 60 walnut halves or pieces
Steps
1. Sift flour, baking soda and salt – set aside.
2. In large bowl, beat sugars, butter, water, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until blended. On low speed, beat in flour, baking soda and salt until well blended. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours for easier handling.
3. Heat oven to 375°F. Using about 1 tablespoon dough, press dough around each chocolate candy to cover completely. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Top each with walnut half.
4. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack.
