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Grandma Lucille’s Monster Cookies or maybe closer to Berlin than Boston, after all

21 April, 2007
Posted in: Reading etc.

Beth published this recipe a while ago and since then I have printed it down and thought about it a surprising amount. The name seemed so authentic and the recipe seemed so American, I felt that they must be the original cookies that Americans dream of, that they were, if you will the “cookies d’antan” (free pretention available here) and I wanted them. The biscuit aisle in the supermarket held no allure for me, I wanted Grandma Lucille’s monster cookies.

I emailed Beth. What is Karo? Corn syrup came the speedy reply. I was no wiser. What is corn syrup? Amazingly, Mr. Waffle found a bottle of Karo in the weird foreign products aisle of the supermarket nestling between cans of Spanish squid and British marmite. Incidentally, the recipe calls for a teaspoonful, so if anyone has suggestions of what to do with a pint of Karo, less a teaspoon, I would be grateful.

Most of the remaining measurements were in cups. I don’t know how much a cup is. I have generally used English recipe books before and, aside from Nigella Lawson, the quantities are always tiny. Nigel Slater is the kind of cook who would confidently suggest that a baked potato topped with cheese would make a nourishing meal for a starving family of four. I say this, so that you can understand where I am coming from.

So I got together my ingredients. A cup is 250 mls, it transpires. Dear God, that is a lot. There was more peanut butter in this recipe than was in the jar we bought in the supermarket. As I started measuring out my quick cooking oatmeal (4 and a half cups and, my sister told me that I had to use regular porridge and ready brek would not do) I realised that, if I continued at this rate our entire stock of porridge would be used up and our children would have to go hungry for the week. So I settled at three cups. A stick of margarine. How much is a bloody stick? Further call to sister in Chicago. 110 grams, in case you ever need to know.

My feeble European mixer (free with supermarket points) whined alarmingly as I tried to beat my thick paste thoroughly. As it began to squeal in pain, I decided enough was enough. I looked at my baking tray and I looked at the enormous mass of cookie dough. I put some out on the tray. I got another tray and another. I filled my whole oven with cookies. 15 minutes later I had 3 large cookie cakes; they spread and two tablespoons of baking powder is a lot. I wish my sister had told me before I started that the standard batch in American cookies is 4 dozen. 48 cookies, people. However, I confirm that despite a lack of peanut butter, mixing and porridge they are indeed the ‘cookies d’antan’. Should you wish to create your own cookies, may I direct you here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Beth says

    22 April, 2007 at 01:50

    Haven’t the foggiest what cookies d’antan means, poor ignorant American I. However, should the need arise I would be happy to send you some monster cookies as I have a quart of peanut butter in my pantry (946 ml, I looked it up). Also, most cookie recipes are 6 dozen (which thank goodness does not convert to metric), so this one is really a bit skimpy.

  2. Tiger Lamb Girl says

    22 April, 2007 at 02:01

    I’m American – living in UK (having lived in the Middle East for years) – and I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) to adapt many of my recipes to whatever I can find locally.

    I substitute Golden Syrup in every recipe that calls for Karo syrup. Golden Syrup does the trick nicely;) and has never failed me once.

    You can use the rest of the Karo syrup as you would Golden Syrup.
    I would suggest Pecan Pie. It’s gorgeous — similar to the pecan tarts I find in England, but it’s a pie (deeper)! Serve with fresh whipped cream (unsweetened). Oh, and use real butter when making the pie.

    An American ‘cup’ is the 8oz mark on a measuring jug/cup. If that’s any help.

  3. Kara says

    22 April, 2007 at 02:19

    Ooh, those sound good. Now I have them bookmarked and I’m sure I’ll spend a lot of time thinking about them too. When I’m dieting (as I often am) I bookmark dozens of recipes to make “later”. . .”when I’m not dieting.” Ha ha ha. But I do cook when I have guests, so these will go on the list of things to make, right after the Barefoot Contessa’s “outrageous brownies.” Been wanting to make those for a while now.

    By the way, do you use cane syrup? I’ve used it for an Australian cookie recipe and I got the impression that it’s common in the UK as well–I had to go to a British specialty store to find it. Anyway, corn syrup (Karo) is basically interchangeable with cane syrup, as far as I can tell. Cane syrup is slightly more sticky and has a more complex flavor, but I would venture to say that Karo would be a fine substitution if you do any baking that calls for cane syrup. Of course, the most American way I can think of using Karo syrup is in a “snack mix” made out of Chex cereal, but I don’t suppose you want to go searching for another American ingredient to use up the syrup. Let me know if you do, though–I’ll send you the recipe! 🙂

    Kara

  4. ollka says

    22 April, 2007 at 10:40

    here’s a useful website: http://www.onlineconversion.com/

  5. Blythe says

    23 April, 2007 at 08:02

    Now you know why they’re called MONSTER cookies. Because they invade. Maybe they should be called Alien Cookies. Believe it or not, I used to eat a monster cookie and a lowfat(!) yogurt every day for lunch in high school. Thank heaven for that peanut butter or I probably would have died of malnutrition.

  6. Jordana says

    23 April, 2007 at 14:40

    I was going to suggest pecan pie, too, but I see another has preceded me! And then you will need to start doing a Scarlett O’Hara impression, as pecan pie is quite the fixture of the American South and is probably responsible for the accents and everything else.

  7. Catherine says

    23 April, 2007 at 18:13

    Ha – too funny. I googled pecan pie recipe and the Karo Syrup website comes up – they have a lot of suggestions for how to use it: http://www.karosyrup.com/pecanPie.asp
    I love fudge pecan pie even more than regualar pecan pie. I actually don’t make it much, because I can buy it cheaper and better! Hope that helps.
    Catherine
    Houston, TX

  8. belgianwaffle says

    23 April, 2007 at 21:05

    Um, let’s just suppose for one second that I don’t like pecan pie….I know, we foreigners are just plain weird.

  9. Donna says

    18 January, 2009 at 21:00

    My grandmother made the most wonderful cookies They were always soft and I remember as a little girl she said putting in some Karo syrup made the cookies soft. SHe is gone now and at the time I was just a kid and it kind of went in on ear and out the other but now I am longing to know how much she used and she used Karo syrup in every cookie recipe . You say one teaspoon in your recipe I thank you so much I will try ti God Bless

  10. Sonja Woolford says

    17 November, 2010 at 14:05

    Interesting, thank you! I spent my childhood in Yorkshire in the UK, and I’ve been trying to find a recipe for this delicious pie I remember eating all the time, but can’t remember what we called it!!! Do you know a famous pie recipe from Yorkshire?

  11. belgianwaffle says

    17 November, 2010 at 23:23

    Sorry Sonja, I am a broken reed…

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