Pat's Blue Ribbon Cookies

I work with a man named Pat. He has been with the company for years and years. He enjoys a good cookie. In fact, he often has several when I bring them in.

When Pat realized I was a baker, he told me about his favorite cookie recipe. He found an oatmeal cookie recipe in the paper years and years ago. It was a blue ribbon winner. He clipped the recipe and he has made it every year since. It's a holiday tradition.

A few weeks ago, Pat confided in me that he was nervous about bringing his cookies in this year. He said he was worried that I would be judgemental, that the cookies wouldn't measure up. I assured him I was excited about trying his cookie recipe and that I wouldn't bring in any cookies this week so everyone could savor his holiday cookies.

Well, today was the day. The cookies arrived. Pat also brought me the recipe. So, since I didn't make cookies this week - here it is:

3/4C Shortening
1C Brown Sugar
1/2C Sugar
1 Egg
1/4C Water
1tsp Vanilla
1C Self-Rising Flour
1tsp Cinnamon
1/2tsp Cloves
1C Raisins
1C Chopped Nuts
3C Quick Cooking Oats

Grease baking sheet. 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Remove immediately to cool.

After trying the cookies, I have to say that they had a really good flavor. However, the cookie was very dense and very thick (didn't spread much). After baking many hundreds of cookies, I see several things about this recipe that are unusual and wonder if this is an actual reproduction of the original recipe - as most cookies don't use self-rising flour or water.

I think I will work on this recipe to try to turn it into a thinner chewy cookie. Check back for the updates.