Cassy’s Creative Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
by Cassy Schluneger
Pateros, Wash.

“My sister’s and my birthday party was coming up, so I wanted to create a special cookie recipe for our best friends. Our birthday slumber party was in the summer and it was a blast! We slept outside on our trampoline, and brought out my special cookies for a midnight snack. We ate them while we chatted about different things. I will always remember that party, and it is still one of my favorites.”

What You Need:
1 cup (8 oz.) softened, salted butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
6 oz. caramel
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips, melted (see instructions below)
12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup nuts (optional)

What To Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Combine well with a wire whisk, then set aside.

In a large electric mixing bowl, mix sugar and caramel at medium speed. Add the butter to the sugar mix to form a grainy paste. Don’t forget to scrape down the sides. Take the 6 oz. of chocolate chips and melt them in a double boiler on low. Watch it carefully; don’t let it burn. Add the eggs to the sugar mixture and beat just until blended. Now add the melted chocolate, flour mixture and chocolate chips and mix until blended, but do not overwork. If you’re adding nuts, now is the time to do it. Chill the dough for 30 minutes. Form dough into a ball 2 inches in diameter and place on an ungreased baking sheet at least 2 inches apart. Bake 12 - 15 minutes or until almost completely cooked. Place cookies on a rack to cool. They taste best while still warm.

Our third place winner is a snack you and your friends are sure to attack!

Caramel Crunch
by Markie Bossert
Coronation, Alberta, Canada

What You Need:
10 cups popped corn
10 cups Crispix cereal
1 cup sliced almonds

What To Do:
Mix together in large bowl or roaster, set aside.

1 cup cubed butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 cups brown sugar

Melt butter in large saucepan. Add syrup and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once mixture boils, turn to lowest heat setting and let boil for five minutes, without stirring. Remove from heat.

Stir in 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.

Slowly pour caramel sauce over popcorn/cereal mixture a little at a time. Stir regularly until all the sauce is poured on and the mixture is evenly coated.

Transfer to a large roaster coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes. Remove from oven. You may stir in mini M & M’s and/or Skor chips if you like.

Cool on parchment paper. Store in air-tight container.

And definitely worthy of honorable mention is:

Tangy Seasoned Pretzels
by Christie Sinclair
Blachly, Ore.

What You Need:
3/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
1 envelope dry ranch dressing mix
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 pounds pretzel pieces

What To Do:
Mix first five ingredients and pour over pretzels. Bake at 200 Farhenheit for an hour. Stir every 10-15 minutes.

And now for our Worst Recipe category. Now, remember we do not endorse this recipe, recommend that you try it, or in any way suggest that you pass it down through the generations of your family. It’s here for entertainment purposes only.

The Icky-est Cookie Ever!
by Katie Hill
Ellendale, Del.

What You Need:
2 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups of chocolate chips

What To Do:
“On Feb. 13 (the day before Valentine’s Day), I had invited my friend over to spend the night. Then the fabulous idea came up to make some cookies. My friend and I had gotten all the ingredients out that were on the back of the Nestle chocolate chip bag. While we were mixing everything together, I didn't realize that I had switched the salt and the sugar so that instead of 3/ 4 cup of sugar, I put in 3/4 cup of salt! We cooked them, and they looked like regular cookies. I told my friend that I was going to take them into school for Valentine’s Day for my friends, but that she could have a few to take home. She took a few in a bag and left for home. The next morning (Valentine’s Day) she came to me and said, ‘Have you tasted your cookies yet?’ I told her no and asked her how they tasted.

“My friend thought to trick me into thinking my cookies were good and told me that they were the best. In truth, the salt had dried out the cookies and made them taste, well, salty.

“She proceeded to tell me that the cookies were awesome and that I should give them out to my class. I did so, giving every classmate a cookie. As soon as they bit into them they all started to laugh! I couldn't figure out what had gone wrong when someone spit one out into the trash and started asking how much salt I had put in them. Then I finally decided to try one myself, and boy, they were nasty!

“We all laughed for a long time about it, and pretty soon, a bunch of other kids wanted to know about my cookies!”