Cookie-ed Out - at the State Fair

I had what my husband thought was the ideal job yesterday. Judging cookies at the State Fair! And I was looking forward to it, getting new ideas and using my baking skills and knowledge. Besides, I always like going to the State Fair - see old friends, meet new people, catch up with Extension staff I haven't seen for a while, check out the 4-H exhibits, etc. Our State Fair is celebrating 100 years this year, and while I've gone many years, not nearly that many. Don and I met at the State Fair about 40 years ago, so that always holds a special memory.
We (there were 12 judges, 3 of us were doing cookies) judged for about 6 hours. I think I must have tasted about 70-80 cookies. And at least half of them were chocolate chip - conclusion: if you want to stand out in judging of your product, make it different. Of course it has to look good and taste good as well.
The criteria for a 'good cookie' and what we noted on the score card were:
Appearance - uniform shape, even contour, uniform color, ingredients evenly mixed.
Texture - characteristic of type - soft of crisp.
Tenderness - breaks apart easily when chewed, not crumbly orchard.
Flavor - pleasing, well blended, free of unpleasant or distracting flavors
Proper baking is important. Many cookies were dry and overbaked or doughy and under baked. It is also important for fair entries to follow the rules - the correct number of cookies, appropriate size (not too big, we're trying to teach portion control!), and attractive (nicely round or evenly square)

Here's the most unusual thing I saw. Sugar cookie dough made into shapes of hot dogs and buns. The 'mustard' and 'catsup' were icing gel, the 'onions' and 'pickle' bits were dried fruit candies. Unfortunately it had very little flavor, or else my taste buds were so confused by the appearance it didn't  taste right - a blue however, for originality.

 After so many chocolate chip cookie tastes, I vowed I wouldn't make chocolate chip cookies for weeks! This morning I remembered I needed to make cookies to take to a tailgate party. So, I pulled out a recipe I'd saved from yesterday's judging that seemed healthier with lots of oatmeal and I could use dried fruit.

Famous Oatmeal Cookies
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
3 cups oats (quick or old-fashioned)
Can add chopped nuts, raisins, coconut (I added 1/2 cup Craisins)
     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl cream shortening and sugars. Add egg, water and vanilla extract and mix well. Blend baking soda, salt and flour and add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in oats. Drop by tablespoon on greased (or parchment paper) cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Several of the recipes called for shortening, as this one did. I was surprised at this, as most newer recipes in magazines, etc. now list margarine or butter for the fat. Shortening (or Crisco as some still list the brand name) is made from vegetable oil and is 100% fat. To make this fat solid at room temperature, it is hydrogenated which gives it the baking qualities necessary for many recipes and prolongs shelf life. Unfortunately, hydrogenating the vegetable oils transforms something that was nutritionally a 'good' fat into one that's not.
The purpose of fat in baked products is to make them more tender and help suspend the other ingredients in the mixture. Fat also gives a moistness and richness to the baked good. Different fats have different melting points and that makes the difference in how much the cookie spreads or how soft it is. Butter produces a softer and flatter (more spread) cookie because it has a lower melting point. I often use half butter and half margarine and put the dough in the refrigerator between batches.
Higher sugar content in cookies will also make them spread more. The next time I do this recipe I will decrease the sugar some and add a little more flour, hoping for a taller, less flat cookie. I do like the chewiness of the oats.

Off to the tailgate party, Go Cats!