Making My Famous Classic 1, 2, 3 Cookies Sans Scale

Traditional Jewish memorial
Yartzeit candle

Tuesday, when I was sms/negotiating/planning my dinner out with son #1 on my mother's second yartzeit, Jewish anniversary of death, I reminded him that his birthday is in a week. He replied:

"Make me cookies."

Now I knew exactly what cookies he was referring to. They are simple 1, 2, 3 Cookies. The basic ingredients are measured on a food scale and must be in the right weight proportions (I always multiply by two or three,) such as:

• 100 grams sugar (dark brown is best, gives great flavor)
• 200 grams margarine
• 300 grams flour (whole-wheat gives great flavor)
• however much flavorings as you want, such as cinnamon, chocolate chips, sprinkles etc

Or you can measure with ounces:

• 4 oz sugar
• 8 oz margarine
• 12 oz flour

I highly suggest that you base the recipe on the weight/size of a stick of margarine wherever you live. In Israel they are 200 grams with 50 gram markings, if I'm not mistaken. 

When my kids, especially the boys, were little, I'm make the cookies very frequently and almost always had a tin or two of cookies. This son and his best friend loved them so much that he taught his friend's mother how to make them, and she still serves them. In their house the cookies are named after my son.  

Now, to be honest, I hadn't made those cookies in many, many years, and I don't even have a food scale anymore. I didn't even have most of the ingredients ready for use or in the house. The dark brown sugar was frozen solid and I had no oats to make that version which he had specifically requested. And I haven't bought margarine for many years. I bake my cakes and cook with oil.

So I told him that I'd make them next week. But right after that I realized that my husband had left the house before giving me cash which I needed, so I called him and asked him to wait at the bus stop and ran down the hill. That meant that I'd be passing the grocery store. So after getting the cash I zipped in and bought all the missing ingredients and then got to work on my son's early pre-birthday surprise.

Melt margarine in strong/heavy pot on low flame; turn off flame before fully melted. Mix all of the dry ingredients together, and then add margarine. 

chocolate chip

Since the dry ingredients, flour and sugar, were all in full bgs, I was able to estimate the percentage I had to pour into the bowl. I do have a pretty good "eye" for those things. The bags of sugar and flour here are a kilo, which is 1,000 grams, so 200 would be less than a quarter of the bag and 600 would be over half. 

It worked fine for me, though not everyone has my talent. 

oatmeal-  *substitute one third of the four with  regular
oats, not instant

The batter is spoon mixed, and if it's a bit too dry, you can always add a bit of oil and/or an egg. It (the cookies) keeps better without eggs.

When the batter is mixable, moister than a crumb topping, spread it on a baking pan lined with baking paper and pat down well.

Bake in a medium oven until it smells like "baked cookies" and the color has changed. If you've discovered after they are ready and cooled that they are still soft, then return them to the oven and bake another ten minutes.

Cut immediately after taking out of the oven when still hot. They will harden as they cool.

They were perfect!!!