Operation Baking Gals: Supporting the U.S. Marines!

This was my first assignment with Operation Baking Gals. I was a part of a team hosted by Susan Whetzel of She's Becoming DoughMessTic and it was so much fun! With the help of my sister and friend Anna, I was able to send at least two dozen White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies (along with chocolate chip cookies) to 1LT Jarrod Robinson of the United States Marine Corps. We didn't get too much information about this officer, other than the fact that he worked in Air Traffic Control and that there were 50 other Marines in his Detachment expecting some delicious baked goods from our team.

Being in the military myself, having a brother-in-law in the Marines working in just about the same specialty, and having served in an Air Traffic Control battalion before and in an aviation brigade for years myself, I felt a strong bond to these guys and I couldn't wait to show them my appreciation and support for their service by sending them these cookies along with some other goodies.

Well, I only had enough stuff and time to put two boxes together. Each box held about two dozen cookies, which I placed in plastic containers and affixed Colorado postcards to. I included some other stuff like sunflower seeds, tuna packets, granola bars, and hard candies--the essentials! I didn't think to send toiletries or anything this time around. Maybe next time, but if this unit is anything like mine when I was deployed, there was one room in the unit dedicated to excess package inventory. Much like a mini-PX, this little room housed all the extra baby wipes, toothpaste, hand sanitizer, and other toiletries that so many people sent in bulk. So it's not like that stuff isn't readily available.

I met my husband while deployed in Iraq over three years ago and we can attest that there is nothing that beats home-baked goods--NOTHING! I mean, you can only eat Girl Scout cookies for so long. I mean, I devoured so many boxes of them over there that I can't even stand to look at a box anymore! So these little "tastes of home" really mean so much and I am glad that I could be a part of this wonderful service!

Here is the recipe for the cookies that we made:

White Chocolate and Dried Cranberry Cookies
(from quickandsimple.com magazine)

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup quick cooking or old-fashioned oats, pulsed well in a food processor
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
12 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup dried cranberries

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2) In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a hand mixer, beat butter and both sugars until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of bowl, then add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, one at a time, mixing well between additions. Scrape down sides of bowl; add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix until well incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl; add chocolate and cranberries, and mix again.

3) Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls, about 2 inches apart, onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake until cookies begin to brown at the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and repeat with remaining dough.

Yields 3 to 4 dozen.

These cookies were a cinch to prepare and so delicious! I'm definitely going to make them again. I'm crossing my fingers that they'll arrive overseas intact and still edible, and most importantly that the troops will like them! I can't wait until the next round! Oh, and once my husband gives me an address for his unit (because he's still mobilizing in NJ right now), he'll be added to the list and I'll get to bake cookies for him too!