The Cookie Mystery

By Ann Dorer • Illustrated by Donna Nettis

Mom reached into the cookie jar where she always kept chocolate chip cookies—her family’s favorite. “All gone,” she said. “Time to make more.”

So in a big bowl she stirred together butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, salt, and baking soda.

Next, she opened the bag of chocolate chips. “Mmm, chocolate chips,” she said, and she popped some into her mouth.

Just then the dryer buzzed, so Mom put down the bag of chocolate chips and set the bowl of cookie dough in the refrigerator. Then she went into the next room to take the clothes out of the dryer.

Dad came into the kitchen. “Mmm, chocolate chips,” he said. He ate a few, then went outside to cut the grass.

Sister skipped into the kitchen. “Mmm, chocolate chips,” she said. She took some, then skipped off to play in her room.

Big Brother and his baseball buddies tramped in. “Mmm, chocolate chips,” said Big Brother. He shoved some into his mouth.

“Mmm, chocolate chips,” said Big Brother’s friends. Each of them ate some, too. Then they all went out to play ball.

Little Brother wandered into the kitchen. He pushed a chair against the counter and climbed up. “Mmm, chocolate chips,” he said. He dumped out the rest of the chocolate chips and ate them, one by one. “All gone,” he said. Then he climbed back down and wandered away.

Mom came back. She took the bowl of dough out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter. She picked up the empty chocolate chip bag and looked into it. “Oh no!” she said. “Where did they go?”

Mom baked the cookies, but without the chocolate chips.

Later, as Mom was putting the cooled cookies into the cookie jar, Little Brother walked in. “No bumps,” he said, frowning at the cookies.

Sister came in. “They’re flat,” she said, staring at the cookies.

Big Brother and his friends came in. Big Brother pointed to the cookies. “They don’t look right,” he said.

“Yeah,” his friends agreed.

Dad came in. “What kind of cookies are these?” he asked.

Mom put the last cookie in the cookie jar, then picked up the empty chocolate chip bag. “They’re a new kind,” she said, dropping the bag into the wastebasket. “I call them chocolate chipless cookies!”

Everybody looked at everybody else. “O-o-o-h,” they all said.

ASK AN ADULT FOR HELP WITH THE OVEN.
This recipe makes about two dozen cookies.

Ingredients:

1 six-ounce package semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Open the bag of chocolate chips. Eat a few. Share some with your family and friends. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Put the stick of soft butter into a big bowl. Pour in 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of white sugar. Stir this mixture until it’s smooth and creamy.
3. Add the egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the butter and sugar. Stir well.
4. Put 1 1/2 cups of flour into a medium-size bowl. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
5. Help yourself to more chocolate chips.
6. Pour the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture in the big bowl. Stir well with a spoon.
7. If there are any chocolate chips left, you can add them to the dough. But then you will have to rename the recipe “Chocolate Chip Cookies.”
8. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet. Leave about two inches between each cookie. You will have room for about a dozen cookies on each sheet.
9. Bake at 350° for 12 to 15 minutes.
10. Using potholders or oven mitts, take the cookie sheet out of the oven. Let the cookies cool for five minutes, then remove them with a spatula and put them on a wire rack or paper towels to finish cooling.