Recipes for the Perfect Bake Sale

With summer ending and school soon approaching, start planning a back to school bake sale! Especially because September is also Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, it’s never been easier to set up a bake sale; all you need are some baked goods, a donation jar, and a smile! Here are five of our favorite fool-proof bake sale recipes, brought to you by our summer interns. Get to know more about them and their favorite sweet treats. 

Meet Nick!

Nick is from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is a rising senior at the University of Iowa. Here is what Nick said about why he wanted to be a part of the Cookies team: “I wanted to be an intern for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer because I truly admire and believe in the company’s cause. To be a part of something that has changed the lives of so many amazing and inspirational kids and their families is not only exciting, it’s truly uplifting.”

He continues to do a great job with our social media accounts, and has chosen the Flourless Peanut Butter cookies from the All the Good Cookies cookbook. This recipe will yield around 4 dozen cookies, perfect for a bake sale!

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cups natural-style creamy peanut butter, at room temp
• 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temp
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ¾ cup coarsely chopped cocktail peanuts
• Chocolate sprinkles (optional)

Recipe instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Place the peanut butter, sugar, eggs and baking soda in a large bowl and beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Stir in the chopped peanuts.
3. Using a heaping small (2-teaspoon size) cookie scoop, drop the dough about 1 ½ inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Top cookies with chocolate sprinkles, if using.
4. Transfer to the oven and bake until the edges of the cookies are slightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets on the oven racks halfway through the baking time. Cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough on cool cookie sheets.

Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Meet Maryam! 

Here’s what she had to say about herself: “Hi, my name is Maryam El Jaoussi. I am a rising senior at Wake Forest University interested in pursuing Medicine. I also have a great admiration for spreading awareness and leading in the fight against cancer. Watching people I love most have to fight the cancer battle has made me more determined to continue raising awareness and making sure I can help in any way I can. This is why I joined Cookies for Kids’ Cancer and is also a significant reason for my interest in the Medical field. No child should be denied a childhood or life  due to such a terrible disease, and the end goal is to make sure no child will ever have to miss out on a wonderful and beautiful life. I am also running the NYC marathon this November for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer and hope to continue making any sort of difference and progress to ridding children's cancer as well as all cancer in the near future! Thank you to everyone who has helped and continues to help Cookies for Kids’ Cancer.”

 

She has chosen an Arabic recipe called Knafeh (pronounced "Ek-Na-Fea"); it is a shredded pastry filled with cheese, with an optional addition of cinnamon and nuts. This recipe will create around 18 squares of Knafeh, depending on how it is cut. You can find the full recipe here. 

Ingredients:

For the Knafeh:

• 13 ounces kataifi pastry, defrosted and roughly pulled apart
• ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 x 7-ounce block mozzarella (the firm kind), coarsely grated
• 6 tablespoons ricotta
• 5¼ ounces feta, finely crumbled
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
• 3 tablespoons pistachios, roughly blitzed in the small bowl of a food processor (or finely chopped)

For the syrup:

• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 ½ tablespoons orange blossom water

Recipe Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter the base and the sides of a 9x13 inch wide and 1½ inch tall baking dish.
2. Place the pastry in the food processor in small batches. Blitz until the strands are roughly ¾ inch long. Transfer the strands into a bowl and pour in the melted butter so that all of the kataifi is coated.
3. Put the mozzarella, ricotta, feta, sugar, lemon zest, salt and orange blossom water into a separate bowl. Mix to combine and set aside.
4. Press ⅔ of the kataifi mixture into the baking dish, making sure that the mixture is compacted. Top evenly with the cheese mixture. Top with the remaining kataifi, covering all exposed cheese.
5. Place parchment paper over the top and sink a separate baking dish onto the knafeh to make it compressed.
6. Bake for 30 minutes. Then, remove the top dish and parchment and bake for another 25 minutes.
7. Let it cool for around 5 minutes before drizzling around 1 cup of the sugar syrup. When absorbed, sprinkle on pistachios (or your choice of nuts) and serve warm. 

Meet Sarah!

Sarah is from Perkasie, Pennsylvania, and is a rising junior at Dickinson College. She is studying Biochemistry and is a Pre-Med Student. When asked why she wanted to join Cookies, she said, “I have a passion for volunteer work and adore children, so Cookies was the perfect opportunity for me.” After she graduates, she hopes to go to medical school and specialize in pediatric psychiatry. 

For her recipe, Sarah wanted to make sure anyone who wanted a treat could get one, so she suggested Orange Stir ‘n’ Drop cookies from the All The Good Cookies cookbook, a dairy-free cookie! This recipe will yield roughly 4 dozen cookies. 

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• ⅔ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Orange decorating sugar

Recipe Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Place the eggs, oil, vanilla, and orange zest in a large mixer bowl and beat until well combined. Add the sugar and beat until thickened. With the mixer on low, stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined.
3. Using a level small (2-teaspoon size) cookie scoop, drop the batter about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
4. Stamp each cookie flat with the bottom of a glass dipped in decorating sugar. (Lightly oil the glass, then dip it in sugar. Repeat dippin gin sugar so the bottom of the glass is completely covered each time). 
5. Transfer to the oven and bake until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets on the oven racks halfway through the baking time. Cool on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes. Transfer to a wire racks and cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough on cool cookie sheets. 
6. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. 

Meet Mollie!

Mollie is from New York City, New York, and is a rising sophomore at Columbia University studying English. Here’s what she had to say about Cookies: “I wanted to join Cookies because it’s such an amazing cause that allows breakthrough research to happen; pediatric cancer research gets so overlooked in the medical field, so Cookies really does make a huge difference with their funding. I wanted to join Cookies because this writing position was available, and because I am not a science major, this was the perfect opportunity to help.”

She chose to add Golden Grahams™ S’mores to finish off our bake sale recipe list. This recipe will make around 24 s’more bars. You can find the full recipe here. 

Ingredients:

• 8 cups Golden Grahams™ cereal 
• 1 bag (10 oz) miniature marshmallows (5 1/2 cups)
• 1 ½ cups milk chocolate chips (9 oz)
• 5 tablespoons butter or margarine
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1t Tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Recipe Instructions: 

1. Grease a 13x9-inch pan with butter. Measure cereal into a large bowl.
2. Reserve 1 cup of the marshmallows. In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the remaining 4 1/2 cups marshmallows, the chocolate chips, butter, sugar and water over low heat, stirring occasionally, until completely melted. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
3. Pour marshmallow mixture over cereal in a bowl; stir until evenly coated. Stir in the remaining 1 cup marshmallows.
4. Press in the pan firmly, then let them cool for an hour before cutting into squares.