Commando cookie anyone?

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Michelle Vickers
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  Chocolate chip, star-shaped with red and green sprinkles, and caramel filled centers. These flavors and more made their way from the ovens of community volunteers to Hurlburt Field's chapel for the annual Commando Cookie Drop.

Once donors brought their delicious delights to the curb of the chapel, volunteers whisked the cookies away for counting.

"The Hurlburt Spouses Club started the cookie drive to provide single Airmen in the dorms with homemade cookies at Christmas," said Donna Bagley, HSC publicity chair.

With all of the cookies lining the tables, volunteers began filling bags with more than 9,000 cookies and other tasty treats. Children from local schools decorated paper bags with holiday greetings to hold the cookies.

"I brought 805 cookies," said Staff Sgt. Nichole Clohessy, 1st Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron aircraft electrical environmental systems journeyman. "Well I made about 900, but 805 of those survived the journey from the time I baked them until today."

Clohessy said that such baking required almost 25 pounds of flour.

Before being stationed at Hurlburt, Clohessy lived in dorms overseas. She said receiving the cookies was a valued holiday tradition for her, especially since she was far away from family and friends.

First sergeants will deliver these cookies to about 1,000 Airmen living in the dorms.

"Many single Airmen living in the dorms don't have someone to bake them homemade cookies for the holidays," Bagley said. "This is our way of trying to brighten spirits during the holidays with a special homemade treat."

Inspired to bake cookies of your own? Here's one of the volunteer's favorite recipes:

Sugar Cookies
4 cups flour                                 ½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup sour cream                     ½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder      1 egg
1 cup butter                                 1 ½ cups sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda

Combine sugar and butter, then add remaining ingredients. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface to about ¼ inch thickness. Then, cut out different shapes with cookie cutters. Next, place them on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes. Finallly, remove the cookies from the cookie sheet to cool. Have fun decorating!