Amish Cookies

For Amish homemakers with a houseful of children, few desserts are easier and more desired than cookies and bars  While pie is great for company and adults, cookies and bars do better in kid-sized hands and are very portable.   A squirmy kid can much on their bar or cookie as they scamper outside or play inside (most Amish homes have wood floors and, crumbs?  No problem.  Most Amish kids are more than willing to grab a broom and pitch it when it comes to clean up time).  Cookies are portable and can be loaded up with almost anything from nuts, chocolate chips, brown sugar, fruit, and freezer pleasers, like these Mennonite Freezer Cookies.

Bars are the close cousin of cookies and if you are in a hurry and don’t feel like wrestling with 3 cookie sheets and putting pans in and out of the oven, most cookie recipes can be converted to bars (texture, in some cases, may be a bit different, but who cares when it comes to saving time).  A cookie or a bar usually just entails stirring and baking and that's a plus when it comes to being busy or involving the children in baking, which they will be smitten with bars like these Heavenly Oatmeal Bars.