I did this growing up - however Salmonella was tightly controlled by the government there so no products were ever contaminated with it. Then when I was a very healthy 22 year old I got Salmonella here in the US and spent a week in the hospital. I think some of it was due to them not figuring out what I was sick with for the first few days and then when it finally was figured out and I got the right antibiotic I recovered quickly, albeit lost a lot of weight and strength I didn't need to loose. Since then I'm very cautious about anything that could have Salmonella. I do have to say I miss eating the batter although it wasn't eggs that got me sick. I had had chicken from a restaurant, not fully cooked bacon (just warmed), and turkey with dressing (right after christmas) so there were lots of sources. It took me about 15 years to start eating chicken again, unless I cooked it and overcooked it and I only like crispy bacon now. Turkey is still on the not wanting it very much, but I will eat it now. Maybe my stomach is now more accustomed to the bacteria and I won't be as sensitive, but I'm still scared by that whole experience.

I found these recipes in a book I'm giving to my daughter for Christmas...The Ultimate Short Cut Cookie Book. You may also want to check the web site of the brand of toffee bits you have used to see if they have a recipe. -Grainlady CASHEW BRICKLE COOKIES 1 (16.5-oz.) roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough 1 c. chopped lightly salted, roasted cashews 1/2 c. almond toffee baking bits Preheat oven to 375-degrees F. Spray two cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray. Cut cookie dough in half. Roll out half of the dough between two sheets of wax paper to form a 10x6-inch rectangle. Remove top sheet of wax paper. Invert dough onto one of the prepared cookie sheets. Remove remaining sheet of wax paper. Sprinkle dough evenly with half of the nuts and half of the toffee bits. Repeat with remaining dough, nuts, and toffee bits on second cookie sheet. Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Cool on cookie sheets on a wire rack. Remove cookies to cutting board using two spatulas. Use a sharp knife to cut cooled cookies into irregular shapes. Makes about 42 cookies. ALMOND TOFFEE BARS 1 (16.5-oz.) roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough, well chilled 1 c. semisweet (or milk) chocolate chips 1 c. toffee baking bits 1 c. sliced (or chopped) almonds 1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Spray a 13x9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with foil. Cut cookie dough into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange slices in bottom of the prepared pan. With floured fingers, press dough evenly to form crust. Sprinkle the chocolate chips, toffee bits, and almonds evenly over prepared crust. Drizzle evenly with sweetened condensed milk. Bake 25-28 minutes or until edges are bubbly and center is just lightly browned. Remove from oven and immediately run a narrow metal spatula or table knife around edges of pan to loosen. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack; cut into bars. Makes 36 bars.

Yes it's easier to handle when the mixture is firm and cold as there is so much butter in it. I shape mine as my Aunt Doe did....formed into a brick and then cut off in thick slices which are then cut once more into small rectangles. She always decorated hers with a small bit of glace cherry on top in red or green.....so I do the same. SharonCb

Interesting reading. For ME that is! I learned something from it. ------------------------------------- Early in our cooking-baking life, we learned firsthand the enormous difference between making chocolate chip cookies with butter that is essentially melted, with room-temperature butter, and with butter at refrigerator temperature. The temperature of the ingredients has a lot to do with how the cookies turn out. If you put a warm, melty dough into the oven, your cookies will spread before they begin to set up. Too often they'll run into one another, becoming a single crisp, crunchy mess on your cookie sheet. The cooler the dough when it goes into the oven, the less it will spread. Another reason that cookie dough is refrigerated is that it gives the gluten time to relax. You don't want to mix a cookie dough containing wheat flour any more than absolutely necessary, as the more you mix it, the more gluten develops, and the more rubbery your cookies will be. Letting the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least half an hour does wonders for relaxing the gluten and letting you produce cookies that are soft or crunchy (depending on your preference), but not tough and rubbery. Finally, letting the dough rest in the refrigerator also gives the flour more time to absorb the liquid more fully. This allows the dough to become drier and firmer, which produces a better consistency in the finished cookie and also better taste. Even Ruth Wakefield, creator of the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie, said she chilled the dough overnight. A writer for The New York Times recently conducted an experiment with a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, where he baked a portion after chilling the dough for 12 hours, for 24 hours, and for 36 hours. The 12-hour cookies were fine; at 24 hours "things started getting interesting," with more even browning and better flavor; at 36 hours, the cookies browned still more evenly, and had "an even richer, more sophisticated taste, with stronger toffee hints and a definite brown sugar presence." In an informal taste test among his colleagues, the 36-hour cookies won conclusively. We have been speaking mostly of chocolate chip cookies � the dough of which we generally can't muster the fortitude to store in the refrigerator for even a few hours � but the rules can be applied to nearly any cookie.