I'm partial to Betty Crocker's classic cookie book - not sure if it's still in print, tho.

And I use cookie scoops for making meatballs too.

Perhaps, rather than an entire cookbook, you might curate some drop cookie recipes in a folder or notebook?

Larger scoops can be used for portioning muffin and cupcake batters, etc.

P.S. Looks like there's a reprint of the original classic...

https://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crockers-Cooky-Book-Crocker/dp/0764566377/ref=sr_1_1

Those will make large to jumbo cookies, if that’s what she likes. Mine are from Oxo with sizes being 1, 1.5 and 3 tablespoons. I often just use my hands instead to form the dough balls. I’ve had cookie scoops break in the past when the springs stopped working (that would be you, Pampered Chef!), so getting good quality can pay off.

Regarding cookbooks, a few suggestions are (though these aren’t just for drop cookies) Dorie’s Cookies (Dorie Greenspan), The Perfect Cookie (America’s Test Kitchen) or The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. I‘ve had The All American Cookie Book (Nancy Baggett) for many years that’s nice.

Just read Carol’s post. Definitely right regarding meatballs, muffins and cupcakes. I also like her suggestion of making a folder of drop cookie recipes.👍🏻

i learned to make cookies quenelle style. I have scoops, but don't usually use them for cookies! Agreed with Carol on the Betty Crocker Cooky Book. I think there's a digital version online, and if it's out of print, it can be found second hand. There are all kinds if cookies, but mvany drops. Not all are hits, but many are.

I also agree that a personal compendium would be nice, instead. Like Annie,s cuppa peanutbutter...

I find that cookie scoops save me time in portioning out dough - I can get stuff into the oven so much faster, it seems.

And I've used the scoops for chocolate truffles too.

Thanks! I switched to the Oxo scoops that are 1, 2, and 3 Tbsp because they were on sale, but I only had 5 hours to order, and so I placed the order today. I added the Betty Crocker cooky cookbook, which I think she will like, and I told Amazon to deliver on Thursday instead of Wednesday. Her birthday is on Friday.

My sister likes to take all shortcuts possible, and so I think she will appreciate the ease and convenience of the cookie scoops. She is not going to spend extra time in cooking if she can avoid it.

The last few times I have talked with her, she repeated the (boring) story of how the little boy of a neighbor (or maybe one of her step-grandsons) was interested in baking cookies, and so she showed him a recipe that she uses that is extremely simple. I think the recipe will be even easier with cookie scoops, from what I can remember of it.

One tablespoon seems like a very small cookie, and so I doubt she will use that one.

I'm not really sure how many cookies she will make in the future, as her step-children and their families may no longer visit her at Christmas, now that their father has passed 😢. I think they will probably go their own ways.

Whether they visit is up to her. The most improtant thing is to invite them!

Lars, it’s a thoughtful gift, as your post here shows. I’m sure she’ll be very pleased.

Lars, even though I've never made a "drop" cookie, I'm fairly certain that many of my cookie recipes would work. Here's where they can be found.

I also agree with a compilation of favorite cookie recipes. I have the America's Test Kitchen cookie book as well as a very old Good Housekeeping cookie book and both have favorites but my favorite cookies I either got from Grandma's recipes or from here!

My cookie scoops are JenaLuca, they have a lifetime guarantee. I bought them several years ago after breaking a number of Pampered Chef/Wilton/OXO/whatever sets and have been well worth the $50 I spent for them back then. I bought a set of three but I see they sell separate sizes which would have been a better option. The largest one is just the right size for muffins and cupcakes, the middle one is my cookie scoop but it is a smaller cookie. The tiny one I occasionally use for meatballs for soup or similar, but almost never use them for cookies because it is tiny.

Anyway, I love the cookie scoops and think it's a great gift.

Hugs to you and Kevin.

Annie

“Lars, even though I've never made a "drop" cookie…”

Ricky, you have if you’ve ever made cookies like chocolate chip, oatmeal or anything else you use a spoon, cookie scoop or your hands to roll into balls and ”drop” on the baking sheet. BTW, your cookie recipes look and sound good!

I was thinking the same thing, though, technically, most drop doughs, like chocolate chip, can be rolled into a log, chilled, sectioned and sliced. Or sliced and sectioned. Or just sliced for bigger cookies. Before good cookie scoop that didn't get all jammed up, that was a good way to get uniformity.

We only roll our cookies into balls by hand and NEVER actually drop them onto a cookie sheet. They're carefully placed so that we get 50 cookies on a sheet. But, if you say they're "drop" cookies, I'm not gonna disagree.

Good point, plllog. Logs fall into the drop category, too. I like to keep logs or balls of cookie dough in the freezer to have ready.

Yep, Ricky, as Chloebud said, perfectly portioned, hand rolled balls, are still considered drop cookies, as are sliced logs. ;) even if they're not dropped.

I've always used my hands to roll cookie dough into the size balls I want. I use my cookie scoop for filling muffin tins. Makes it so much easier and less messy.

< Whether they visit is up to her. >

You can be sure that she will invite them, but I am also sure that they will have other plans, as they have other relatives to visit. My sister has trouble getting her nieces and their families to visit her, even though they all live in Austin.

Last year I invited my sister to visit us in Cathedral City, and she accepted. This was the first Christmas without her husband, and I think she realized at that time that his relatives were not going to spend Christmas with her, since she was only temporarily related by marriage. His sons were mostly grown by the time he married her. I believe they were 17, 19, and 21 at that time, and the youngest one lived with his mother.

Ah. Yes. Invite but at convenient times. Getting for actual Christmas isn't going to happen. Beginning or end of school vacation is a possibility. Also being open to babysitting through the year. Most parents are all for the most people loving the kids is best for the kids, but much better on the kids like going to make cookies with step-grandma, or responsible adult is available at short notice, than any kind of duty or obligation. But specific invitations are really useful.

My sister called and told me that she really likes the cookie scoops, and so I think she will put them to good use. She did not say anything about the cookbook, however.

Thanks for helping me pick the correct sizes of scoops!

That's nice, Lars.

Perhaps she already had the cookbook?

Or were they sent separately? Did she not receive it yet?

This is mine. I bought it when my boys were in elementary school. Best thing ever!

Mine is a 1977 paperback I found second-hand - and we grew up with the 1960s one.

Yes, the original with the red cover that said Cooky Book. Interesting that they changed it.

I have that cooky book somewhere, now I need to find it and read it again! :)

ETA: I have this one- cooky book