Great Gorpies

Gorpies take the trail mix concept (gorp = “good old raisins and peanuts") and bake it into a cookie. Brown sugar dough loaded with handfuls of chocolate chips, peanuts, and raisins. The measurements are deliberately casual, which is part of the charm.

The dough itself is simple: creamed margarine and brown sugar, flour, baking soda, and just a splash of milk. It’s really a delivery vehicle for all those mix-ins. The brown sugar gives the cookies a chewy, slightly toffee-like base that holds everything together.

These are fragile right out of the oven. Leave them on the baking sheet for a full minute or two before moving them to a rack. The melted chocolate chips and soft dough need that resting time to firm up enough to hold their shape.

Pro Tips

• A “handful” is roughly ½ cup. If you want consistent results batch to batch, measure loosely but aim for that range.
• Don’t over-cream the margarine and sugar. You want it smooth, not fluffy. Over-creaming incorporates too much air and the cookies spread thin and flat.
• Drop by tablespoons and space them a couple inches apart. The peanut and chocolate pieces make these wider than a plain cookie.
• They crisp up as they cool. Pull them when they look barely done, still soft in the center with lightly golden edges.

Variations

• Use butter instead of margarine for richer flavor and crispier edges.
• Add sunflower seeds or dried cranberries to lean harder into the trail mix theme.
• Swap peanuts for roasted cashews or almonds for a different crunch.