I was "assigned" to bake these cookies for my daughter's cookie exchange at school. So last night I got out my mixer and baked away. Imagine my horror when the cookies came out soft and almost raw in the center! I was appalled, because I had to cook THIS cookie. So today I went and talked to a co-worker. He used to be a pastry chef at the Four Seasons in NY. Anyhow this was his advice: 1st use a wooden spoon to mix the cookies. Sometimes a beater mixes everything too fast and too well. His first apprenticeship was with a Danish cook who swore by this technique. His second suggestion, when I described how soft and gooey the cookie dough appeared, was to cook down the maple syrup a little bit. So tonight with a new $7 jar of maple syrup,(and a couple of Pillsbury Sugar cookie doughs and some imitation maple flavoring,which was my co-workers THIRD suggestion--just in case)I tried the recipe again. I cooked down the maple syrup just a bit--it was just under 1 cup after cooking it down. Then I put it in the refrigerator to cool down. I used a WOODEN spoon to do everything including creaming the butter and the brown sugar together. I also added a heaping tablespoon of flour to the mix. My dough was still soft, but not as gooey as the night before last. Then I baked the cookies at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Even if the cookies are getting brown around the edges, they are not done. You know when these cookies are done when they start to "buckle" on top.

Reviewed On: Dec. 16, 2008