Dubbed "Kayak Cookies," these giant snacks gave us that extra fuel we needed to paddle during a three-hour tour of the island’s tranquil landscape of sea marshes and sand bars. Tthe memories of the island will be with us forever, and so will the memories of Ray and Jody’s cookies!

What mom could go home and say she couldn’t make them too? So, here is the response I got from the very nice Kayak Amelia owners when I asked (O.K., begged) for the recipe:

Over the past few weeks we've had a number of folks ask for the "secret recipe" for our cookies and it's stimulated a lot of conversation. My standard response has always been, "it's really no secret, it's just the recipe from the back of the Toll House Chocolate Chip package."

On a recent kayaking trip, we had a real "cookie lady". Baking cookies was her thing and she'd found that even though the recipe ingredients are standard, it's "the special things you do" that make your cookies who they are.

At first I said I really didn't do anything special: "You put the stuff in the bowl beat it up put it on the sheet and you're done.” After thinking about it for a while though, I realized that there are things I do as I assemble the ingredients that just seem like the logical next step that may influence the outcome. 

So, here's the recipe. Ingredients first, followed by my idiosyncratic tweaks:

Kayak Cookies

2 Sticks Butter Flavored Crisco Shortening

1 1/2 Cups White Sugar

1 1/2 Cups Light Brown Sugar

4 Eggs (large)

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

2 Teaspoons Salt

2 Teaspoons Vanilla

5 Cups All Purpose Flour

5 Cups Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chips

Put the Crisco and sugars in your bowl and beat at a fairly high speed till the ingredients no longer stick to the bottom. Add the eggs and beat at regular speed till smooth. Keep beating and add baking soda, salt and vanilla. Stop beater, add 2 cups of flour and beat on regular until incorporated. Stop again and add remaining 3 cups. Beat till a mass forms around beater and gets flung around the bowl. Stop beater, add the chips. Beat until chips are incorporated and dough tries to escape up the side of the bowl.

I use a 1 5/8 inch cookie/ice cream scoop (the kind with the little sweeper inside) and overfill it till it sticks out around the sides (It's a judgment thing, the bigger the lump of dough, the bigger the cookie. Experiment till you find the size that looks right to you). Put a dozen lumps each, evenly spaced, on two cookie sheets (we have the kind with an air core). Put both sheets into a pre-heated 375-degree oven. Leave the top rack in for 20 minutes, the bottom in for 3 minutes more. Because it's a double batch you'll have enough for about 8 more cookies (give or take) put them on a sheet and bake for 16 minutes. 

Let the cookies cool on the sheets (I find it's easier to "mold" them into the container and I can get more in if they're still warm).

Enjoy!!

We've found they're best served from a kayak at the waters’ edge, but we'll leave it to you to find your favorite venue.

From time to time, I'll bring you recipes to add to your own family recipe boxes. I like to make a section in my box called "Travel Recipes" where I add things like this so that my kids can have a little "taste" of all of the places we go!

Jennifer Michaels, Family Travel Expert