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COOKIE CONTEST

 

The 2025 Juan O Savin Cookie Contest Results Are In!!!

The long awaited 2025 Juan O Savin Cookie Contest results are in. Blind taste testing was conducted by Juan who choose the winners and a panel of judges selected the “popular vote” cookie. Honorable Mentions will receive a certificate award with small gift.

Grande Prize Winner and Popular Vote: Kristine L. for “Kris’s Chewy Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies”. (Prize: $100 JMAC Store Credit plus Special Invite. You will be contacted about your store credit after the Storm Summit around the 3rd week of Sept). Juan and Jennifer will be in touch with you about the Special Invite.

Juan’s handwritten comments: “Outstanding balance of flavor and texture. Would be goo to deip in milk not coffee or cacao. Plain on looks.”

RECIPE 

300 grams all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, room temp softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
2 large egg yolks, room temp
4 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup creamy peanut butter with oil that requires stirring to use(important)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Line to cookie sheets with parchment paper

1) In a large bowl whisk together flour baking soda, baking powder and salt till combined and set aside
2) In a large mixing bowl cream your butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed for two minutes until well combined and creamy.
3) On low speed mix in eggs, yolks, vanilla extract, and the creamy peanut butter until well combined about a minute.
4) Mix the dry ingredients in tho the wet ingredients all at once till well combined about 1 or so minutes. The dough will be very soft.
5) Scoop about 2 tablespoons or use a small cookie scoop of the soft peanut butter cookie dough onto the lined baking sheet 2 to 3 inches apart.
6) Top each dough ball with a pinch of granulated sugar
7) Bake the cookies between 10 to 15 minutes till light golden brown.
8) Enjoy and next time make a double batch...you'll need too;)

First Runner Up: Jane W. “2nd American Revolution Chew Cookies”. (Prize: $100 JMAC Store Credit plus Special Invite. You will be contacted about your store credit after the Storm Summit around the 3rd week of Sept). Juan and Jennifer will be in touch with you about the Special Invite.

Juan’s handwritten comments: “Excellent combo of texture and flavor. Tiny [bit?] dry - excellent for dipping in milk.”

RECIPE
1 Cup Salted Butter (room temperature)
1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar (packed)
2 Large Eggs
1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Cups of All-Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
3 Cups Old Fashioned Oats (not quick oats)
1 Cup Sweetened/Shredded Coconut
1 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

INSTRUCTIONS
~Preheat conventional oven to 350'
~Mix butter & brown sugar in a medium sized bowl with hand mixer, set to medium, until creamy smooth (2 min)
~Add eggs one at a time to creamed butter & sugar bowl, mix until well blended.
~Add vanilla extract and blend well.
~In a 2nd medium sized bowl stir in following dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, oats, shredded coconut, & chocolate chips.
~Mix, on low speed, dry ingredients into bowl of wet ingredients, until all ingredients are incorporated.
~Line cool cookie sheets with parchment paper.
~Spoon ping-pong ball sized scoops of cookie dough, evenly spaced, onto a cool cookie sheet ( 12 per sheet) Makes at least 3 batches.
~Place into 350' oven for 8-10 minutes, until edges of cookies are golden brown. 
~Allow cookies to cool and enjoy!

Second Runner Up: Stephen Knipper for “Greek Almond Cookies” GF. (Prize: $100 JMAC Store Credit. You will be contacted after the Storm Summit around the 3rd week of Sept).

Juan’s handwritten comments: “Nice chewy cookie, great nut texture. Nice by itself or with milk. Very satisfying.”

RECIPE 3 large egg whites, 1 tsp Almond extract, 3/4 cup raw cane sugar, 3 cups Almond flour, 1 cup of sliced Almonds, 1 tsp of real butter.

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Preheat oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 2) Whisk egg whites and Almond extract for 3 mins. 3) Combine Almond flour sugar, butter in another bowl mix well. 4) Slowly add the egg white mixture to the flour and sugar mixture to make the wet dough. 5) Take about 1 Tbsp of dough roll into a ball and roll the dough ball in the sliced Almonds till all dough is used. 6) Place dough balls with Almonds on cooking sheet and gently press to flatten, bake for 15 mins. Cool on rack for 5 mins.

Third Runner Up: Denise Gomez Markowski for “Watchman’s Treat” Divine Sweetness for Those Who Do Not Sleep (all ingredients are found in the Bible: Dates, almonds, wheat, olive oil, honey egg, carob). (Prize: $100 JMAC Store Credit. You will be contacted after the Storm Summit around the 3rd week of Sept).

Juan’s handwritten comments: “Good for dipping in milk. Tiny dry. Very good flavor. Very balanced on all fronts. Good all around cookie.”

RECIPE
1 cup chopped Medjool dates (pitted)
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup raw honey
1 large egg
1/3 cup carob chips

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, honey, and egg until smooth.
3. Add the almond flour and whole wheat flour. Stir until a thick dough forms.
4. Mix in the chopped dates and carob chips.
5. Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough for each cookie onto the baking sheet. Leave space between each.
6. Press the tops down slightly with the back of a spoon.
7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are golden.
8. Let cool for 5 minutes. Enjoy!

Fourth Runner Up: Fran Hamman for “Look Mom! No Flour Peanut Butter Cookies” (Prize: $100 JMAC Store Credit. You will be contacted after the Storm Summit around the 3rd week of Sept)

Juan’s handwritten comments: “Good dipping cookie for coffee or milk. Nice flavor with peanut. Dry Texture… excellent for dipping”.

RECIPE

2 cups peanut butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

With mixer, beat peanut butter and sugar well. Add eggs one at a time. Add baking soda, salt, vanilla and beat well again. Form golf ball sized balls and place on a parchment lined, lipped baking sheet. Make cross-cross pattern with a fork and place in fridge for at least 2 hours. When ready, preheat oven to 350, and place cold cookie tray directly into hot oven. Bake 20-25 minutes and allow to cool on same baking sheet.

Fifth Runner Up: Betty Krug for “Betty’s Best Cookies” (Prize: $100 JMAC Store Credit. You will be contacted after the Storm Summit around the 3rd week of Sept)

Juan’s handwritten comments: “Good with milk or coffee. Nice texture. Good lunchbox cookie.”

RECIPE 
1 Cup Organic smooth peanut butter
2/3 Cup Organic Cocoa powder
1 Cup Organic coconut sugar
2 Large eggs
1/4 Cup Organic unsweetened 'fine shredded' coconut 

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350, line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Put the coconut sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the peanut butter and cocoa. Beat the eggs and add to the bowl. Stir until mixed well and slowly add the shredded coconut until mixed well with other ingredients . I use a stainless steel tablespoon to scoop the dough out and then pat it into the spoon with a butter knife, giving it a small dome and then use the knife to wedge out each cookie, one by one onto the cookie sheet. Then bake these cookies for 8 minutes. This makes almost 3 dozen cookies.

I enjoy making variations on this basic best cookie recipe that I developed over time, like using almond butter instead of peanut butter and not adding the cocoa powder and it's all good and never boring for my loved ones. My older loved ones, with teeth problems love just letting them melt in their mouths, Simple and sweet all around.

SUBMISSION IS CLOSED.

THE 2025 JUAN O SAVIN COOKIE CONTEST is a chance to show off your baking skills and have a shot at being a JOS Cookie Contest Winner! This contest will award the following: Grand Prize Winner; First Runner Up; Second Runner Up. We are working out prizes!

Cookie Defined:  Chewy, Crispy, Crunchy, Gooey, Moist, Soft, Thin or Thick, Flat, Round or Square like a brownie (aka cookie).

Rules & Instructions:

  • Read the entire instructions before submitting your recipe.

  • One recipe per adult, 18 years of age or older.

  • Submission begins July 1 and ends July 31. There is no advantage to early submissions. You are encouraged to think through your recipe before submitting it.

  • The submission fill-out form is below. All line items are required.

  • A batch of cookies should be between a dozen cookies (12 cookies) to no more than three dozen cookies (36 cookies).

  • Second submissions—including both a second recipe as well as edits/changes/corrections to one’s original submission—are discouraged.

CRITERIA: Based on 20 Points each.

Authenticity:  Is your cookie recipe your own creation? Even if your Great Grandmother’s cookie recipe was passed down to you from a recipe she may have discovered on a box mix, you have since made this recipe your own with alterations, reductions, additions—it’s your recipe with your own pizzaz!

Be Deliciously Healthy:  Cookie recipes that make the final round will have a health aspect to them. “Healthy” means different things to different people. Whether your recipe is Whole Grain, Gluten Free, Grain Free, Dairy Free, Oil Free, Refined Sugar Free, Keto, Paleo, Raw or Unbaked in the Food Dehydrator, your cookie shows some distinction from the SAD diet—the “Standard American Diet”. Note, there is no need to list an ingredient as “healthy”. Examples to avoid are: “Healthy Raisins” or “Organic Flour” or “Freshly Milled Flour” or “Non-GMO fruit” because it’s up to the person making your recipe to prepare and purchase those healthier options. Uses of fructose corn syrup, seed oils, and microwaves are discouraged.

Specificity: Be specific with your ingredients. Optional ingredients serve a purpose for those with unique dietary restrictions. For this contest, however, your recipe must list specific ingredients. Examples to follow: “1 cup almond flour”; “1 cup einkorn flour”; “1/2 cup raw honey”; “1/2 teaspoon sea salt”. Examples to avoid: “1 cup flour of choice”; “1/2 cup dairy butter or coconut butter”; “2 Tablespoons butter or ghee”; “1/4 cup cane sugar or stevia to taste"; “1 teaspoon cinnamon optional”; “pinch of salt to taste”. Be decisive. In addition, listing brand names in a recipe is discouraged. Examples to avoid are: “King Aurthur Flour” (instead write “whole wheat flour”); “Bob’s Redmill Corn Flour” (instead write “corn flour”); “Bragg’s Liquid Aminos” (instead write “liquid aminos”).

Simplicity: Less is more. Each recipe should have 10 ingredients or less. Each ingredient must be easily found in a grocery store or health food store. For example, cacao butter and goji berries are often unavailable in conventional grocery stores, but they are available in health food stores. Therefore, cacao butter and goji berries are fine choices for ingredients because they are relatively easy to source. On the other hand, some ingredients, such as durian fruit or young Thai coconut meat are too difficult as they may only be sold at an Asian store or in Chinatown. Therefore, these types of ingredients are discouraged since they are difficult to source.

Clarity: Your recipe should be easy enough to follow for a sixth grader to read and create. In addition, avoiding too much wordiness will help prevent going over the allotted word count limit.

Those submissions which make the finalist round will be baked by a selected party. JOS will taste test the finalists’ cookies in a blind taste test.

The following are bonus points to help you beat the competition!

Bonus Points for the following (up to 10 pts each)

  • Recipe is 7 ingredients or less (instead of the 10 ingredients).

  • All ingredients in the recipe are mentioned in the Bible (wheat, barley, honey, and raisins just to name a few!).

Points Deducted for the following (up to 10 pts each)

  • Not following the Rules & Instructions stated above.

  • Submitting a second recipe. Give us your very BEST recipe, please.

  • Submitting a second submission because the original recipe submission has mistakes in it or needs some minor tweaks.

  • Uses of fructose corn syrup, adulterated seed oils, and microwaves.

  • Submitting a recipe outside the dates of July 1 to July 31.

  • Shipping your batch of cookies to one of our fulfillment/shipping centers. Juan will only be taste testing cookies baked by a private party at an undecided upon location.

  • Emailing JMAC customer service your recipe submission - we will kindly refer you to the Cookie Contest link :)

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What happens after I submit my recipe?  After you electronically submit your recipe, a Cookie Committee will choose the finalists.

  • Possible Disqualifications:  Please make sure you read through the rules and fill out the e-submission form correctly.  Possible deductions could include multiple submission entries from an applicant.

  • Will Juan O Savin eat my cookie?  Sometime before October 17, 2025, Juan will get to work… it’s a tough job but he will eat the cookies that make the finalist round in a blind taste test.

  • Can I ship my cookies to Juan?  No. After you electronically submit your recipe, a Cookie Committee will choose the finalists after July 31st. Juan will only be taste testing cookies baked by a private party.

  • I provided my home address and full name in the submission form but can I maintain my privacy, publicly?  Home addresses and contact information will not be disclosed. We will need all your information requested, such as full name and contact information for submission acceptance. However, in the submission form below, you will have privacy choices for your name. Example for “Jane Doe”: Option 1: Jane Doe; Option 2: Jane D.; and Option 3: J.D. Example for “Bob Smith”: Option 1: Bob Smith; Option 2: Bob S.; and Option 3: B.S.