Baby Ruth Cookies

I love Vintage ads, and this one for Baby Ruth Candy Bars and Cookies sent me in search of the cookie recipe. I suppose you could just flatten the bars out and bake, but that would be a gooey mess. Here's a recipe for very tasty, if not that healthy, Baby Ruth Cookies.

The Curtiss Candy Company claimed that the Baby Ruth candy bar was named after President Grover Cleveland's daughter, Ruth Cleveland. However,  Ruth Cleveland died 16 years before the introduction of the Baby Ruth bar.

The company had originally negotiated a failed endorsement deal with baseball player Babe Ruth. 
People have suggested that secretly naming the candy bar after Ruth was a way to tie him to their product without paying any royalties. Talk about shrewd advertising, company founder Otto Schnering chartered a plane in 1923 to drop thousands of Baby Ruth bars over the city of Pittsburgh -- each with its own mini parachute. His marketing plan must have worked -- Baby Ruth has gone on to become a top brand.

Today, the Baby Ruth bar is owned by Nestlé.

BABY RUTH COOKIES

Ingredients
1/2 cup sweet butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Baby Ruth candy bars (2.1 ounces each), chopped into smallish pieces

Directions
1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in candy bars.
Chill 30 minutes.
2. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Immediately remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 4 dozen.