USO Cookie Week Brings Holiday Joy to U.S. Military Families Far From Home in South Korea

By Kristen Loflin

The holiday season is traditionally filled with twinkling decorations, catchy jingles and – of course – delicious treats. After all, is it even the holidays without cookies? At more than 250 USO Centers around the globe, the people who serve and their military families can join in the holiday fun and celebrate the season no matter where their service takes them.

Part of that fun is USO Cookie Week. From December 1-7, USO Centers around the world kicked off the month by bringing sweet cheer to their local military communities through baked goods.

For duty stations overseas, the seven tasty days bring a rare holiday treat not commonly found in allied countries.

For service members and military families deployed or stationed overseas, this week is a chance to partake in holiday traditions that might be difficult to come by in countries far from home. Things as simple as seeing holiday decorations out on the street or holiday-themed events can be non-existent in countries such as those in the Indo-Pacific region, where western winter holidays are not as prevalent. When you’re living in another culture that does not celebrate the holidays like you and your loved ones back home, it can feel isolating and makes it difficult to get into the spirit of the season.

For service members and families stationed overseas, holiday traditions can be hard to find, especially in regions where Western winter celebrations aren’t common, making the season feel isolating far from home. | Photo credit USO Photo

But even when thousands of miles away from home, the people who serve can turn to their very own “home away from home” at the USO.

For service members and families stationed or deployed to U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Camp Humphreys in South Korea, the holiday cheer was alive and well at USO Camp Humphreys, Sentry Village this past week.

As one of two USO facilities located on the largest U.S. Army installation in South Korea, the Sentry Village USO Center kicked off the month with two special programs dedicated to bringing the holiday spirit to these military families.

Captain Chip’s Cookie Command Center at USO Camp Humphreys

USO Cookie Week kicked off with the arrival of Captain Chip, the USO’s Cookie Week mascot, who set up his “Cookie Week Command Center” in Sentry Village, which was dedicated to perfecting an array of delectable cookies for service members. Throughout the week, the USO Center kitchen was taken over by USO elves (also known as staff and volunteers) who prepped, beat, mixed and chilled batches of cookie dough in preparation for nonstop baking.

Captain Chip took over Sentry Village as USO volunteers baked hundreds of cookies to bring holiday cheer to service members. | Photo credit USO Photo

The USO team baked over 1,000 cookies, offering a variety of flavors: Crinkle, Thumbprint, Chocolate Peppermint, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Dipped Oreos, Raspberry White Chocolate, Sugar and Chocolate Chip. The combination of treats included a collection of family recipes from the USO team members – including USO volunteers Jessica Minoza and Joanna Calahan – which were shared to bring a taste of home to service members separated from loved ones.

Following the great bake-off, these USO “elves” turned their attention to preparing the treats for deployment, and “Operation Wrapping” began early in the morning Captain Chip and the USO team began assembling hundreds of bags, each filled with several cookies.

“We filled over 210 bags that morning, and as service members began entering our Center, their faces lit up at the fact that we were eagerly handing them a bag of homemade cookies,” said USO Camp Humphreys, Sentry Village Center Operations Manager Autumn McGuffey.

The cookie goodness was appreciated by service members throughout the entire day as they were encouraged to pick up a bag of cookies when visiting the Center. Many of the cookies never made it out of the facility, as service members indulged in the cookies on the spot.

And at many USO Centers in other parts of the globe, from Georgia to Germany, service members and military families received the same sugar-filled support from USO teams worldwide.

Cookie Week Brought Military Kids and Families Together

While service members enjoyed a quick treat from the USO throughout their workday, military kids got to partake from dough to decoration earlier in the week.

The USO Camp Humphreys Center also hosted their monthly Culinary Kids event, this time holiday cookie-themed! This program typically invites military families to come to the Center for a cooking class geared toward military children. As the youngest members of the military community, military kids must also tackle the ups and downs of military life – and that is especially true when stationed in locations overseas, far from everything familiar, where they must learn a new way of life while adjusting to a new home and school. Local kids’ programs such as these monthly cooking classes help military children bond with other kids who are going through the same challenges, or with their families.

USO Camp Humphreys’ local “Culinary Kids” program not only provides military children with a fun activity, but also allows them to bond with fellow military kids and their own families while participating and learning. | Photo credit USO Photo

This month’s Culinary Kids event taught participating military children how to make Crinkle Cookies, a recipe courtesy of USO teammate Autumn. Throughout the class, the kids are taught everything from how much of each ingredient they should add, to why they are added or mixed at different points of the recipe.

“We have limited kitchen equipment, but the kids are always wonderful about taking turns mixing and adding ingredients so that everyone gets a chance, no matter how little they are,” said Autumn.

It’s only fair that the lesson is followed by fun! The USO elves had previously made sugar cookies, and, while the Crinkle Cookies baked, the little bakers got to share their decorating skills with icing and sprinkles. Best part? Getting to enjoy their tasty creations! At the conclusion of each kid’s cooking class, attendees receive recipe cards to take home and enjoy with their families.

Whether it was baking the cookies or enjoying them with others, USO Cookie Week brought the spirit of the season to military families currently located in a more tense area – after all, Camp Humphreys is approximately only 60 miles from North Korea and the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The delicious treats (since we all know you can never have just one) brought cheer and a brief reprieve from the stressful environment to service members, whose presence on this base is crucial to stability in the Indo-Pacific region. The baked goods from the USO were a small taste of home, connecting the military community to holiday traditions even while thousands of miles away.

Autumn’s special Crinkle Cookie recipe is included below to share with your loved ones during this special time of year.

Crinkle Cookies

Recipe from Autumn McGuffey, USO Camp Humphreys Sentry Village Center Operations Manager

“When our middle child was four, she began showing a passion for baking, so much so that her grandfather’s secret chocolate chip recipe has been passed down to her alone (the same recipe she used to make us 12 dozen cookies for our event this week). We were always looking up new recipes to try and one Christmas, this recipe just stuck. While she didn’t like waiting several hours for the dough to chill, her favorite part was rolling the dough into balls before rolling each one in all the sugar. Now at 16 years old, she helps me and her younger sister, nine years old, make these Crinkle Cookies, secret chocolate chip cookies and more during the holidays to share with my husband’s unit and pass them out to his fellow service members and employees. She gets her skills from her grandfather, and he has said he couldn’t be prouder of her. Her hobby and passion for baking shine through every Christmas with this tradition in our home.”

Crinkle Cookies

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• ½ cup packed light or dark brown sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ⅛ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

For coating the dough before baking:

• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions:

• Mix dry ingredients — whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

• Cream butter and sugars — in a second bowl, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy (about 2–3 minutes). Then beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended.

• Combine and add chocolate chips — gradually add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet mixture, mixing just until combined. Then stir in the chocolate chips. The dough will be thick and sticky.

• Chill dough — cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (or up to 3 days). Chilling helps with handling and prevents cookies from spreading too much while baking. Very important!

• Prep for baking — after chilling, let dough rest ~10 minutes to soften slightly. Preheat oven to 350 °F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

• Form cookies — scoop about 1.5 tablespoons per cookie. Roll each dough ball lightly in granulated sugar, then coat generously with powdered sugar. Place them about 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.

• Bake — bake for 11–12 minutes. If by minute 9 the cookies haven’t begun spreading. Cookies should be set at the edges but still slightly soft in the center.

• Cool and store — let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store covered at room temperature for up to a week.

This holiday season, the USO is wishing for your holidays to be as sweet as your cookies.