CPS Lunchroom Cookies are delicious and easy to make!

This lifelong Chicagoan is a proud product of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). I attended kindergarten, elementary and high school in Chicago many years ago.  So, I know the delicious CPS Lunchroom cookies. I enjoyed them only in high school. However, it was not until many many years later…. in 2013 did I first started baking the delicious old school CPS Lunchroom cookies.

My homemade CPS Lunchroom cookies taste just like the ones I enjoyed decades earlier in high school.  There is NO one recipe. Many folks have relatives who were CPS cooks.  But, cooks in the different high schools had varying recipes.  They prepared the cookies in ways that worked for them and what their students preferred.

The recipe that I use, I retrieved from The Food Network. The recipe is EASY and not at all complicated. I understand why this recipe worked great for so many high school cafeteria cooks!  I always have my butter at room temperature, I prefer King Arthur all-purpose flour and I only use pure vanilla extract.

Here are some photos that I snapped over many years.

Use parchment paper to bake. I like my cookies not too dark as in this photo.
Lots of folks prefer the back of cookies to be on the darker side.
You can decide how dark you want your cookies. Just adjust the baking time.

Pre-heat oven to 350F

  • 1 cup butter (room temperature)
  • 2/3 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 cups and 2 Tablespoons flour
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt

Directions

  • Cream butter
  • Add sugar
  • Add pure vanilla extract
  • Add flour and salt
  • Mix well
  • Scoop and roll into balls
  • Line cookie sheet with parchment paper
  • Press rolled cookie dough balls into preferred thickness
  • Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 350F