The Iron Man Bake- off, held Feb. 6, was hosted and judged by culinary art teacher Tara Wood. The judges of the contest were Patrick Carter, Michelle Jurcenko, Tom Hanlon and Lynn McHenry. The contest was based on the contestants’ favorite cookie and were told to pick a theme. The contest was to see who was the best cookie maker of Kaneland.

Some of the cookies were “Pinky Piggy,” which was a sugar cookie dipped in a pool of pudding, or “mud.” A simple, yet delicious- looking cookie called “Yin-Yang,” which was a sugar cookie with the Yin- Yang symbol, was made with brown sugar and cinnamon. Another one was called “Oyster cookie” and had lots of chocolate, including chocolate syrup.

The judges’ criteria was based on the presentation, but most of all, the taste of the cookie. The judges tasted all of the cookies, and all seemed to have a big sweet tooth. However, science teacher Patrick Carter found it hard to choose which cookie is the overall best.

“I love cookies. I could eat them for every meal. I have had the experience of trying thousands of cookies in my lifetime, so I am kind of an expert,” Carter said.

The cookies were all very well presented, but the judges had some good points to make based on the type of cookies they’ve tasted.

“We all really liked the cookie, but we would’ve liked a bit more of excitement on the presentation. It seemed too simplistic,” Jurcenko said.

All of the contestants, put in groups of five, were all very happy to present their cookie and some of the judges seemed really pleased. The winning cookie was the “Oyster cookie.” It had everything the judges’ enjoyed: chocolate.

“The chocolate chip cookie that was presented like an oyster. Great combination of sweet and salty! It was a big hit,” Jurcenko said.