OCONOMOWOC, Wis. — When Lorelei Hardt has a Friday off school, she chooses to spend it in the kitchen. Hardt said she knows it isn’t exactly how many of her friends use their time off, but she loves it. 

Hardt likes experimenting with different cookie recipes. Last year, around Christmas, she created a unique take on traditional chocolate chip cookies, adding in potato chips, butterscotch and sea salt.

After writing the recipe down, Hardt and her parents submitted it for the 2024 We Energies Cookie Book. 

Hardt said it meant a lot to be chosen for the cookbook, considering how much she enjoys reading them. 

“I love cookbooks. We have a book fair at school and I go straight to the cookbook section, because it is really cool how [many] different themes of cookbooks there are. Having my recipe in a cookbook is just really, really cool,” Hardt said. 

The theme of the 2024 We Energies Cookie Book is Childhood Memories. While many recipes likely reflect on childhood experiences that have passed, Hardt is excited to bring something new.

She said being included in the cookbook gives her culinary exploration a confidence boost. 

“There are more recipes I want to try that are a bit too advanced, but I feel like I could do them. I want to try more recipes,” Hardt said. 

The 2024 We Energies Cookie Book is available for digital download now. Numerous distribution events for physical copies will also be held around the state beginning Nov. 2. A full list of those events can be found, here.