By GRETCHEN MCKAY, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh is a city of cookie lovers.

As evidenced by the popular Facebook group The Wedding Cookie Table Community (which counts more than 325,000 members) and the dozens of entries to the Post-Gazette’s 2024 Holiday Cookie Challenge, Western Pennsylvanians also like to bake the sweet treats — especially during the holidays — both for gifts and to share after a meal with family and friends.

Which begs a question for those traveling by air over the next week: Will your homemade cookies make it through a security checkpoint at Pittsburgh International and other airports?

The answer is — whew! — yes, so long as you follow a few simple rules set by the Transportation Security Administration.

According to TSA officials, baked goods can be brought on board both for snacking and packaged as gifts so long as they are a solid item — think cookies, cakes, pie, brownies and, if you’re really old-school, even a fruitcake.

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But if you can pour, spray, spill, spray or pump the goodies, and it’s larger than 3.4 ounces, it has to travel to its destination in a checked bag. That includes items such as the bottle of Pennsylvania maple syrup you picked up at a local market and the preserves and jellies you made with local fruit this summer.

Amy Hatfield, an Assistant Federal Security Director at Pittsburgh International Airport, offers this additional tip for transporting cookies in either a carry-on or checked bag: use an empty Pringles tube to stack your cookies, and then wrap the stack with plastic wrap and slide it into the can.

It’s also a good idea for travelers to pack their goodies in a sealable plastic bag and then put them in a gift bag, cookie tin or gift box with a little extra tissue paper for padding.

While courteous and respectful, TSA officers are also just a little bit scary to travelers because they can keep you from getting to the gate on time with pat-down searches and additional screening for suspicious items. But the truth is, they’re just regular folks who like to bake cookies as much as the next guy or gal. Several agents, in fact, are sharing their favorite cookie recipes with travelers to celebrate this busy season with passengers.

White Chocolate Chip Ube Cookies

These soft and chewy cookies studded with white chocolate chips are a twist on a traditional holiday cookie. The secret ingredient is ube, a purple yam from the Phillipines.

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

3 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

15 ounces purple yam jam (also called ube halaya, which you can find at most Asian grocery stores)

2 tablespoons ube extract

1 large egg at room temperature

1 large egg yolk at room temperature

1 cup white chocolate chips

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Beat unsalted butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium-high speed until well-blended. Add ube jam and ube extract to the mixture and continue beating until incorporated.

Add eggs and beat until combined. Add flour mixture to ube mixture in thirds and beat until no more streaks of flour remain. Scrape the bottom of the bowl as you go.

Stir in the white chocolate chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the batter for at least three hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Scoop roughly two tablespoons of the dough and roll into balls. Place the balls onto the cookie sheet with about two inches of space around each ball. Bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until the cookies are set. Allow to cool completely.

— TSA Officer Ciaran Persch, Harrisburg International Airport

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

These cookies made with made with orange extract and added food coloring will remind you of an orange Creamsicle treat.

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon orange extract

1 box orange cake mix

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup white chocolate chips

Orange food coloring (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, orange extract, cream cheese and egg with a mixer until smooth. Add the cake mix and mix well. (Add orange food coloring if desired until the cookie dough reaches your desired orange color.) Stir the white chocolate chips into the cookie dough.

Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. (Do not skip this step.)

Form the dough into 24 balls. Roll each in powdered sugar and place on the lined cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Makes 24 cookies.

— TSA Officer Susan Smoot, West Virginia’s Raleigh County Memorial Airport

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