It's too soon to know if Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies will achieve the cult status of contest icon Tunnel of Fudge Cake.

But who cares about cult status? Those cookies won $1 million yesterday for Carolyn Gurtz of Gaithersburg, Md., in the 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off in Dallas.

The winning recipe beat out 99 other finalists from 35 states, including Virginia. Cooks ranged in age from 27 to 72; eight were men.

Why is Gurtz's creation a million-dollar recipe? Clearly, the judges were in the mood for something peanutty: Her recipe calls for just six ingredients, including refrigerated peanut-butter cookies.

She wrapped those cookies around a ball of peanut butter mixed with confectioners' sugar, then flattened them with a drinking glass dipped into a mix of chopped peanuts, granulated sugar and cinnamon.

Virginia had three finalists in the competition: Lori Welander of Richmond, Noelle Kompa of Forest and Mike Briggs of Alexandria.

They left with microwave ovens and $100, as did all the finalists. Pillsbury also picked up the tab for airfare, hotel and meals.

Welander is a contest veteran. She won, among others, the grand prize in the National Beef Cook-Off in 2003. She was a Bake-Off finalist in 1994 for her Cheddar Dill Knots.

This was the first time Kompa and Briggs entered any kind of cooking contest.

The winning recipe was entered in the sweet treats category. Other categories were: breakfast and brunches; pizza creations; entertaining appetizers and Mexican favorites.

Contestants had to enter original recipes that used at least two of the sponsors' products. Welander, for instance, used six: Land O' Lakes butter, Eggland's Best eggs, Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts, Smucker's seedless red-raspberry jam, Fisher Chef's Naturals sliced almonds and Domino confectioners' sugar.

Judges based their decisions on taste, appearance, creativity and consumer appeal.

"I rode up in an elevator with a food editor who was raving about the winning cookie," Welander said by phone yesterday. "It was a cross between a peanut butter cookie and a snickerdoodle, because of the cinnamon on the outside."

Cooks still make many of the recipes entered in early contests, including Snappy Turtle Cookies, Peanut Blossoms -- that's the peanut butter cookie with a Hershey's Kiss planted in the center -- and French Silk Chocolate Pie, all from the'50s.

Tunnel of Fudge Cake came along in the'60s, along with Dilly Casserole Bread. Monkey bread continues to appear in many guises.

The Bake-Off's $1 million grand prize, first awarded in 1996, is the largest award for a cooking contest.

You may wonder why someone who just won $1 million needs anything else, but Gurtz also gets $5,000 for the best recipe using peanut butter, a GE oven and another $7,000 worth of kitchen appliances. Each category winner took home $5,000 and a GE oven. All the cash, prizes and trips add up to $1,274,000.

You may have noticed that male contestants are scarce as from-scratch pie crusts. Kurt Wait is the only man to win the Bake-Off's grand prize. He did it in 1996 with his Macadamia Fudge Torte.
Contact Jann Malone at (804) 649-6820 or jmalone@timesdispatch.com.