The Million Dollar Cookie Review

Lets start with this -
What recipe is REALLY worthy of million dollars? According to Jim, I make the best lasagna he has ever eaten, but I doubt anyone would hand me over a cool million for the recipe.
I have read a lot a negative comments about this recipe winning, and personally I think its a lot of whining. People are mad that a plain old peanut butter cookie won, they are angry that the winner used pre-made cookie dough, etc. etc.
Lets be frank - bakeoffs and cooking contests are creative marketing tools for companies. Its not as if Pillsbury just enjoys handing out money. They have a stake in it as well. There is a reason that there is a list of items handed out, and you must pick at least two of those items to use in the recipes. It is about promoting products, and its about promoting products that bring a nice profit over those that don't. Pillsbury sells a lot of convenience items (pre made pie crusts, refrigerated biscuits and crescents, cookie dough, etc.), and although I am no marketing expert, I would be pretty safe in saying that those convenience items (can you say pre made cookie dough) bring in a much better profit than the flour that would be used in a homemade peanut butter cookie dough. I don't know the winner of the contest, but I would bet she is more than capable of making a great peanut butter cookie from scratch. I would also bet that if she had submitted this recipe making the dough from scratch, she would not have made the cut as a finalist. It goes a little something like this: She uses the dough, we see the recipe, we follow the recipe, and pillsbury pre-made peanut butter cookie dough starts flying off the shelf. Carolyn probably didn't use pre-made cookie dough becuase she couldn't bake, she used to help increase the chances of making the contest as a finalist.
I happened to LOVE this cookie, so did Jim, and our friend Sarah. We are the only three that tried them - so three for three liked them. The cinnamon was something I would have NEVER thought of, and it was a nice touch. I don't normally buy premade cookie dough, but did for this recipe, and will make these again.
One final note - A lot a the reviewers (ecspecially on the Pillsbury site) talked about how they have a much better recipe, and they could have easily won the prize over this recipe. Well my friend, I say go for it. The contest is open to the public, and you can enter as many recipes as you like.