I have my husbands Grandmothers Brown Sugar Cookie recipe and I have even given it out on CC the problem with it is she never had a mesuring cup she used an old coffee mug. Sometimes I kget them other times I mess them up. the dough is actually more like a cake dough than a cookie dough. But they are my DH's favorite so I keep working at it. They were her secret recipes but I have given them out, they are over a hundred years old and need to be used so they are not lost.
I share all recipes because I do not have any secret or self-developed recipes. 
But I do think that if you intend to do a business with that particular dish/cake, then it is fair that you do not share it.
My sister has this fabulous fish crackers (I am Chinese by the the way) which her MIL made her 'swear' not to reveal. 30 years down the road my sis still respects her MIL's wish not to teach me. 
My mother makes the best potato salad, my cousin got her recipe and tried to duplicate it, she got so frustrated because while it was good it didn't taste like my mothers. I told her that the potato salad that she made was "hers" and the one that my mother made was my mothers. She was satisfied that she now had her own version.
Ok my friends, a picture is worth a thousand words, so this should give you all the information you need aside from where to get them. Unfortunately I looked all over the bistate area and have only found them at Wal-Mart in Clinton, Iowa. They are amazing. If you want an incredible recipe for cookies made with these let me know... but trick or treating just started so I can't post it this second!!
Edited to add... Why didn't the picture post the first time? Let me try again. Sorry!
oh my goodness..that looks good...YES, I'd like the recipe when you get a chance!
I'm always happy to share any recipe. Everyone cooks/bakes differently, people put their own spin or special touch to every recipe. So rarely does it ever taste exactly the same. I do hope that those of you whom don't wish to share some treasured recipes that you at least pass it along to a loved one, a daughter, granddaughter, D-I-L , sister or even your sons. My grandmother passed away and I would have loved to have had some of her recipes. Can't tell you how many times the topic has come up at family gatherings when someone inevitably remarks how they sure miss Nanna's dumplins, German choc. cake, etc. At least leave it in your will. 
Ok, this is one of the best chocolate cookies I've ever had!! Seriously, try these and you won't be disappointed if you like chocolate! I love using the raspberry chocolate chips that I posted a pic of, they also come in peanut butter and caramel filled, both are mind blowing!! Or I like these really well with the milk/white chocolate swirled morsels. Oh, you can't go wrong with any flavor!! ENJOY!!
Chocolate Dream Cookies
2 c. flour
¾ c. baking cocoa
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 c. margarine
2/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
1 ½ pkg. chips (raspberry filled are awesome!)
Preheat Oven: 325°
Directions: Combine flour, cocoa, soda, and salt in small bowl. In medium bowl cream margarine, sugars, and vanilla until creamy. Beat in eggs until well combined. Slowly stir in flour mixture until well combined. Stir in full package of morsels, keeping aside the half package to place on top. Drop cookies by spoonful onto a cookie sheet and place a few morsels on top of each cookie. (For looks only.) Bake approximately 10-12 minutes, let cool 2 minutes and remove to wire rack to cool completely.
I have no recipes that I keep secret because all of mine come from cookbooks, lol. I do things a little different to try and make it my own but other than that if you really want to know, just grab a cookbook because that's probably where it came from!
Melvira -
How about we all give you shopping lists and addresses, and you can mail them (well, I could pick mine up 
) from our spectacular Walmart!
I have been told Clinton Walmart isn't "mine" anymore because I moved away, but it's the only one I will claim. Man, I really need to go to Clinton! Here we don't even have bags of vanilla tootsie rolls yet. I stole every one the kids got tonight! Aslo don't have flushable kitty litter, Arm & Hammer laundry detergent ... baking goods are so limited it's not funny ... yeah, you get the idea. Not even a fax machine! Okay, gotta stop now, my checkbook can't handle it.
This year I decided to try and sit down and write MOM'S RECIPE BOOK. We have 8 kids so I thought it would make a good Christmas gift. I have never written down anything. The girls are always calling and asking me how to make something, and since I cook with a pinch and dab and a little of this and that, it will be a real challenge for me. I thought it was time to maybe do this, so that they will have an actual copy of something. But like someone said, it is the love that makes a good cook, just have to figure how to add love to the recipes. I guess the love will come out, when they try and make the recipe, knowing it is MOMS book.
I will not share my kugel recipes with anyone. They are all adapted from the only recipe my grandmother ever shared with me, some sweet, some savory. They are written down into a book (Mom's Cookbook), that is in a safe deposit box, along with my Lambeth books, the Wilton Encyclopedias and pattern books, and the Wilton Celebrate series with pattern books.
Cupcake - congratulations on starting your own "Mom's Cookbook." It's never too early to do this, only too late.
Theresa
I will not share my kugel recipes with anyone. They are all adapted from the only recipe my grandmother ever shared with me, some sweet, some savory. They are written down into a book (Mom's Cookbook), that is in a safe deposit box, along with my Lambeth books, the Wilton Encyclopedias and pattern books, and the Wilton Celebrate series with pattern books.
Cupcake - congratulations on starting your own "Mom's Cookbook." It's never too early to do this, only too late.
Theresa
I share everything since if I enjoy a recipe that someone else has made I would like for them to share with me. I had one lady ask for a dessert recipe and she acted like I wouldn't share and said "It is probably a family secret so I understand if you don't tell." I said no problem so she offered to give me a "secret" recipe as a trade. I emailed mine nothing back from her. No big deal. Usually I hear "It never tastes as good as yours what do you do different?" Nothing--maybe it's that "love" thing?
Ok, this is one of the best chocolate cookies I've ever had!! Seriously, try these and you won't be disappointed if you like chocolate! I love using the raspberry chocolate chips that I posted a pic of, they also come in peanut butter and caramel filled, both are mind blowing!! Or I like these really well with the milk/white chocolate swirled morsels. Oh, you can't go wrong with any flavor!! ENJOY!!
Chocolate Dream Cookies
2 c. flour
¾ c. baking cocoa
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 c. margarine
2/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
1 ½ pkg. chips (raspberry filled are awesome!)
Preheat Oven: 325°
Directions: Combine flour, cocoa, soda, and salt in small bowl. In medium bowl cream margarine, sugars, and vanilla until creamy. Beat in eggs until well combined. Slowly stir in flour mixture until well combined. Stir in full package of morsels, keeping aside the half package to place on top. Drop cookies by spoonful onto a cookie sheet and place a few morsels on top of each cookie. (For looks only.) Bake approximately 10-12 minutes, let cool 2 minutes and remove to wire rack to cool completely.
I'm lovin' it ... this post is asking what we do NOT share, and here we are, getting a great cookie recipe!!! 
yep, ...... I'm stil lovin' it! 
that recipe is pretty close to the Double Chocolate Dream cookies on verybestbaking.com.....my family goes crazy for them.......I will have to try them with the raspberry chips (if I can find them)....they sound really really good...
Sheesh Melanie... I'm not giving away YOUR secret sources, am I? You're not supposed to point out the obvious!
My life is an open book, thus, I share everything!
Mouth runnith over! Yackity yack! Jibber Jabber!
My son often says, "TMI, Mom! Too Much Information!"
However, there is ONE thing I will not share........
.......Come closer so that I can whisper in your ear...
A little closer.....
I'M NOT TELLING YA!
My family has a fudge recepie that goes way back to my moms great grandma and they would kill if I shared. I also have a special rub that I put on all of my meat that only my mom knows. And then there is my favorite my homemade BBQ sauce that only me and my husband know and he doesnt really even know all of that. But all the rest I love to share its just those three that make my food stand out from all the others.
FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT MEASURE!!!!
I had to do this a few times to write down my recipes. Instead of adding the ingredient right to the mix, add it to a clean cup, then measure. Do this 2-3 times, and you can average the results to get your measurement for the recipe. HTH!
Also, there are actually measuring spoons with Pinch, dash, etc.!
I also agree with everyone that we need to write these down somewhere. Start a file, binder, or book now so they are not lost! Even if you use a "capfull" or "two shakes of cinnamon" or other unusual measuring methods, your loved ones would be able to figure out your recipe, or close to it, because they have watched you cook.
that recipe is pretty close to the Double Chocolate Dream cookies on verybestbaking.com.....my family goes crazy for them.......I will have to try them with the raspberry chips (if I can find them)....they sound really really good...
Sheesh Melanie... I'm not giving away YOUR secret sources, am I?
You're not supposed to point out the obvious! sorry Melvira.....actually I was trying to add support to your recipe! Ever since I made these cookies....they are what are most requested. I can't wait to try them with other chips (it never occurred to me to shake up the recipe a bit.--but then again I am a former accountant....we are not the most creative sort).
I share everything........even ended up sharing a couple of my ex boyfriends. Didn't plan on it but it certainly happened to me. Now I trust no one.........
I have a hard time sharing recipes that I just throw together. I learned to cook from my mom who threw everything together. Finally made my daughter come over and we measured like Zmama said. Now her hot rolls are as good as mine (or better maybe).
I have started writing down my favorite recipes and those of family members that I have gotten over the years. I write some sort of anecdote with each recipe I have gotten, like, "Mom's basic recipe for pie crust and her secret was lard. Her pies were THE BEST." On my Aunt Esther's Tomato Aspic I wrote, "No one in the family liked this except Aunt Esther and Mom. We all tolerated it because Aunt Esther swore everyone liked it." I planned on putting a cookbook together for the younger family members but have not done so. I say that will be my winter project every summer but I don't get it accomplished. So many favorite recipes die when your family members die. I did find some of my Grandma's old recipes among my mom's things when she died. Some were things that I would never make like mincemeat and fruitcake but at least I have them. I even found one for making lye soap and for making hominy.
I was in the cafe business for years and shared any recipe that people asked for. Like you have all said, it depends on who is making it as how it turns out. My mom made everything with love.
Diane
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