* I use a 3 to 1 ratio of butter to shortening.

** Any candy that could look like an eye; I used chopped Hot Tamales and chocolate chips

Mix butter/shortening, sugar, egg and vanilla thoroughly. In a separate bowl, stir flour, soda, and salt together. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and you can form it into a ball. If you are doubling the recipe, form into two balls.On a clean, lightly floured surface, form the dough-ball(s) into a cylinder-like shape, approximately 2½ across, but with a flat bottom. Wrap dough cylinder(s) well in saran wrap. Chill in refrigerator until firm. 

Heat oven to 375 degrees. (Its a good idea to have an inside oven thermometer to check your ovens temperature).

Cut roll in 1/4 slices. Place cookie dough slices a little apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Place candy eyes in the right location on each cookie and lightly depress the candy into the dough. To make each cookie more guinea-pig shaped, use your finger to press inward at the area of each cookie where a neck would be. Then pinch a little dough together at the forehead area of each guinea pig cookie. When you get good at this, you can use both hands to do a pinch and a poke all at once on each cookie.

Bake 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and leave cookies on baking sheet for 1 minute, then move cookies to a cooling rack.  Cookies will become crunchier as they cool. This recipe makes about 30 delicious cookies. (Double the ingredients listed above to double the yield of cookies.)