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A Cookie to Last the Year

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Before you dig through the cabinet looking for your collection of holiday goodies, try what I call once-a-year chocolate chip cookies, so named because I can’t be responsible for the results if you make them more often.

The recipe is the product of much experimentation (I’d say about 10 excess pounds’ worth). The base is a butter cookie, chock-full of chocolate and nuts. If it is eaten fresh from the oven, it is slightly crunchy and very buttery tasting. If it sits for a day, it becomes tender and rich tasting but without the definitive butter flavor.

As a cautionary measure, I designed the recipe to yield six or seven cookies, not enough to get people into real trouble. One cookie, wrapped in iridescent paper, makes a nice gift for a bus driver; a half dozen should guarantee door-to-door service.

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For a delicious dessert that is meant to be shared by a favorite other, prepare Cranberry-Mango Cobbler, a luscious combination of fruit and a biscuit-like crust.

ONCE-A-YEAR CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup flour minus 1 tablespoon

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup chunky chocolate pieces

1/4 cup salted, roasted pecan halves

It’s essential to use the best-quality chocolate available for these cookies. I recommend buying 1 (3-ounce) bar of semisweet chocolate and breaking it into bite-size pieces.

Cream butter and sugar in bowl of heavy-duty electric mixer until light and creamy. Beat in vanilla. Add flour and baking powder and beat just until mixed. Mix in chocolate pieces and pecans. Dough will be firm. Shape into 6 or 7 lemon-sized balls. Arrange 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Using palm of hand, flatten each cookie to 1/2-inch thickness.

Bake cookies at 300 degrees until faintly browned at edges, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

Makes 6 or 7 cookies.

CRANBERRY-MANGO COBBLER

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup milk

1 very large, ripe mango, peeled, pitted and diced

1 cup cranberries

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, optional

Combine flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder and salt in bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in milk to make wet dough. Set aside.

Combine mango, cranberries, remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, ginger and lemon juice in buttered 1 1/2- to 2-quart glass baking dish. Drop batter around inside edge of dish, forming ring of drop biscuits. Sprinkle walnuts over batter.

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Bake at 400 degrees 30 to 40 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and wood pick inserted into center of biscuit comes out clean. If biscuits are brown but not cooked through, place sheet of foil over dish and continue baking. Serve warm.

Makes 2 servings.

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