by Joanne Fluke
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened – for baking)
3 cups flour (not sifted – pack it down in the cup when you
measure it)
2 small, 10 oz. jars of maraschino cherries37
1 pkg. chocolate chips (12 oz. pkg. - 2 cups)
½ cup sweetened condensed milk (that’s sweetened
condensed, NOT evaporated)
Melt the butter and mix in the white sugar. Set it aside on the counter to cool.
When the mixture has cooled to a temperature that won’t cook the eggs, stir in the eggs and mix thoroughly.
Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla extract, and cocoa, stirring after each addition.
Add the flour in one-cup increments, mixing after each addition. (The dough will be stiff and a bit crumbly.)
Drain the maraschino cherries into a strainer over a bowl to reserve the juice. Remove the cherry stems.
Pat the dough into walnut-sized balls with your fingers. Place the dough balls on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standardsized sheet. Press them down in center with your impeccably clean thumb to make a deep indentation. (If the health board’s around, use the bowl of a small spoon.) Place one cherry in each indentation.
Combine the chocolate chips and the sweetened condensed milk in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat them on HIGH for 1 minute. Stir. If the chips are not melted, process on HIGH in 1-minute increments until they can be stirred smooth. (You may have to keep zapping this to keep it from hardening as you bake the cookies.)
Add approximately cup (2 Tablespoons) of the reserved cherry juice to the melted chocolate mixture you made. Stir it into a thick frosting. If the frosting is too thick, add more juice in small increments. (Test it with a teaspoon. If it doesn’t glob off, it’s too thick.)
Spoon the frosting over the center of each cookie, just enough to cover each cherry. Make sure it doesn’t drip down the sides.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Hannah’s Note: For those who don’t like cherries, substitute well-drained pineapple tidbits, using the juice to thin the frosting. You can also use pecan halves or macadamia nuts and thin the frosting with cold coffee or water. If you don’t have anything to go on top, just glob the chocolate mixture into the indentations. That’s good too.
Yield: 8 to 10 dozen, depending on cookie size.
A plate of these should be in every psychiatrist’s office — two Chocolate Covered Cherry Delights will lift anyone out of a depression.
*CHOCOLATE DATE DROPS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
1 and ½ cups chopped dates (You can buy them chopped
in the store or chop pitted dates yourself.)
1 and ½ cups orange juice (if you’ve chopped the dates
yourself, use only 1 cup of orange juice)
4 and ½ cups all purpose flour (don’t sift – just scoop it
out and level it off with a knife)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup softened butter (2 sticks, 8 ounces, ½ pound)
1 and ½ cups white (granulated) sugar
3 eggs, beaten (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Approximately ½ cup white (granulated) sugar for later
Walnut halves to decorate the cookies
Hannah’s 1st Note: Hank, the bartender down at the Lake Eden Municipal Liquor Store, suggested that you could use ¼ cup of orange liqueur mixed with 1 and ¼ cups of orange juice to plump the chopped dates. (It was snowing and I didn’t have orange liqueur when I tested these, so I used straight orange juice.)
Put the dates and the orange juice in an uncovered saucepan on the stovetop. Heat on MEDIUM HIGH until the liquid just barely begins to boil. Quickly turn the heat down to SIMMER. Simmer the mixture on the stovetop for 20 minutes. Then pull the saucepan off the heat, turn off the burner, and let the mixture cool for another 20 to 30 minutes.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: If you’re in a hurry, you can speed up this cooling process by sticking the pan in the refrigerator until the mixture is approximately room temperature.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. (I stir mine gently with a whisk so that everything’s mixed together.) Set the bowl aside.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: I used an electric mixer for this part of the recipe. You can do it by hand, but it takes some muscle.
Mix the softened butter and sugar together until they’re light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until the mixture is a uniform color.
Check the date mixture to see if it’s cool enough so that it won’t cook the eggs. If it is, you can work with it now. If it’s not, have a cup of coffee and let it cool a little more.
Take your bowl out of the mixer and blend in the date mixture by hand.
Fold in half of the flour mixture carefully. The object is to keep the dough fluffy.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Fold in the remainder of the flour mixture.
Put approximately ½ cup sugar into a small bowl. Drop the dough from a teaspoon (or Tablespoon if you want larger cookies) into the bowl of sugar. Form the drops into balls with your fingers and move them to a lightly greased cookie sheet (I lined my cookie sheet with parchment paper and sprayed it lightly with Pam), 12 cookie dough drops to a standard-sized sheet.
Place a walnut half on top of each cookie, pressing it down slightly.
Bake the Chocolate Date Drops at 350 degrees F. for 9 to 10 minutes, or until just lightly browned. (Larger cookies will take a bit longer to bake.)
Yield: 5 to 6 dozen deliciously soft cookies.
CHOCOLATE MINT SOFTIES
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
2 one-ounce squares unsweetened baking chocolate
½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound) butter at room
temperature
cup brown sugar, firmly packed
cup white (granulated) sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
½ teaspoon chocolate extract (if you can’t find it, just use
vanilla)
2 cups flour (pack it down in the cup when you measure it)
¾ cup sour cream
¾ cup very coarsely chopped pecan pieces (you’ll want
some big pieces)
Line your cookie sheets with foil. Leave little “ears” of foil sticking up on the side, large enough to grab later. (This is so you can slide the cookies and the foil right off the sheet when they’re baked.)
Unwrap the squares of chocolate and break them apart. Put them in a small microwave-safe bowl. (I use a 16-ounce measuring cup.) Melt them for 90 seconds on HIGH. Stir them until they’re smooth and set them aside to cool while you mix up your cookie dough.
Hannah’s 1st Note: Mixing this dough is a lot easier with an electric mixer. You can do it by hand, but it’ll take some muscle.
Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat them on medium speed until they’re smooth. This should take less than a minute.
Add the baking soda and salt, and resume beating on medium again for another minute, or until they’re incorporated.
Add the egg and beat on medium until the batter is smooth (an additional minute should do it). Add the peppermint and chocolate extracts, and mix for about 30 seconds.
Shut off the mixer and scrape down the bowl. Then add the melted chocolate and mix again for another minute on medium speed.
Shut off the mixer and
scrape down the bowl again. At low speed, mix in half of the flour. When that’s incorporated, mix in the sour cream.
Scrape down the bowl again and add the rest of the flour. Beat until it’s fully incorporated.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and give it a stir with a spoon. Mix in the pecan pieces by hand. (A firm rubber spatula works nicely.)
Use a teaspoon to spoon the dough onto the foil-lined cookie sheets, 12 cookies to a standard-sized sheet. (If the dough is too sticky for you to work with, chill it for a half-hour or so, and try again.) Bake the cookies at 350 degrees F., for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they rise and become firm.
Slide the foil from the cookie sheet and onto a wire rack. Let the cookies cool on the rack while the next sheet of cookies is baking. When the next sheet of cookies is ready, pull the cooled cookies onto the counter or table and slide the foil with the hot cookies on the rack. Keep alternating until all the dough has been baked.
When all the cookies are cool, set them out on wax paper for frosting.
CHOCOLATE BUTTER FROSTING:
2 one-ounce squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
cup butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
approximately 2 Tablespoons cream (or milk)
Unwrap the squares of chocolate and break them apart. Put them in a small microwave-safe bowl. (I use a 16-ounce measuring cup.) Melt them for 90 seconds on HIGH. Stir until smooth and set aside to cool.
When the chocolate is cool, mix in the butter. Then stir in the powdered sugar. (There’s no need to sift unless it has big lumps.)
Mix in the vanilla extract and the cream. Beat the frosting until it’s of spreading consistency.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: This frosting is the no-fail type. If it’s too thick, add a bit more cream. If it’s too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.
Frost your cookies and leave them on the waxed paper until the frosting has hardened. (If you’re like me, you’ll sneak one while the frosting is still soft, just to test it, of course.)
When the frosting has hardened, arrange the cookies on a pretty platter and enjoy. They store well in a covered container if you separate the layers with wax paper.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: Lisa says that when she’s in a hurry and doesn’t have time to make a frosting, she just sprinkles the cookies with a little powdered sugar while they’re still warm. She does a second sprinkling when they’re cool and calls it a day.
Yield: Approximately 6 dozen cookies.
CINNAMON CRISPS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
2 cups melted butter (4 sticks, 16 ounces, 1 pound)
1 cup white sugar
2 cups brown sugar (loosely packed)
2 beaten eggs (just whip them up with a fork)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar (critical!)
1 teaspoon salt
4 and ¼ cups white flour (not sifted – pack it down in the
cup when you measure it)
Dough ball rolling mixture:
½ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Melt the butter. Add the white sugar and brown sugar, and mix well. Let the mixture sit on the counter and cool to room temperature.
When the sugar and butter mixture is cool, stir in the eggs. Mix well.
Add the vanilla extract, cinnamon, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
Add flour in one-cup increments, mixing after each addition.
Use your impeccably clean hands to roll the dough into walnut-sized balls. (If the dough is too sticky, chill for an hour before trying it again.)
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl to make the dough ball rolling mixture. (Mixing it with a fork works nicely.)
Roll the dough balls in the mixture and then place them on a greased (or sprayed with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray) cookie sheet, 12 to a standard-sized sheet. Flatten the dough balls with a greased metal spatula or the palm of your impeccably clean hand.
Bake at 325 degrees F. for 10 to 15 minutes. (The cookies should have a touch of gold around the edges.) Cool the Cinnamon Crisps on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack to complete cooling.
Yield: Approximately 8 dozen, depending on cookie size.
COCALATTAS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
1 cup melted butter (2 sticks, 8 ounces, ½ pound)
¾ cup white (granulated) sugar
¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons coconut extract 38
½ teaspoon salt
2 beaten eggs (whip them up in a glass with a fork)
1 cup finely chopped coconut (from approximately 2 cups
coconut flakes)
2 and ¼ cups flour (don’t sift – pack it down in your
measuring cup)
1 cup chocolate chips (that’s a 6-ounce package)
Melt the butter. (Microwave it for one and a half minutes on HIGH in a microwave-safe container, or melt it in a pan on the stove over LOW heat.) Mix in the white sugar and the brown sugar. Add the baking soda, coconut extract, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
Add the beaten eggs and stir them in.
Chop the coconut flakes in a food processor with the steel blade. (Most people like the coconut chopped because then it doesn’t stick between their teeth, but you don’t have to go out and buy a food processor to make these cookies. Just find the finest, smallest flakes you can in the store, spread them out on a cutting board and chop them up a little finer with a knife.) Measure the coconut AFTER it’s chopped. Pack it down when you measure it, add it to your bowl, and stir thoroughly.
Add half of the flour and all of the chocolate chips. Stir well to incorporate. Finish by mixing in the rest of the flour.
Let the dough “rest” for ten minutes on the counter, uncovered. Use a teaspoon (one from your silverware drawer, not a measuring spoon) to drop mounds of dough onto UNGREASED cookie sheets, 12 cookies to a standard-sized sheet. If the dough is too sticky to handle, chill it for 20 to 30 minutes and try again.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
Let cool for 3 minutes, then remove the cookies from the baking sheet and transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Yield: Approximately 6 dozen, depending on cookie size.
Lisa’s Note: Herb’s great-grandmother’s recipe calls for chipped chocolate, so I used chocolate chips. Hannah says that if chocolate chips had been available when Herb’s greatgrandmother was alive, she probably would have used them.
These are Herb’s new favorite cookies. He says they taste like a crunchy Mounds bar. The Pineapple Right Side Up Cookie Bars that Hannah makes especially for him are still his favorite bar cookie.
COCOA SNAPS
DO NOT preheat oven yet — dough must chill before baking.
1 and ½ cups melted butter (3 sticks, 12 ounces, ¾ pound)
2 cups cocoa powder (unsweetened)
2 cups brown sugar (pack it down when you measure it)
3 large eggs, beaten (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)
4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour (not sifted – pack it down in the cup when you
measure it)
½ cup white (granulated) sugar in a small bowl for coating dough balls
Melt butter and mix in cocoa until it’s thoroughly blended. Add brown sugar. Let it cool slightly and then mix in beaten eggs. Add soda, salt, and vanilla extract, and stir.
Add the flour in one-cup increments, mixing after each addition.
Cover the do
ugh with plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. (Overnight is fine, too.)
When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls with your impeccably clean hands. This dough may be sticky, so roll only enough for the cookies you plan to bake immediately. Then cover the dough again and return it to the refrigerator.
Roll the dough balls in the bowl of white sugar to coat them. Place them on a greased (or sprayed with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray) cookie sheet, 12 to a standard-sized sheet. Flatten them with a spatula (or the heel of your impeccably clean hand if the health board’s not around).
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes, and then remove the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. (If you leave them on the cookie sheets for too long, they’ll stick.)
Tracey says these taste like her favorite chocolate animal crackers, except better because she doesn’t have to pick them out from all the vanilla ones in the box.
CORN COOKIES
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
1 cup butter (2 sticks, 8 ounces, ½ pound)
2 cups white (granulated) sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 15-ounce (by weight) can mashed pumpkin (I used Libby’s)
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup golden raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon