. . . not just when they’re sitting there tempting you to skip supper and just pig out on sugar, but you know what? Making cookies is more fun than revising a manuscript, too! At least right now! At least this scene!
Aargh, what a day, just had to FORCE myself to sit down and work on this one scene. Not like it was exactly hard, just so not in the mood to work on it. Good thing I don’t depend on, you know, being in the MOOD.
Meanwhile! Here is a totally fantastic cookie that is somehow more than the sum of its parts.
Chocolaty Double Crunchers
1/2 C butter or margarine
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 C quick oats
1/2 C flaked coconut
1 C crushed cornflakes — whirl ’em in a food processor, you don’t want powdered cornflakes, but you want ’em more crushed than you can easily do by rolling a rolling pin over them or whatever.
Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 C powdered sugar
6 oz semisweet chocolate chips
Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients and stir in. Shape into balls smaller than seems reasonable . . . like about a tsp or so . . . and set on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten with a glass dipped in flour. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely on racks.
Now, soften the cream cheese and chocolate chips in the microwave, stir until smooth, then add the powdered sugar.
Make sandwich cookies. Like many sandwich cookies, these are best after they have had time for the cookie to absorb a little moisture from the filling. They freeze perfectly and, in fact, are very tasty right out of the freezer — no need to thaw, imho.
These don’t look especially fancy, but they’re very very good. The cornflakes are key, don’t substitute plain oatmeal cookies. Well, unless you really want to, I guess.
Now, here’s a much fancier cookie that will definitely make everybody’s top ten list! They’re fiddly and you might want to recruit some helpful child if you have one handy.
Caramel Pecan Treasures
1 C butter (no substitutes)
3/4 C brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
30 caramels, cut in half and each half flattened as flat as possible. I suggest leaning on each half hard with the flat of a chef’s knife. I also suggest delegating this part if possible.
6 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 Tbsp shortening
60 pecan halfs. Halves? Whatever.
Now: as always, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the vanilla. Combine the flour and baking powder and stir that in. Roll into 60 balls. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten slightly with a glass dipped in flour. Bake at 325 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until slightly golden.
Quickly place caramel halves on each cookie while cookie is still as warm as possible.
Melt the chocolate with the shortening. I suggest you do this in the microwave, but if you love your double boiler, suit yourself. Drizzle or pipe or spread a little chocolate over each cookie. Top each cookie with a pecan half before the chocolate sets.
If you have willing help, you might want to double this recipe, because you will love it but it IS a pain in the neck, all those dratted caramels, I mean, honestly.
Also! Puppy update! Yep, still cute! In fact, very much in the cute sluglike stage because their eyes aren’t open yet. You know, a puppy this age? The brainwaves are the same whether it’s asleep or awake, isn’t that an entertaining little bit of trivia?
But the little boy rolled on his back today and yawned and stretched and waved his feet in the air and, okay, I have to say, major cute moment there.
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