Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (30 page)

Chocolate Chip Health-Food Cookies

36 TO 40
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ARGE
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OOKIES

These are from Key West, Florida. They are large, thick, semi-soft drop cookies loaded with chocolate chips and delicious health-food goodies. Great for filling a few cookie jars, or for packing in a box and mailing, or for a lunch box or picnic.

1½ cups sifted all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1½ teaspoons cinnamon

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon ginger

2 tablespoons salad oil

1 cup regular or quick-cooking (not instant) rolled oats

¼ pound (1 stick) sweet butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

½ cup honey

1 egg (graded large, extra-large, or jumbo)

¼ cup wheat germ, raw or toasted

¼ cup milk

8 ounces (1 cup) pitted dates, coarsely cut

6 ounces (1½ cups) walnuts or pecans, cut or broken into large pieces

3½ ounces (1 firmly packed cup) shredded coconut

Optional: 2½ ounces (½ cup) sunflower seeds, either toasted and salted, or raw and unsalted (available in health-food stores)

12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate morsels

Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil.

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger, and set aside.

In any shallow cake pan (round or square), stir the salad oil into the rolled oats to mix. Bake for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then set aside to cool.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter. Add the vanilla, sugar, and honey and beat to mix. Add the egg and beat well (the mixture will look curdled). On low speed add the sifted dry ingredients and then the wheat germ, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating only until incorporated. Add the milk and beat to mix. Remove from the mixer.

With a wooden or rubber spatula stir in the rolled oats, dates, nuts, coconut, optional sunflower seeds, and then the chocolate morsels.

These should be large cookies; use a heaping teaspoonful or a well-rounded tablespoonful of the dough for each cookie. Place them about 1½ inches apart on the foil-lined sheets.

Bake two sheets at a time for about 18 to 20 minutes, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to back as necessary during baking to insure even browning. Bake until the cookies are nicely colored all over and until they spring back when lightly pressed with a fingertip. (If you bake one sheet at a time, bake it on the upper rack.) Be very careful not to overbake these or the bottoms will burn.

With a wide metal spatula transfer the cookies to racks to cool. Then store airtight.

Colorado Cowboy Cookies

36
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OOKIES

In Colorado any oatmeal cookie that contains chocolate chips is called a Cowboy Cookie. I’ve had many versions and no two were alike. The cowboy who gave me this recipe said, “These are enough for a cowboy and his horse.” I divided his recipe (we don’t have a horse) but you can multiply it by any number. These are deliciously crisp cookies that will keep very well in a cookie jar.

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ pound (1 stick) sweet butter

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg (graded large or extra-large)

1 cup quick-cooking (not “instant”) or regular rolled oats

3 ounces (½ cup) semisweet chocolate morsels

2 ounces (generous ½ cup) walnuts or pecans, cut or broken into medium-size pieces

Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter. Add the vanilla and then both sugars and beat well. Add the egg and beat well. On low speed gradually add the sifted dry ingredients and beat, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula, until incorporated.

Remove the bowl from the mixer. Stir in the oats and then the chocolate morsels and nuts. Transfer to a small bowl for ease in handling. (The dough will be rather stiff.)

Use a well-rounded (slightly less than heaping) teaspoonful of the dough to make each cookie. Place the mounds 2 inches apart on the aluminum foil. Bake for about 18 minutes until the cookies are golden-colored and completely dry. During baking reverse the sheets top to bottom and front to back to insure even browning.

If you bake only one sheet at a time, bake it on the upper rack.

With a wide metal spatula transfer the cookies to racks to cool. When completely cool, store them airtight.

Chocolate Chip-Coconut Macaroons

36
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OOKIES

These are white cookies with chocolate chips and a layer of melted chocolate on the bottom. They are easy to make and they keep well.

⅓ cup sifted all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

⅛ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs (graded large)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

10½ ounces (4 loosely packed cups) shredded coconut

6 ounces (1 cup) semisweet chocolate morsels

Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

Place the butter in a small pan over low heat to melt. Then set it aside to cool but do not let it harden—it must stay liquid.

Meanwhile, in the small bowl of an electric mixer add the sugar to the eggs and beat at high speed for 5 minutes until the mixture is almost white.

On lowest speed add the sifted dry ingredients, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating only until incorporated.

Remove from the mixer, fold in the liquid butter and then the vanilla. Then fold in the coconut and finally the chocolate morsels.

Use a well-rounded teaspoonful of the mixture for each cookie and place them 1½ inches apart on the aluminum foil.

Bake two sheets at a time, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to back once during baking to insure even browning. Bake for about 18 minutes or until some parts of the tops of the cookies are lightly golden-colored—some parts of the cookies will still be white.

With a wide metal spatula transfer the cookies to racks to cool. If you bake one sheet at a time, bake it on the lower rack.

While the cookies are baking or cooling prepare the glaze.

GLAZE

6 ounces semisweet chocolate (see Note)

Break up the chocolate and place it in the top of a small double boiler over warm water on low heat to melt slowly. Cover until partially melted, then uncover and stir until completely smooth. Remove the top of the double boiler from the hot water.

Cover one or two cookie sheets with wax paper or aluminum foil.

With a small metal spatula spread some of the chocolate on the bottoms of the cookies, spreading it smoothly all the way to the edges in a rather thin layer. After you spread the chocolate on a cookie, place it chocolate side down on the lined cookie sheet.

Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm and the cookies can be lifted easily. Place them in an airtight box.

These are best if they are stored in the refrigerator and served cold if you have used real chocolate.

NOTE
:
If you use a compound chocolate (see page 5) for the glaze, it will dry quickly without refrigeration, the finished cookies may stand at room temperature, and the chocolate will not discolor. Otherwise, any real semisweet chocolate may be used, with the above directions for refrigerating.

Icebox Cookies

VIENNESE CHOCOLATE ICEBOX COOKIES

CHOCOLATE-NUT ICEBOX COOKIES

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE ICEBOX COOKIES

CHOCOLATE ALMOND SP-ICEBOX COOKIES

Icebox cookies are fun. Prepare the dough ahead of time, store it in the freezer, then slice as many as you want and bake whenever you want.

Viennese Chocolate Icebox Cookies

48
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OOKIES

Fragile, delicate, crisp, dark, delicious.

3 ounces (3 squares) unsweetened chocolate

½ pound (2 sticks) sweet butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon almond extract

⅔ cup granulated sugar

1 egg (graded large)

1½ cups sifted all-purpose flour

A few teaspoons crystal sugar (see page 7)

or

A few tablespoons blanched almonds, coarsely chopped

Place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on moderate heat. Cover and let stand only until melted. Remove from the hot water, and set aside, uncovered, to cool slightly.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and the granulated sugar and beat to mix, then beat in the egg and then the melted chocolate. On low speed gradually add the flour, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula and beating only until the mixture is smooth.

Tear off a piece of wax paper about 15 inches long. Place the dough by large spoonfuls down the length of the paper, forming a heavy strip of dough about 12 inches long.

Bring up both long sides of the paper. With your hands press against the paper, forming the dough into a roll about 2 inches in diameter, or a block about 2½ inches by 1 inch—either shape should be about 12 inches long. Wrap the paper around the dough, smooth the sides and the ends.

Slide a cookie sheet under the paper and transfer the dough to the refrigerator at least until it is firm.

This dough may be kept in the refrigerator for a week or two, or it may be frozen. But it must be sliced at refrigerator temperature—it will crack if you slice it frozen.

When ready to bake adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil.

Place the dough on a board, open the top of the paper, and with a sharp, firm knife cut the dough into ¼-inch slices. (Wipe the blade of the knife whenever any of the dough sticks to it.)

Place the cookies about 1 inch apart on the aluminum foil.

Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with the crystal sugar or chopped almonds.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to back once to insure even baking. Test by touching the tops with a fingertip—when they just feel firm they are done. Watch them carefully—chocolate burns easily if overbaked.

With a wide metal spatula, transfer the cookies to racks to cool.

Handle with care—these crack easily. Place them in layers on a tray or in a freezer box—not in a cookie jar. Cover airtight.