Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook Part 44

cup chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet)

1 egg

approximately 3 dozen Kraft Caramels (the soft kind that are

individually wrapped they're about a half-inch square)

Cut the b.u.t.ter into 12 pieces and place them in a work bowl. With two forks, mix in the flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Continue mixing until the dough is crumbly.

Hannah's 1st Note: You can also do this in a food processor with the steel blade, the same way you'd mix pie crust. It's a lot easier that way.

Melt the chocolate chips in a small microwave-safe bowl (I use a gla.s.s measuring cup) for 40 seconds on HIGH. Stir them to see if they're melted. (Chocolate chips may maintain their shape until they're stirred.) If they're not melted, microwave them in 20-second intervals until they are.

Add the melted chips to the dough mixture. Stir (or process, if you've used a food processor) until the chocolate is mixed in and the crumbly dough is a uniform color. Beat the egg in a small cup or bowl and add it to the work bowl. Mix it in (or process with the steel blade) until a soft, piecrust-type dough results.

Divide the dough into four equal parts. Tear off four pieces of wax paper about a foot and a half long. You'll use these to hold your dough when you roll it out. Turn a piece of wax paper so that the long side faces you and place one piece of dough in the center. Using your hands, roll the dough into a log that's approximately 12 inches long and 3/4 inch wide. Do the same for the three remaining pieces of dough.

Wrap the rolls in the wax paper you used to roll them and put them into a freezer bag. Freeze them for an hour or two until firm. (Overnight is fine, too.) When you're ready to bake, take out the dough and let it warm up on the counter for fifteen minutes. Then preheat the oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

Unwrap a roll of dough and cut it into inch pieces with a sharp knife. Place the pieces cut side down on a greased or parchment-covered cookie sheet, 12 pieces to a standard-sized sheet.

Unwrap 6 caramels and cut them in half. I find this is easiest if you dip the blades of your kitchen scissors in water and then cut the caramels with the scissors. You can also spray the blades of your kitchen scissors with Pam and try it that way.

Press a half caramel into the center of each chocolate cookie. Be careful not to press it all the way to the bottom. (If the dough is still too cold to press in the caramels, let it warm up a bit more and try again.) Make sure your caramels are surrounded by cookie dough and won't melt over the sides of the cookies when they bake.

Bake each pan of cookies at 325 degrees F., for approximately 15 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Let the cookies cool for a minute or two on the pan and then remove them to a wire rack to complete cooling.

When all the cookies are baked and cooled, spread foil or waxed paper under the wire rack containing the cookies and prepare to glaze them. (I use extra-wide foil because it's easy to crimp up the edges and make it into a disposable drip pan.) CHOCOLATE GLAZE:.

1 and cups milk chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)

cup water

cup light corn syrup (I used Karo)

1 cup white (granulated) sugar

approximately 6 dozen pecan halves

Measure out the chips and put them in a small bowl so they're ready to add when it's time.

In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and white sugar. Place the saucepan on high heat, and STIRRING CONSTANTLY, bring the contents to a boil. Boil for 15 seconds, still STIRRING CONSTANTLY, and pull it off the heat.

Dump in the chips, all at once, and poke them down until almost all of them are covered by the hot syrup mixture. Let the saucepan sit on a cold burner (or on a pad on the counter) for 2 and minutes.

Gently stir the mixture with a whisk (a fork will also work) until it's almost completely smooth. Be careful not to whisk in air, or you'll get bubbles.

Set the glaze down on a potholder next to your cookies. Spoon a little over the top of each cookie and let it drizzle down the sides. (You can also pour it over the cookies, but that's a little harder to do.) When you're all through, top each cookie with a pecan half, making sure the nut sticks to the chocolate glaze.

Leave the cookies on the wire rack until the glaze has hardened. This will take approximately 30 minutes. Then eat and enjoy!

Lisa's Note: When I'm in a hurry and don't have time to glaze the cookies, I just sprinkle them with a little powdered sugar, serve them with chocolate ice cream, and call it a day.

Hannah's 2nd Note: Norman says to warn any friends with temporary fillings that the caramels in the center of these cookies are chewy.

Hannah's 3rd Note: You can store these cookies in a box lined with wax paper in the refrigerator, but take them out at least thirty minutes before you serve them so that the caramel in the center will soften and not break a tooth!

Yield: Approximately 6 dozen very tasty cookies.

MOLa.s.sES CRACKLES.

DO NOT pre-heat oven yet. Dough must chill before baking.

1 and cups melted b.u.t.ter (3 sticks, 12 ounces, pound)

2 cups white (granulated) sugar

cup mola.s.ses (use Brier Rabbit green label or a very

dark mola.s.ses)

2 beaten eggs (just whip them up in a gla.s.s with a fork)

4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons cinnamon 48

1 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly ground is best)

4 cups flour (don't sift it pack it down in the cup when

you measure it)

cup white sugar in a small bowl for rolling the dough b.a.l.l.s Melt the b.u.t.ter in a large microwave bowl. Mix in the sugar and the mola.s.ses. Let it cool on the counter while you mix up the eggs.

When the mixture in the bowl is not so hot it'll cook the eggs, add them and stir them in thoroughly. Then add the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, stirring after each addition.

Add flour in one-cup increments, mixing after each addition. The dough will be quite stiff at this point.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least two hours. (Overnight is even better.) When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

Roll the chilled dough into walnut-sized b.a.l.l.s. Put some sugar in a small bowl and roll the b.a.l.l.s in it to coat them. Place them on a greased cookie sheet (12 to a standard-sized sheet.) Press them down just a little so they won't roll off when you carry them to the oven.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies will flatten out, all by themselves. Let them cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheets and then move them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Hannah's Note: Mola.s.ses cookies freeze well. Roll them up in foil, put them in a freezer bag, and they'll be fine for 3 months or so. (You'd better lock your freezer if you want them to last that long.) Yield: 8 to 10 dozen, depending on cookie size.

MYSTERY COOKIES.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

cup melted b.u.t.ter (1 stick, 4 ounces, pound)

3 and cups white (granulated) sugar