We are introduced, at an early age, to the sweet wondernous of a cookie. From teething cookies to soothe the swollen aching gums of incoming incisors, onto animal crackers purchased in rectangular-shaped boxes bearing a string handle for easy toting by little fingers. Deciding which part of the animal should be eaten first-the trunk of the elephant or the tail of a lion-depended on how hungry one was. Savor each and every one or simply gobble them down as fast as possible.

My next cookie memory would be the ever famous, possibly all-time favorite, the chocolate chip cookie. There is nothing better than to bite into a round circle of baked dough sprinkled with gooey melt-in-your-mouth chocolate. A chocolate chip cookie can dry tears, heal broken hearts, mend scraped knees and elbows and solve sibling arguments. Most of the problems in the world could likely be solved by a properly baked, right out of the oven, chocolate chip cookie. The power of a cookie is underestimated.

I will attempt in the next 365 days to prepare and comment on a year’s worth of different cookies-one for each day. My goal is to share with others my extreme love of cookies-baking them and especially eating them! Feel free to send me your favorite recipe, your earliest cookie memories, or how cookies may have influenced your life. Cookies Rule!


Saturday, February 6, 2010

Cookie Recipe #35 - French Lace Cookies


The name of these cookies sounds fancy and tempting-they even look fancy, but the taste is different from what I expected. They are very crispy and if you prefer crispy cookies, you will enjoy these. They are not as hard to make as they look, you just have to work quickly.
Ingredients: 1/2 cup light corn syrup, 1/2 cup shortening, 2/3 cup light brown sugar, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup finely chopped pecans, 1/4 cups chocolate chips, 1-2 tablespoons shortening.
Instructions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheets. In saucepan over medium heat, mix corn syrup, shortening, and brown sugar; bring to a boil, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Gradually stir in flour and pecans until thoroughly combined. Drop batter by teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets about 3 inches apart. (Keep remaining batter warm over another saucepan with hot water in it-double boiler). Bake only 6-8 cookies at a time.
Put in oven and bake about 5 minutes or until set. Cookies will spread and be very thin. Remove from oven and allow to cool a minute or two. During this time, if the cookies have melted into each other, take a spatula and gently seperate them, pushing the sides of each cookie inward to form circles. Remove one cookie at a time to heat-proof working area and with the handle end of a wooden spoon, start at one end of cookie and quickly roll around spoon. Remove cookie from spoon and place on cooling racks to continue cooling. Repeat with rest of cookies-if they become too hard to roll, place back in oven for a minute, then try again.
As cookies are cooling, melt chocolate chips and shortening in microwave, stirring after each minute until melted. Drizzle chocolate over each cookie and allow to harden.
Cookies do not have to be rolled; they may remain flat; just drizzle chocolate over flat cookies.
Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
Cookies Rule!!!

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