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!


Sunday, March 14, 2010

Cookie Recipe #71 - Chocolate Florentine Cookies


Creamy chocolate encased in a pair of chewy, crunchy cookies helps to wake you up after losing that hour of sleep last night (as long as you remembered to turn your clock ahead).
Ingredients: 2/3 cup butter, 2 cups quick oats, uncooked, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup corn syrup, 1/4 cup milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 cups chocolate chips, milk or semi-sweet.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt; combine well. Drop by teaspoonfuls, about 3 inches apart, onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Spread thin with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 5-7 minutes or until brown around the edges of cookies. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet. Peel away from paper and set aside. Place chocolate chips in microwaveable bowl and heat for one minute; remove and stir; repeat until chips are melted. Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate on bottom of one cookie and top with another.
Makes 3 dozen sandwiches.
"Treasury of Holiday Cookies" published by Publications International, Ltd, Lincolnwood, IL, in 1994.
Cookies Rule!!!

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