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!


Monday, March 22, 2010

Cookie Recipe #79 -Chocolate-Gilded Danish Sugar Cones


It's a Monday morning mishap; one good cookie amongst a sea of disaster. I had about 6 cookies turn out okay out of the 16 it's supposed to make. They taste good-crispy with a touch of chocolate makes you want to fill them with ice cream, but to get to that point takes alot of patience and practice. By the end I was getting down how long to bake, how long to cool, how to wrap around the end of my rolling pin handle and trying not to get frustrated. For the brave, here are the ingredients and the instructions:
Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, softened, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 2 egg whites, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 cup chocolate chips.
Instructions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease baking sheets generously. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Blend in flour. In separate bowl, beat egg whites until frothy, then add to butter mixture. Add vanilla, blending well.
Using a tablespoon, place 4 mounds of dough on prepared baking sheet, about 4 inches apart. Spread mounds thin with the back of a spoon dipped in water to 3-inch diameter. Bake about 5 minutes or until edges are just barely golden (do not overbake or cookies become crisp too quickly and are difficult to shape). Remove from oven and quickly loosen each cookie from baking sheet with thin spatula. Shape each into a cone; cones become firm as they cool. (If cookies become too firm to shape, return to oven for a few seconds to soften).
Note: I found it easier to work with just 2 cookies at a time. After removing from oven, start lifting around edges of cookies with spatula, gradually working underneath each one. I found that the end handle of my rolling pin worked well for wrapping the cookie around. I allowed the cookie to set around the handle for about a minute, then removed it and worked with the other cookie.
Melt chocolate in microwave for a minute or two, stirring after each minute, until chocolate is melted. Dip tips of cones into chocolate and set on cooling racks to harden.
Even if your cookies don't turn out, crumble them up and sprinkle them on top of a bowl of ice cream or just eat-they do taste good.
Makes about 16 cookies. "Treasury of Holiday Cookies" published by Publications International, Ltd, Lincolnwood, IL, in 1994.
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