Chocolate Covered Cherry Delight

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

1 cup melted butter (2 sticks)
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup cocoa powder
3 cups flour (not sifted)
2 small, 10-oz. jars of maraschino cherries***
1 pkg. chocolate chips (6 oz. pkg-2 cups)
1/2 cup condensed sweetened milk

Melt butter and mix in sugar. Let mixture cool and add eggs. Mix it thoroughly and then add baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla, and cocoa, stirring after each addition. add flour and mix well. (Dough will be stiff and a bit crumbly.)

Drain cherries and remove stems, reserving juice.

Pat dough into walnut-sized balls with your fingers. Place on greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. Press down in center with thumb to make a deep indentation. Place one cherry in each indentation.

In a saucepan over simmering water (double boiler) combine the chocolate chips and the condensed milk. Heat on low until the chips are melted. (You can also do this in the microwave,  but you’ll have to keep zapping it to keep it from hardening.)

Add approx. 1/8 cup of the reserved cherry juice and stir to a thick sauce. if sauce is too thick. add more juice in small increments. (Test it with a teaspoon. If it doesn’t glob off, it's too thick.)

Spoon the sauce over the center of each cookie just enough to cover each cherry. Make sure it doesn't drip down the sides.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to rack to finish cooling.

***For those who don’t like cherries. substitute well-drained pineapple tidbits, using the juice to thin the frosting. You can also use pecan halves or macadamia nuts and thin the frosting with cold coffee or water. If you don't have anything so go on tap. just glob the chocolate mixture into the indentations. That's good, too.

Black and Whites

Do not preheat oven yet... dough must chill before baking.

2 cups chocolate chips
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)
2 cups brown sugar (or white sugar with a scant 2 tablespoons molasses mixed in)
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour (not sifted)

approx. 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar) in a small bowl

melt chocolate chips with butter (microwave on high power for 2 minutes, then stir until smooth)

mix in sugar and let cool. add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. mix in vanilla, baking powder, and salt. add flour and mix well

Chill dough for at least 4 hours. (Overnight is even better.)

When you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees, rack in the middle position.

Roll walnut-sized dough balls with your hands. (Messy-wear plastic gloves if you wish.) Drop the dough balls into a bowl with the powdered sugar and roll them around until they’re coated. (If the dough gets too warm, stick it back in the refrigerator until you can handle it again.)

Place the balls on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. (They will flatten when they bake.) Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes. let them cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, and then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

Pecan Chews

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

1 cup butter (2 sticks. ½ pound)
3 cups brown sugar ***
4 eggs, beaten (with a fork is fine)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups finely chopped pecans
4 cups flour

Melt butter and add brown sugar. Mix well and let cool. Add beaten eggs and mix. Add salt, baking soda, vanilla, and nuts. Mix well. Add flour and mix until flour is thoroughly distributed.

Form dough into balls with your fingers. (Make them the size of a walnut with shell.) Place them on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. Press them down with a spatula. (Spray it with Pam first, or grease it.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let cookies set up on sheet for one minute, then remove them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

*** There’s no need to keep brown sugar in stock. It can be easily made with white sugar and molasses, 1/8 cup molasses for every 3 cups of white sugar. (That’s how they manufacture it, really. And it’ll save you from having to deal with all those lumps.) Just add the molasses to the white sugar and stir until it is thoroughly and evenly mixed in.

(There’s no Problem if your recipe calls for dark brown sugar or light brown sugar-just mix in molasses until it’s the right color.)

Regency Ginger Crisps

Do not preheat oven yet-dough must chill before baking.

3/4 cup melted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup brown sugar
1 large beaten egg (or two medium, just whip them up with a fork)
4 tablespoons molasses (that's 1/4 cup)***
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 1/4 cups flour (not sifted)
1/2 cup white sugar in a small bowl (for later)

Melt butter and mix in sugar. Let mixture cool and then add egg(s). Add soda, molasses, salt, and ginger. Stir it thoroughly. Add flour and mix in. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour. (Overnight is even better.)

When the dough has chilled. preheat oven to 375 degrees, rack in the middle position.

Roll dough into walnut-sized balls with your hands. Roll the dough balls in white sugar. (Just dump them in the bowl with the sugar and shake the bowl gently to coat them.) Place them on greased cookie sheets, 12 to a standard sheet. Flatten them with a spatula.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until nicely browned. Cool on cookie sheets for no more than 1 minute, and then remove to wire rack to finish cooling. (If you leave these on the cookie sheets for too long, they'll stick.)

***To measure molasses just spray the inside of a measuring cup with Pam so that the molasses won't stick to the sides of the cup

Aunt Kitty’s Cottage Cheese Pancakes (Poor Man’s Blintzes)

2 cups cottage cheese

4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour

Mix cottage cheese, eggs, salt, and flour together in a small bowl. Let the mixture “rest” in the refrigerator for an hour (overnight is fine, too).

Heat a nonstick griddle to 350 degrees F, or use a frying pan that's been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray (The frying pan is ready when a drop of water sizzles and “dances” across the surface.)

Spoon pancake batter in pan or on griddle and fry until the bubbles on the surface of the pancake remain open. (You can check to see if the bottom side is done by lifting the edge with a spatula.) When the bottom side is a nice golden color, dip the pancake over and cook until the bottom color matches the top.

Place the finished pancakes on a plate, sprinkle artificial sweetener over the tops and add sliced fruit of your choice.

Poor Man’s Blintzes

Mix up the pancakes as directed and fry them. When they’re done, spread each pancake with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Top with spoonfuls of jam, add a generous dollop of sour cream, and enjoy.

Yield: 8 medium-sized pancakes.

Chocolate Chip Crunch Cookie

Preheat oven to 375° F, rack in the middle position.

1 cup butter (2 sticks, melted)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 beaten eggs (you can beat them up with a fork)
2 1/2 cups flour (not sifted)
2 cups crushed corn flakes (just crush them with you hands)
1-2 cup chocolate chips

Melt butter, add the sugars and stir. Add soda, salt, vanilla, and beaten eggs. Mix well. Then add flour and stir it in. Add crushed corn flakes and chocolate chips and mix it all thoroughly.

Form dough into walnut-sized balls with your fingers and place on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard sheet. Press them down with a floured or greased fork in a crisscross pattern (the same method as peanut butter cookies).

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack until they're completely cool. (The rack is important-it makes them crisp.)

Pineapple Right-Side-Up Cookie Bars

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

(Another recipe with a no-roll crust-don't you just love it?)

2 cups flour (no need to sift)
1 cup softened butter (2 sticks, 1/2 pound
1/2 cup white sugar
4 beaten eggs (just whip them up with a fork)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup frozen concentrated pineapple juice
1/2 cup drained crushed pineapple (if you have any left over, freeze it)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons flour (that's 1/4 cup-don ’t bother to sift)

FIRST STEP: Dump pineapple in a strainer and let it drain while you do this step. Cream butter with sugar and add flour. Mix well. (You can also do this in a food processor with hard butter cut into chunks and the steel blade.) Spread mixture out in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan (that‘s a standard sheet cake pan), and press it down evenly with your hands.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven. (Don’ t turn off oven !)

SECOND STEP: Mix eggs with sugar. Add pineapple concentrate, drained pineapple, and mix. Add salt and baking powder and stir it all up. Then add flour and mix thoroughly. (This will be runny-it’ll set in the oven.)

Pour this mixture on top of the pan you just baked and stick it back into the oven. Bake at 350 degrees F. for another 45-50 minutes. Then remove from oven.

Let cool thoroughly, then sprinkle a little powdered sugar on the top and cut into brownie-sized bars.

Orange Snaps

Don’t preheat the oven yet - this cookie dough has to chill

1 ½ cups melted butter (3 sticks)

2 cups white sugar

½ cup frozen orange juice concentrate (I used Minute Maid)

2 beaten eggs (just beat them up with a fork)

4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

½ to 1 teaspoon orange zest*

4 cups flour (you don’t have to sift it)

⅓ cup white sugar for later

*The orange zest adds a burst of flavor. Zest is finely grated orange peel, just the orange part, not the white. You can use a grater to scrape peel from an orange, or a zester which removes thin layers of peel in strips. If you use a zester, you’ll have to finely chop the strips of peel with a knife.

Melt the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Add the sugar and orange juice concentrate, and stir. Let the mixture cool slightly. Add the eggs, baking soda, salt, and orange zest, stirring after each addition. Add the flour in increments and mix thoroughly. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough at least 2 hours (overnight is even better).

When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F., with rack in the middle position.

Roll the chilled dough into walnut-sized balls with your hands. Put ⅓ cup white sugar in a small bowl and roll the balls in it. Place them on a greased cookie sheet, 12 to a standard cookie sheet. Press the dough balls down just a little so they won’t roll off onto the floor when you put them in the oven.

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

These cookies freeze well. Roll them up in foil, put them in a freezer bag, and they’ll be fine for 3 months or so, if they last that long.

Yield: Approximately 10 dozen thin cookies, depending on cookie size.