Date I made this recipe – December 4, 2016 – Holiday Party
Food!
Southern Living®
Incredible Cookies by Southern Living® magazine
Published by Oxmoor House, Inc.
ISBN: 0-8487-2389-9; © 2000; Fourth Printing 2003
Purchased at Arc's Value Village
Thrift Store, St. Paul
Recipe: Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies – p. 71
So I had my sweet treat lineup all ready to go and then as
per usual, I got "cold feet" wondering if I had enough cookies and if
so, were they the "right kind" of cookies?
And by "right kind," I mean something
chocolate. Even better? Chocolate and caramel. This recipe fit the bill nicely.
I mentioned in a previous blog that there's no rhyme or
reason per se for how we select cookies, but we do seem to opt for those that
are unique, or those that have interesting (but good) flavors, and sometimes
overlook party favorites i.e. anything chocolate.
Except that's not quite right, either. We do have chocolate cookies but not
necessarily all-chocolate cookies like these are. So at the last minute, I decided to add this
one to the mix. We made a similar cookie
the past couple of years but this one was much easier to make and more
chocolate-centric than the other one.
Plus, can we talk about the addition of caramel in the middle? Oh yes we can and it was a game-changer!
Now these almost didn't happen because while I like this
cookbook, the first couple of pages were iced and decorated cookies, and as I
also mentioned in a previous blog, I eliminate those right off the back because
they are time consuming.
Then we had some shortbread cookie options– nice, but dull –
and some "fruit" cookies but we already had one on deck and so there
went that. And so just as I was thinking
I was going to have to re-shelve this book for another day, I stumbled upon
these. And after a quick consult with
our star baker, my husband, Andy, we were "'Go' Flight!"
Cookie categories in this book are divided into the
following: "Rolled & Cut
Cookies;" "Drop Cookies;" "Shaped Cookies;" "Bar
Cookies," and "Simple Cookies." I'm not sure what distinguishes
a "simple" cookie from another cookie but the editors decided to make
it so and so it is so.
And speaking of editors, this cookbook was compiled by the
editors of Southern Living®
magazine, and while I can't say that anything I saw here smacked of being
indigenous to the south, the recipes looked good and the one we selected tasted
great. I have several other Southern Living® cookbooks that
are filled with more standard southern fare than this one, and I also enjoy
leafing through Southern Living magazine, particularly their recipe
sections. But if you are not a magazine
or cookbook person (what?!) but like looking at and making southern recipes,
their website – www.southernliving.com
– has plenty in every category that your heart desires.
Caramel-Filled
Chocolate Cookies – Yield: 4 dozen
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup cocoa
1 cup finely chopped pecans, divided
1 tablespoon sugar
1 (9-ounce) package chewy caramels in milk chocolate
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until
cream; gradually add sugars, beating well.
Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
Combine flour, baking soda, and cocoa; gradually add to
butter mixture, beating well. Stir in ½
cup pecans. Cover and chill dough at
least 2 hours. Combine remaining ½ cup
pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar.
Divide each portion into 12 pieces. Quickly press each piece of dough around a
caramel; roll into a ball. Dip 1 side of
ball in pecan mixture. Place balls,
pecan side up, 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake at 375 for 8 minutes.
(Cookies will look soft.) Cool 1
minute on baking sheets; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
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