Whenever a TV show had Husband “surprise” Wife with the news that a business associate was coming to dinner, I’d think, “Who really DOES that?” Surprise! Larry just did. Told me Tuesday that Bruce was coming over Thursday for a meeting and dinner. WHEW. I already had the makings for an entree post I’d planned, so this was my chance to pull off a quirky little idea to chocolate dip something. Do you think these Milk Chocolate Dipped Shortbread work?

I cheated. Hard as I tried to find a shortbread without hydrogenated fats, #FAIL. Ordinarily, Paul Newman is my “it cookie” brand, but my store only had their newtons. Annie’s Graham Cracker Bunnies were too tiny.  *sigh* Lorna Doones have hydrogenated fat, a frankenfood I abhor. But I bought them just for this. Tell me, do you know of a healthy cookie to dip in chocolate? Just give me a comment. Meanwhile, here are:

Milk Chocolate Covered Shortbread Cookies

• 1 package (11.5 oz) milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet)
• 1 sleeve shortbread cookies (a box holds 2 sleeves)
• Wilton Pearlized Sprinkles “sugar pearls”

Place a rack over a baking sheet for your dripping hot cookies.  In the top of a double boiler over hot water, gently melt the chips, stirring with a spatula. One at a time, drop a cookie into the melted chocolate, and using two forks, turn it over, swirl around a bit to get fully coated, then lift onto the rack. After three or four dipped cookies, add sprinkles. Once all are done, chill in the refrigerator 15 minutes or until chocolate is solid. Remove from fridge and store in an airtight container. This coated one sleeve of cookies: 21 cookies.

It’s a long story getting to these macaroons, starting with the chocolate. On the way home from niece Nicole’s wedding in San Diego, we stopped at John and Gail’s. Gail had “too much” chocolate from an Erie, PA store called Stefanelli’s Candies. I took some off her hands.

Next day was my cookie-decorating at Project Angel Food (which contributed to THIS trouble with my sugar cookies). One task: dipping fresh-baked macaroons in chocolate. HUNDREDS. Chef Angelique and I yakkity yakked as I mastered her technique. Aha, I can do that!

THEN, the request for LA Food Bloggers to assist “Stir It 28,” a fundraiser for Haiti Relief. What to make as my contribution? Easy, easy, easy: Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons! (Plus Killer Deviled Eggs).

I had the Project Angel Food macaroon recipe (thank you Kitchen Manager Derbeh), but reminded myself to check the back of the Baker’s® coconut (my mantra: national brands always publish their very best tried-and-true recipes on their package). That’s my choice recipe, yet still I slightly tweaked. It bugged me that using four egg whites would leave me four egg yolks; Egg Beaters to the rescue. And I simplified some instructions. And then dipped in MILK chocolate, because that is what Gail gave me. OMG, luscious.  PS – I don’t work for Baker’s® nor did they give me any coconut, but since it really WAS their package and recipe and coconut, you should know.

Milk Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

Recipe Adapted from Baker’s® Coconut

• 1 pkg. (14 oz.) Baker’s® Angel Flake Coconut (5 1/3 cups)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 6 Tbsp. flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 4 egg whites (or 1/2 cup Egg Beaters*)
• 1 tsp. almond extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix coconut, sugar, flour and salt. In a small bowl, blend together egg whites and almond extract, then drizzle over the coconut mixture. Using a spatula, blend well.

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, spray with non-stick spray. Using your hands, roll approx. 1 Tbsp. of dough into a ball and place on paper, press the top to flatten slightly. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove cookies to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen.

TO CHOCOLATE DIP: Melt 1 pkg. (8 oz) chocolate chips (milk or semi-sweet) in the top of a double boiler (make sure not a single drop of water hits the chocolate, or it will “seize” and you have to start over). Once completely cooled, place one cookie at a time into the chocolate and move around slightly to coat the edges, then use a fork to lift the cookie out, scrape the bottom on the side of the pan and place back onto the parchment paper. Once all cookies are dipped, refrigerate for 30 minutes to harden.

*Egg Beaters are egg whites. I estimated that the white of an egg is basically half the volume of a whole egg. 1/4 cup Egg Beaters = 1 whole egg, so 1/8 cup = the volume of just the white. Stick with me here. 4 egg whites = 4/8 cup = 1/2 cup by Patti’s math.

Sigh — even a really cool message-stamping cookie kit can’t hide my icing skills. Thankfully, a sponsor at Camp Blogaway will be the Wilton cake decorating gurus because this shouldn’t happen. So, my Happy Birthday cookies for Larry started out lovely. But my little decorating kit box’s postage date of 1976 from college was a tip-off of my level of ability (yes, smarty pants, I’m older than dirt). I frost cookies like this…

The icing was hardening quickly, and those candies wouldn’t STICK unless I rushed, faster, faster!!! In my defense, last week I was romanced into believing I could whip out artistic beauties having spent a morning decorating hundreds of cookies at charity Project Angel Food. We drizzled and sprinkled; they were professional looking. How could I screw up back at home? Apparently, easily.

Don’t get me wrong – the Sugar Cookie recipe (from the Williams-Sonoma Message-In-A-Cookie cutter kit) is tasty and works beautifully. YES YOU CAN ORDER THAT KIT: here’s the link. Yet, no icing recipe was provided and I won’t recommend what I ended up using. My suggestion is to bookmark my page here and hope a conscientious reader (you?) will comment with a link to the perfect piping icing for Larry’s Birthday Cookies next year. This batch, he ate several, as did I.

Williams-Sonoma Sugar Cookies

• 2 1/2 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks/185g) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup (250g) sugar
• Food coloring gel (optional)
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Over a small bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, slowly add the sugar and a few drops of food coloring gel and beat for 2 minutes, stopping the mixture occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for 1 minute, stopping the mixer once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Stop the mixer and add half of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed. Add the remaining flour and continue beating until all of the flour has been absorbed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 2 equal balls, Shape each into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 2 days. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand for 5 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 3/16 to 1/4 inch (4.5 to 6mm).

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

Dip cookie cutters into flour just before using and cut out shapes. Place on the baking sheet. Gather up the scraps, reroll them and cut out additional cookies. Refrigerate the cookies until firm 20 to 30 minutes.

Bake the cookies until golden brown around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes (however, my cookies in the photo took 18 minutes). If baking more than one sheet at a time, switch the sheets between the racks and rotate them 180 degrees halfway through baking.

Transfer the parchment sheets with cookies onto wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies directly onto the racks and let cool completely. Decorate better than Patti did. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Makes 12 to 15 cookies (Patti’s batch made 19 cookies).

Over the course of my career, I’ve worked for a darn long list of national brand food companies. See for yourself. One thing I know from this experience is these companies put their top tried-and-true recipes on their packages.

Last Sunday, a very chilly day, was just right for baking cookies. And I knew my box of Quaker Oats would have an oatmeal cookie recipe, so I looked… but, hmmm?? Was I mistaken? Oh wait, pop off the lid – there it was, on the inside. (That part is kinda stupid… how is a shopper to know what other ingredients to buy?)

I always have ingredients for these – except raisins. This week, however, I DID have raisins, left over from my giant snack stash that I dragged to Barbados. I travel with food. Yes, I am that way. I also travel with a drip coffee maker; I’ll link you to that post once I write it.

Back to cookies. Timed right, I had the big gas oven going from 3 PM through my roast chicken dinner; the house warmed up and smelled terrific. Larry gave the cookies thumbs-up. Like I said, the recipes on the packages of BIG companies are usually their best.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Quaker Oats

• 1 cup (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
• 3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
• 1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Stir in oats and raisins; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack. Makes about 4 dozen.

Biscotti. Good dunking cookie, but not so fond of anise flavor. By consulting several basic recipes in my “collection” (read: stuffed binder), I devised a Chocolate Almond Biscotti. No anise, yes almond extract. And a chocolate coating because, uh let’s think here… CHOCOLATE. Larry gave the basic cookie a thumbs-up even before the second baking, then ate two once complete. STOP, I NEED TO PHOTOGRAPH THOSE (*screech of brakes noise here*).

Although making biscotti has three phases, this turned out to be an easy recipe. In fact, it may become my signature contribution to holiday cookie exchanges… too bad I don’t have any invites. Neighbor Ruthie threw a spectacular cookie exchange a few years ago, and then sold her house. Waaaaaaaa.

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup slivered almonds
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 4 Tbsp. melted butter, cooled but still liquid
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and almonds. Set aside.

In a small bowl, blend together eggs, melted butter, almond extract.  Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in egg mixture and using a rubble spatula, mix until a rough dough forms.

Place dough on a work surface and knead a few times, just until the dough comes together. Add a tiny amount of flour if too sticky.  Form the dough into a log approximately 1 inch thick, 4 inches wide and 16 inches long.  Place onto the cookie sheet.

Bake 30 minutes, until dry and slightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the cookie sheet for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Slide cooled log onto a cutting board.  Slice the log diagonally into cookies 1/2 to 1 inch thick, your preference. Place flat onto the cookie sheet; bake 15 minutes. Turn cookies over and bake 15 minutes more. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Once cooled, melt chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler. Holding a cookie in one hand, use a wooden spoon to “paint” one half. Place on wire rack to air dry before storing. Makes 12 to 16 cookies, depending upon cookie thickness.

More Magazine is me me me. Besides being written for Women Of A Certain Age, the magazine publishes decent recipes. Such as “Cookies for Grown-ups.” I’m a grown-up and so is Larry. We like grown-up flavors and this particular recipe in the November 2009 More Magazine was definitely US: Double Ginger. AND Chocolate. AND Chunk.

Larry was landing at LAX from Taiwan mid-afternoon. They feed you frequently on trans-Pacific Asian flights, but homemade cookies waiting in the car? Welcome Home. We headed straight to the hospital to visit his mom, who had severely broken her ankle the morning of his departure. My “Mommy Report” emails kept him updated, and hopefully Double Ginger Chocolate Chunk Cookies made him even happier to be home.

Double-Ginger Chocolate Chunk Cookies

From More Magazine, November 2009

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) at room temperature
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup for rolling
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped candied ginger
• 1 cup dark chocolate chunks (chop a gourmet chocolate bar for the best results)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together four, baking soda, salt, spices and cocoa in a large bowl. Set aside.

With a mixer, cream together butter and 1/3 cup dark brown sugar and 1/3 cup granulated sugar until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

Beat in egg yolk. Add molasses and vanilla. Add flour mixture. Mix until no flour pockets remain. Stir in chocolate and ginger. Chill dough until firm.

Place 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a bowl. Roll tablespoonfuls of cookie dough into balls; roll in sugar.

Place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pan after 5 minutes, until cookies are beginning to crack and edges are just set. Do not overbake.

Let cookies cook briefly on baking sheet and transfer to a rack to cool completely.  Makes 30 to 35 cookies.

Is Steel Magnolias one of your favorite chick flicks?  I watch whenever it airs, maybe because food has such an active role.  The Easter eggs getting smashed in Truvy’s car trunk starts it off.  Truvy (Dolly Parton) and Annelle (Darryl Hannah) scooping corn and potatoes at the fair while updating Shelby (Julia Roberts) on Annelle’s transformation.  M’Lynn (Sally Field) measuring sugar for holiday baked goods while Shelby is pouring her heart out about being pregnant.  Ouiser (Shirley MacLaine. And until I looked this up, I thought was WEEZER) hacking the tail off the armadillo-shaped groom’s cake to punctuate her feelings toward Drum.  Clairee (Olympia Dukakis) tossing cans of baked beans into the grocery shopping cart as she and Ouiser mull over Shelby’s upcoming surgery.

My favorite… Clairee asks Truvy for the recipe for her Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa.  It haunted me.  (put on your Dolly Parton voice:)  “Oh hell, Clairee, you don’t need a recipe.  It’s just a cup of flour, a cup of sugar and a cup of fruit cocktail WITH the syrup, stir and bake in a hot oven ‘til golden brown and bubbly.  I serve it with ice cream to cut the sweetness.”

It occurred to me recently that I had a photo of myself with Dolly from around 1978 when she was visiting LA. Larry was an ad agency guy then, and his longtime radio sales friend Dick McGeary invited us to meet this rising country star, a newbie to me. She was as sweet as Truvy. And very short; I’m bending my knees to scrunch my 5’8” frame down and she was wearing platform heels.

So, back to the movie. Was Truvy’s recipe worth making?  A few other bloggers who followed the recipe said pretty much the same thing.  Hillbilly Food.  That wasn’t enough to deter me so I made a batch and “I can report” (as Clairee would say) it’s more like college dorm food.  Sticky, super sweet, but only three ingredients, so there’s merit.   Annelle would like the fact that I will “Freeze It Beautifully” (the beans scene) until then.

Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa (also called Cupa Cupa Cupa in some internet sources)

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup fruit cocktail in heavy syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a medium bowl, stir together ingredients.  Spray an 8 x 8 inch square pan with non-stick spray and spoon in batter, spread to the edges.  Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.  Allow to cool until warm to the touch, cut into 16 squares.

Bon Appétit, June 2000 issue, page 169: “Chocolate Chip Brownies” by Larry Steven Londre, along with Spicy Pork Soup and Cinnamon Popovers. As I re-read the article after all these years, I’m still amazed. Not that his recipes were published, but rather the side of “cheese” that accompanied them. Yes, his brownies are fabulous, extremely dense and chocolaty with a Kahlua kick. The article intro? Fairly cheesy.

The online archives at Bon Appétit don’t have this. But the fading permaplaque on our breakfast room wall confirms he was officially published. Here is how it happened, starting with the Board of Directors of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) dining at our home. It was my friend, Robin Kline’s year as IACP president, and when I learned they were having their quarterly meeting in LA, it seemed appropriate for them to enjoy a local member’s home rather than another restaurant. They agreed! Larry helped prepare our “California style” event, complete with up-lit palm tree in the backyard and centerpieces of branches from our lemon and orange trees.

Larry baked grrrrreat brownies for that dinner. One board member, Bon Appétit editor Kristine Kidd took note and later contacted me to see if he had other recipes to feature in a Too Busy to Cook column. Sure! Larry bakes his mother’s popovers to perfection, and together we came up with the Spicy Pork Soup. Someone must have interviewed him because no way did WE write the intro (OK, here’s one sentence… “I think that freshness is an important aspect of preparing a meal.  That’s why I’d rather put on an apron and make the effort to cook than order takeout.”) OMG, it’s right there on our wall. And the funny thing is, how many fresh ingredients are in these killer brownies? I will spare you the remaining corn, but provide you the recipe:

Larry’s Famous Chocolate Chip Brownies

• 1 19.8 ounce package fudge brownie mix
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup Kahlua
• 1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (about 9 ounces)
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9 x 9 x 2 inch metal baking pan.  Place brownie mix in bowl.  Add oil, eggs and Kahlua; whisk until blended.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.  Transfer batter to prepared pan.  Bake until slightly puffed and tester inserted into center comes out with some moist crumbs still attached, about 35 minutes.  Cool brownies in pan on rack.  Makes about 16.

–> Want to be inspired to flavor your brownies? Dark Chocolate Raspberry Brownies here.

Last week’s Neighborhood Watch meeting, Hostess Jane served what I thought were Blondies. Gimme one, and one for Larry. When Jane told us she clipped the recipe from the LA Times, I thought: are you serious? I haven’t seen a recipe worth tearing out of our local paper for ages, how did I miss a good, normal recipe?

It really wasn’t the Times’ recipe, it was an “SOS” column; readers ask for recipes from places they have visited. The paper gets ‘em and reprints. Julienne’s Graham Cracker Chewy Bars gave the full story of their creation and sadly, Julienne passed away from breast cancer. It is a lovely tribute to a person who sounds really cool, please read the clip.

The recipe in the paper was too big for my household (the link gives the 9 x 13 pan recipe). I reworked it slightly to make an 8 x 8 batch, came out great. I also reconfigured the instructions slightly to match my style of simplifying steps. They seem to get a little better overnight and hold together well.  Definitely worth keeping the recipe, I think.

Graham Cracker Chewy Bars

BOTTOM CRUST

• 1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (12 whole crackers)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  In a food processor or bowl of an electric mixer, mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar and flour.  Drizzle the melted butter on top and blend well.  Press mixture into the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch pan.  Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

TOPPING

• 1-1/4 cups brown sugar
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
• Prepared crust
• Powdered sugar, if desired.

While the crust is baking, in a large bowl, mix brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract.  Stir in the graham cracker crumbs, salt, and baking powder until blended.  Stir in pecans.

Spread the mixture over the baked crust and return to the 350-degree oven 20-25 minutes or until the filling is dark brown springs back when pressed with your finger.  Place pan on a rack to cool completely.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Cut into 16 bars.

 The idea is simple, but who actually takes time to make them??  YUM.  My niece, Danielle, is an excellent dessert maker.  Isn’t she a cutie?  At last weekend’s family reunion, she dazzled us with her desserts, and Larry would vote the Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches as his top choice.  I was scarfing the Lemon Angel Food Cake (another post coming on that mmmmm one).

She bakes a batch of chocolate chip cookies and then sandwiches them up with a variety of ice creams.  One reason Larry and I are aware of the popularity of said sandwiches is the Westwood Village phenom, Diddy Reese Cookies.  For just $1.50, you get the industrial version of Danielle’s homemade treats.  And the store is never empty.  In fact, from early afternoon until closing, there is a queue.

But Danielle’s are better.  For one thing, they are smaller which means the second half of the dessert isn’t melting on you.  The other is, she makes the sandwiches and freezes the whole thing, so cookie and ice cream are ice cold.  Try it:

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks, 1/2 lb.) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
• 1/2 gallon favorite ice cream flavor (i.e. vanilla, chocolate, peppermint)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.  In large mixer bowl, beat together butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in morsels and nuts.  Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.  Let stand for 2 minutes, remove to wire racks to cool completely.  Once cool, work quickly.  Using an ice cream scooper, scoop approximately 1/4 cup ice cream onto a cookie, top with another cookie and squeeze until ice cream fills the center.  Place on small cookie sheet or aluminum foil directly into freezer.  Allow to freeze for two hours or overnight.  Serve directly from freezer.  Makes 24-30 sandwiches.