Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook Part 34

2 beaten eggs (whip them up in a gla.s.s with a fork)

1 cup finely chopped coconut (from approximately 2 cups

coconut flakes)

2 and cups flour (don't sift pack it down in your

measuring cup)

1 cup chocolate chips (that's a 6-ounce package)

Melt the b.u.t.ter. (Microwave it for one and a half minutes on HIGH in a microwave-safe container, or melt it in a pan on the stove over LOW heat.) Mix in the white sugar and the brown sugar. Add the baking soda, coconut extract, and salt. Mix thoroughly.

Add the beaten eggs and stir them in.

Chop the coconut flakes in a food processor with the steel blade. (Most people like the coconut chopped because then it doesn't stick between their teeth, but you don't have to go out and buy a food processor to make these cookies. Just find the finest, smallest flakes you can in the store, spread them out on a cutting board and chop them up a little finer with a knife.) Measure the coconut AFTER it's chopped. Pack it down when you measure it, add it to your bowl, and stir thoroughly.

Add half of the flour and all of the chocolate chips. Stir well to incorporate. Finish by mixing in the rest of the flour.

Let the dough "rest" for ten minutes on the counter, uncovered. Use a teaspoon (one from your silverware drawer, not a measuring spoon) to drop mounds of dough onto UNGREASED cookie sheets, 12 cookies to a standard-sized sheet. If the dough is too sticky to handle, chill it for 20 to 30 minutes and try again.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.

Let cool for 3 minutes, then remove the cookies from the baking sheet and transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Yield: Approximately 6 dozen, depending on cookie size.

Lisa's Note: Herb's great-grandmother's recipe calls for chipped chocolate, so I used chocolate chips. Hannah says that if chocolate chips had been available when Herb's greatgrandmother was alive, she probably would have used them.

These are Herb's new favorite cookies. He says they taste like a crunchy Mounds bar. The Pineapple Right Side Up Cookie Bars that Hannah makes especially for him are still his favorite bar cookie.

COCOA SNAPS.

DO NOT preheat oven yet - dough must chill before baking.

1 and cups melted b.u.t.ter (3 sticks, 12 ounces, pound)

2 cups cocoa powder (unsweetened)

2 cups brown sugar (pack it down when you measure it)

3 large eggs, beaten (just whip them up in a gla.s.s with a fork)

4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups flour (not sifted pack it down in the cup when you

measure it)

cup white (granulated) sugar in a small bowl for coating dough b.a.l.l.s Melt b.u.t.ter and mix in cocoa until it's thoroughly blended. Add brown sugar. Let it cool slightly and then mix in beaten eggs. Add soda, salt, and vanilla extract, and stir.

Add the flour in one-cup increments, mixing after each addition.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. (Overnight is fine, too.) When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

Roll the dough into walnut-sized b.a.l.l.s with your impeccably clean hands. This dough may be sticky, so roll only enough for the cookies you plan to bake immediately. Then cover the dough again and return it to the refrigerator.

Roll the dough b.a.l.l.s in the bowl of white sugar to coat them. Place them on a greased (or sprayed with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray) cookie sheet, 12 to a standard-sized sheet. Flatten them with a spatula (or the heel of your impeccably clean hand if the health board's not around).

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 minutes. Cool on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes, and then remove the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. (If you leave them on the cookie sheets for too long, they'll stick.) Tracey says these taste like her favorite chocolate animal crackers, except better because she doesn't have to pick them out from all the vanilla ones in the box.

CORN COOKIES.

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

1 cup b.u.t.ter (2 sticks, 8 ounces, pound)

2 cups white (granulated) sugar

1 large egg, beaten

1 15-ounce (by weight) can mashed pumpkin (I used Libby's)

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup golden raisins

1 teaspoon cinnamon

teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda