Not What I'd Planned

I'm posting a recipe today but it's NOT related to any of the "fall foods" about which I recently blogged. I know I promised a few of you I'd include those in a blog entry soon, and I will.

It's just that there was an EMERGENCY in our house today. My dear husband suffered a bona fide cookie fit (or perhaps I should say the uncontrollable need for a cookie fix) and the cookies he just had to have were Walnut Clusters.

Definitely not ones I associate specifically with this time of year, but it was the least I could do for the man because he had a couple of yucky jobs (details of which you really don't want to hear) on his agenda for the day.

So as long as I was making these particular cookies, what the heck, I thought I'd document them with pictures and share the recipe. (Trust me. They are good.)

WALNUT CLUSTERS

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2 oz. melted unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups broken walnuts

In medium bowl, mix the butter and sugar til creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well. Stir in the melted chocolate.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt.

This little red sifter was my mom's.

I can remember her using it when I was very small.

Now add the sifted dry ingredients to first mixture. Fold in the broken walnuts.

Drop by teaspoonsful about 1" apart on greased cookie sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes . . . no longer!

Cookies right out of the oven.

Cool on racks and store in air-tight container.

The recipe makes a small batch of cookies, about three dozen. I got only 34 cookies from the recipe today.

My hubby asked why I didn't double the recipe, and I told him the cost of four cups of walnuts would be prohibitive! (Why is it that all nuts are so pricey these days?) Actually, the way this batch is disappearing, I really was a dummy not to double the recipe!