Thursday, September 23, 2010

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!

6 comments:

Jenyfer Matthews said...

If his first reaction to seeing 34 fresh cookies was "why didn't you double the recipe?" I guess he really was having a cookie fit!!! Yes, nuts are expensive. Maybe you should plant a walnut tree next :)

Anonymous said...

YUMMM!! This is definitely going in my recipe book:) Thanks for sharing Mama Pea, and I hope your hubby is munching away happily.

Erin said...

Men have NO idea of the cost of certain groceries! I am always horrified watching my husband eat cheese and nuts... he'll head into work and grab a BLOCK of parmesan and a quart baggie full of almonds....eeeek! Needless to say, we have saved a lot of money while he has been eating on the ship LOL

Cookies look yummy, but I love anything with nuts and chocolate!

Susan said...

Yum! Walnuts make ME think of fall - maybe it's because I have been seeing the squirrels scurrying around storing up for winter. They are (ahem) storing my chicken food. Those look fabulous - I think I must make them.

Mama Pea said...

Jen - Ssssshhhh! Hubby has wanted to plant nut trees for some time now. I keep putting him off because we've got so much to take care of now. (Maybe that wasn't such a wise idea, huh?)

Stephanie - He ate so many yesterday that he even admitted he wasn't really hungry for dinner! Kids! What ya gonna do with 'em?

Erin - Pro: He's eating on the ship and you're saving money. Con: He's eating on the ship and he's not home!

Susan - You're right! Nuts are a fall type food! What's a better "decoration" in the house than an attractive container of nuts in the shell with a nut cracker for snacks?

Erin said...

yeah, that's definitely not a "pro" in his book, LOL