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The first cookies of Christmas

Last summer, GM and I visited his mom. She gave me several of her and her mom's old cookbooks. In one of them, we found a postcard from mom to grandma, written when mom must have been about ten. She was at camp, and was asking for Chocolate Rocks when she got home. In the 1929 edition of The Wingold Cook Book, we found not one, but TWO recipes for Chocolate Rocks. I thought I'd send some to her for Christmas, so I used the recipe from the more stained page. :)

Chocolate Rocks
Page 69 of The Wingold Cook Book, 3rd ed. (complied by Elfrieda Von Rohr Sauer)
1/2 c melted butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 cup milk
2 squares chocolate, melted
1 1/2 c. Wingold flour
1 tesp baking powder
1 cup nuts, chopped

Mix in order given, drop by spoonfuls onto a greased tin and bake in a medium oven, says the book. Aaaarg!

Chop 2 oz chocolate* into small pieces and melt with 1 stick butter in microwave. Blend in electric mixer, with 8 oz. brown sugar, milk and egg. Mix baking powder into the 6 3/4 oz flour and blend. Chop and stir in nuts**. Put in fridge for 10-20 minutes to cool. Preheat oven to 350. Cover cookie pans in parchment paper.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls about 2 inches apart. Bake in middle rack of oven about 12 minutes. If your oven has hotspots, rotate at the 6 minute mark. If using two baking sheets in one oven, trade places from top to bottom at the 6 minute mark.
When done, cool on sheets for 2 minutes, and then remove the cake-like cookies gently from baking sheets, or place entire sheet of parchment on cooling racks.
Made about 36 cookies.

*Trying to get cookies like my Mama-in-law might remember, I used semi-sweet baking chocolate (54%). In the future, I might try some good 65% chocolate.
**GM suggested walnuts would have been what his grandmother used, but I don't like them, and had a cup of pecans, so I used those.

Edited to add: I also made a modern Chocolate rocks recipe. GM liked them, and said they resemble the ones his grandmother made in texture.