The first cookies of Christmas

[ppfuf]

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.

Comments

cookie thoughts

[dame-cordelia.livejournal.com]

I am pretty sure that in 1929 chocolate squares were the unsweetened kind, and I am very sure that a lot of people (including my grandmother) were still cooking on wood stoves, which made baking a real challenge.

Re: cookie thoughts

[(Anonymous)]

yep - my grandmother made these; my mom remembers the chocolate being a little grainy and unsweetened. By the time Baba (my grandmother) was making them for me, she was using 1 T solid Crisco to 3 T Hershey's unsweetened COCOA POWDER per ounce of chocolate.

[zoccolaro.livejournal.com]

Well? How did the rocks end up?

in baggies for shipping?

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

Less crunchy than you'd expect, given the name. I didn't really like them, but they were ok. I'd make them for someone else, but they would not be high on my personal cookie faves.

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

Sounds the sort of recipe that might have given birth to Toll House cookies ("Rats! I forgot to melt the chocolate! Well, maybe if I chop it into chunks, it'll melt in the oven...").

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

I want to make almond cookies. Got a good recipe for me?

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

I like the Danish Sugar Cookies from Sunset Cookies. It was part of last Chirstmas's cookie blod, http://ppfuf.livejournal.com/16563.html#cutid1

In the next few days I'll be trying some Hokey Pokey cookies, which also have a lot of almonds. I'll let you know how they turn out.

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

Thank you!
It's been years since I've made anything but oatmeal or toll house cookies.

Time for some changes here!
I don't think I've had a cookie baking party since the girls grew up and that has been a very long time.

almond cookies

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

Hi, I tried the Hokey Pokey cookies from here, http://www.bigoven.com/97052-Hokey-Pokey-Cookies-recipe.html and I was a little dissapointed. I think I needed to be more careful about cutting them at the right moment, and also that they go from "almost done" to "over done" very quickly.

Re: almond cookies

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

Thank-ee ma'm!

Vanilla & Chocolate Rocks

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

Just in case that link isn't stable:

Vanilla & Chocolate Rocks, Copyright © 2009 King Arthur Flour Company, Inc.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All- Purpose Flour
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks or bittersweet chocolate buttons

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl, add the sugar, and return to the microwave for 30 to 45 seconds, till the mixture is hot to the touch. Cool slightly, and beat in the vanilla, baking powder, salt, espresso powder, and egg. Let cool to lukewarm, then add the flour and chocolate chunks or buttons, stirring briefly, just until well combined.

Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 9 minutes, until they're barely set. Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan. Yield: 2 dozen cookies.

(I reduced the baking temp to 400)

alternate version of the Wingold chocolate rocks

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

Also ended up making an alternate version of the Wingold rocks:
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
1/2 tesp salt
1 tesp vanilla
1 cup slivered almonds, lightly chopped
2 cups chocolate chips

I liked these better than the straight Wingold version.

[ppfuf.livejournal.com]

Made another batch using apx 2.5 ouces of 71%Valhrona. No nuts. Made 30 cookies baked at 350 for 12 minutes. Pretty good!
Mama-in-law says her mother used to frost them but that smacks of effort when I've got a lot of laundry and whatnot to finish before I leave tomorrow.