When I first went to work for the library at Union College, just up the street from our Stockade streets, a student worker in my department brought this cookie-candy surprise in on one otherwise joyless New-York winter-day. After I ate some, she revealed the Main Ingredient. “-No way!” I exclaimed.
This recipe is So Easy, so dependable and, So Delicious, you’ll find yourself craving it.
1 strip saltines (“Main Ingredient”)**
˝ lb. butter (2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
12 oz. semisweet chocolate morsels
1 cup ground walnuts
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line jelly roll pan or large rectangular cookie sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil. Spread enough foil over pan so it overlaps 2-3 inches on at least one end. You’ll need this extra to grab so you can peel the foil off finished product. Lay dry saltine crackers on aluminum foil in single layer. They don’t need to touch. There can be moderate gaps between crackers.
Melt butter in a small saucepan on stovetop. Add the sugar and bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Continue to boil and cook mixture for 3 minutes. Stir constantly.
Spoon cooked butter mixture over crackers and bake for 6-8 minutes. Watch carefully. The butter and sugar will bubble and foam, drenching crackers during baking. Pan should be removed from oven when crackers reach a light golden brown.
As soon as pan is removed from oven, sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top of baked surface. Let them melt. To this end, you may return the pan to the shut-off-but-still-warm oven for about a minute. Now, spread the soft chocolate evenly over the baked cracker surface. Sprinkle the nuts all over the top. Let cool and freeze (That’s right: Put the whole pan in the freezer!) for at least 2 hours or overnight.
To release the finished product from pan, grasp extra foil at one end of pan and lift up the frozen block. Peel away the foil and break the block into pieces.
Especially nice for holiday gift-giving: Break pieces into large, almond bark-size pieces for presentation in a wax-paper-lined decorative box.
Variations: Mix semi-sweet with sections of white chocolate chips for marbled chocolate top. Any chopped nuts can be substituted for ground walnuts Try chopped almonds, hazelnuts or pecans. Sliced almonds, toasted in a fry pan for a minute or two are a delicious alternative and add an elegant touch to the presentation.
** a “strip” of saltines is one of four individually-wrapped stacks of crackers found in a regular sized box of saltines
"Pepper may sound like an odd ingredient for a cookie, but it complements the other spices well (although you can omit it if you prefer).
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon grated whole nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (optional)
1 cup packed brown sugar
5 tablespoons butter or stick margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup regular oats
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (flour through pepper) in a medium bowl. Beat sugar, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat well. Stir in flour mixture and oats.
Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until crisp. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.
Yield: 2 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)
NUTRITION PER SERVING CALORIES 81(34% from fat); FAT 3.1g (sat 1.7g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.3g); PROTEIN 1.5g; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; CALCIUM 12mg; SODIUM 71mg; FIBER 0.7g; IRON 0.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 12.2g
NOTE: This recipe originally came from AOL FOOD. I have modified it as follows: 1) I use white pepper instead of black 2) I also add 1/2 t ground cardamom (in honor of my Scandinavian heritage), 1/2 C chopped walnuts, and 1/2 c golden raisins.
"The 2006 Holiday Season has hardly begun, and I've already made 3 batches!. "2006-12
