The Diagnosis*

After many years of my condition worsening, I finally have a diagnosis. It is irreversible, it's not treatable. It's cephalasievaloma. Basically, bit by bit, day by day, my brain is turning into a sieve. I drop in the pieces of information, they fall out the other side. I can't find my glasses, forgot to mail a check, and desperately wish I could remember where I saw that recipe for those choolatey cookies with the sparkly sugar bits. Was it in a cookbook? One of my own or one I borrowed from the library? Or, worse yet, was it on a blog? If so, I'll never find it!

Worst of all is when my brain fluffs go public. It makes me so a) angry, b) frustrated, c) humiliated, or d) all of the above, to learn I've left out ingredients or instructions on a blog recipe. Well, it's d) all of the above. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten a nice note saying something like, "You recipe looks great. I'd love to try it, but at what do you do with the pound of marshmallows? The recipe never says." Or, "Honey gravy sounds good, but you don't have honey listed in the ingredients. How much do you use?" Arggghhhhh!

But the one thing my condition has taught me is that if I'm not perfect, I really shouldn't expect others to be. Therefore, I extend grace to others when this occurs. Even in a cookbook. Even in Baking. Yes, Baking, the holy grail of kitchen bliss has an omission. I finally got around to making the Whopper cookies that my husband has been asking for since I got the cookbook last year (Bad wife, no biscuit!). I made the dough and then couldn't find the oven temp. I reread the recipe. Twice. Then had my husband look it over. Still no go. So I did an internet search. Aha, mine wasn't the only copy without that vital information. I'd like to say that I took the recipe before it and the recipe following it and averaged the baking temp from them, because that sounds fun, but I actually got it from an online chat.

So, if you want to try one of my recipes, read it through first. And if you have questions, drop me a line. And if I've blown it, I apologize in advance. But I do feel a little better knowing it can happen to Dorie, too.

These cookies turned out wonderfully, full of malt and chocolate flavor, with little pockets of chocolate chunks. They soften up as they're stored, which I think is a good thing. Also, I've tried Malteasers and think they are better than Whoppers, so if you have access to those, use them instead.

Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops
-adapted from Baking - from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup malted milk powder (or Ovaltine)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus 3 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole milk
2 cups (6 oz) Whoppers, coarsely chopped
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips or chunks

1- Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F.

2- Sift together the flour, malted milk powder, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

3- In a large bowl with an electric or stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until very smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla; don't be concerned if the mixture looks curdled - it will smooth out when the dry ingredients are added. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Mix in the milk, then the remaining dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. The batter will look more like fudge frosting than cookie dough - and that's fine. With the mixer on low, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the malted milk balls and chopped chocolate.

4 - Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the prepared sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between spoonfuls. The cookies will spread as they bake. Bake for 11-13 minutes, rotating the sheets from to to bottom and front to back after 6 minutes. When done, the cookies will be puffed and set but slightly soft to the touch. Let the cookies rest on the sheets for 2 minutes before using a wide spatula to transfer them to racks to cool to reoom temperature.

5 - Repeat with remaining dough, being sure to cool the baking sheets in between batches.



* The post date is April 1st. Happy April Fool's Day! But no foolin' on the cookies - they are really good.