A Cookie in the Hand is Worth 20 in the Jar
I picked up my granddaughters for a movie this past weekend. When Harper got into the car, her little hand was clutching a napkin pouch.
“What do you have there?” I asked.
“Cookies,” she said, with a big smile.
Thinking she had just grabbed a handful from a box, I didn’t bother to ask for any.
“Want one?” she asked, passing me a cookie from the back seat.
Wow! Was I surprised. It was warm. “Where did you get these?”
“They just came out of the oven. Mama made them.”
As I drove along enjoying the tasty treat, I knew I had to check in with Lisa and find out the name of the cookie. Later, when we emailed, she told me they were “White Chocolate” Macadamia cookies from the recipe on the back of the Ghirardelli bag.
White Chocolate Alert
They were superb, though I must alert you that there is no white chocolate in this cookie. The label on the package reads Classic White Baking Chips. The ingredient list includes sugar, palm kernel oil, whole milk powder, nonfat dry milk, more palm oil, soy lecithin and vanilla.
If your heart is set on real white chocolate, buy Ghirardelli’s White Chocolate Premium Baking Bar and chop it into small chunks. It contains white chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, nonfat dry milk, milk fat, soy lecithin, and vanilla.
Oh. . . and As to the Movie
We saw Paddington II, the story about the bear, who runs about London spreading kindness and good cheer while on the search for a thief, who has stolen a pop-up book he intended to give his 101-year-old Aunt Lucy for her birthday. It’s charming and clever and one of seven movies to get a 100% rating last year from film reviewer Rotten Tomatoes.
The AMC Dine-In Theater offered oversized chairs as well as oversized popcorn. FYI, five of us ate on this monster pail and there was still some left behind.
“White Chocolate” Macadamia Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups “white chocolate” chips (11 oz.)
1 1/2 cups Macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and set aside. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream butter and sugars until smooth and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well. Add vanilla and mix.
Slowly incorporate dry ingredients to wet in 2-3 batches.
Remove bowl from mixer and fold in white chocolate chips and Macadamia nut pieces. Drop by rounded spoonful onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10-11 minutes until tops are golden brown.
Cook on a wire baking rack. Recipe yields 4 dozen cookies
Note: Take cookies out a little early to keep them nice and soft in the middle. For an even more festive cookie, add 1 cup of dried cranberries.
