Crispy Polenta-Crusted Chicken-Secret Recipe Club

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club post, I have the privilege of sharing the UK-based blog Searching for Spice.  Corina is the busy mom of two young children so many of her recipes are quick and easy.

With this blog being a UK blog, most of the recipes use metric measurements which makes conversion to imperial measurements a bit challenging.  I did a Google search for conversion help and found this page on Epicurious which give the math to make the conversion, but I still came out with some strange results.  I really want to make the Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe, but haven’t  yet because of that.  Luckily, some of Corina’s recipes are made with imperial measurements, such as the Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake, which I have made several times.  Both hubby and I have enjoyed this dessert very much.  It is the perfect thing when you want something sweet and chocolaty, and you want it Now!

My post, today, however, is for the Crispy Polenta Crusted Chicken.  We eat a lot of chicken so I am always looking for new ideas for what to do with it.  It also just so happened that there was a recent sale of boneless, skinless chicken breasts so I stocked up.  I also had dry polenta on hand.

I agree with Corina and liked the fact that this chicken recipe produced a nice crisp crust without the messiness of many coated chicken recipes.  The recipe is made up of only four simple ingredients-chicken breasts, buttermilk, dry polenta and a seasoning of your choice.

I ended up sort of guesstimating on the amount of buttermilk and think I needed twice the amount of polenta than in the original recipe to completely coat the amount of chicken that I used.  I did brush the foil-lined baking pan with olive oil and put it in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes while I coated the chicken.  I forgot the drizzle of olive oil over the top of the chicken before baking, but it turned out nice and crispy anyway
.
The polenta gave the chicken a little undercurrent of corn flavor which I really liked.  This recipe will be going in my regular rotation of chicken recipes.

Be sure to visit Searching for Spice.  There are lovely recipes there.

Crispy Polenta-Crusted Chicken
1 1/4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch thick chicken fingers
1/2 c. buttermilk (Corina used 100 ml)
1 c. dry polenta (Cornia used 100 g)
1 t. your favorite seasoning (Corina used 1/2 t.) (I used a French Fry Seasoning from Big Lots)
olive oil

Place chicken breast fingers in a zip-top bag.  Add buttermilk and massage bag to coat chicken pieces evenly.  Marinate at least 30 minutes in the fridge, turning bag over after 15 minutes.  Can be marinated longer if desired.  Mix the polenta and seasoning in a shallow pie pan.  Line a jelly-roll or cookie sheet with foil and brush with olive oil.  Place in a 350 degree oven while coating chicken.  Remove chicken pieces from bag, letting excess buttermilk drip off.  Roll chicken in polenta, covering the surface evenly.  Set aside on a sheet of wax paper.  When chicken pieces are all coated, remove heated pan from oven and place chicken on it.  Drizzle olive oil over the chicken.  Return to oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, turning chicken once.  Remove from pan and serve with your favorite dripping sauce if desired.  Makes 2 to 3 servings.

You can read what Secret Recipe Club is all about here.

An InLinkz Link-up

Spiced Chocolate Zucchini Bars-Saturday Sweet

I may have mentioned in an earlier post, that last fall one of my daughters and her family moved from 50 miles away to just 5 or 6 miles down the highway from us.  She put in a garden and is sharing her bounty with us.  She planted zucchini so you all know what that means.  I am sure that there will be a number of zucchini recipes here on the blog in the next few weeks.

I thought that I would start off with a recipe for a sweet, Spiced Chocolate Zucchini Bars.  Unlike most recipes, this one calls for chopped and not shredded zucchini.  If you want it totally hidden, it can be peeled.  I never bother with peeling it myself.  Although I use buttermilk, this is one instance where the 1/2 t. lemon juice or vinegar to 1/2 c. milk works fine.  I top the bars with a simple chocolate glaze.

This an adaptation of a recipe from The Zucchini Cookbook by Paula Simmons, 1974.  This is a cookbook that belonged to my mother.

Spiced Chocolate Zucchini Bars
adapted from The Zucchini Cookbook by Paula Simmons, 1974
1/2 c. butter softened
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. buttermilk
2 1/2 c. unsifted flour
1/4 c. cocoa
1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. cloves
1/2 t. salt
2 c. finely diced zucchini
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 c. sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 T. cocoa
1 t. vanilla
1-2 T. hot water

Cream butter, vegetable oil and sugar in a large mixing bowl until well blended.  Beat in egg, vanilla and buttermilk.  In a small bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt.  Add to sugar mixture and stir until well blended.  Stir in diced zucchini.  Spoon batter into a greased and floured 9x13-inch baking pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool.  When cool, combine butter, confectioner’s sugar, cocoa and vanilla until well blended.  Stir in enough hot water to make a glaze consistency.  Spread evenly over the top of cooled bars.  Let glaze set up, then cut into bars.  Makes about 36 bars

 Do you have a favorite sweet recipe that uses zucchini as an ingredient?

Linking up to these great parties:
Weekend Potluck
Share Your Creativity
Weekend Bloggy Reading
Saturday Spotlight
Strut Your Stuff
I'm Lovin' It
Sugar and Slice Sunday 
What'd You Do This Weekend

Almond White Brownies with Buttermilk Glaze-Saturday Sweet

Since I posted about making your own buttermilk, I thought I should share some ways to use it.  Almond White Brownies with Buttermilk Glaze are bar cookie made eggs as the leavening giving them a brownie texture.  A hot buttermilk glaze is poured over the brownies and allowed to seep in making them almost a candy.

These are heavy with almond flavor.  If you are not an almond lover, replace the almond flavoring with vanilla and use pecans or walnuts for the nuts or leave them out.

Almond White Brownies with Buttermilk Glaze
1 c. melted butter
2 c. sugar
4 eggs,  at room temperature
2 t. almond extract
2 c.flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. butter
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. almond extract

Combine the melted and slightly cooled butter with the sugar until well mixed.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined each time.  Add the flour and mix well.  Stir in the almonds.  Pour batter into a well-greased 9x13-inch baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees 25 to 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly.  While bars are baking, make the glaze.  Combine sugar, buttermilk, butter and baking soda in a medium saucepan.  Place over medium heat and, stirring, bring to a boil.  Turn heat down and boil 5 to 6 minutes until thick and syrupy.  Stir often.  Remove from heat and add almond extract.  With a fork or wooden pick poke holes all over the top of the brownies.  Pour the glaze over the top of the brownies and spread to cover evenly.  Let glaze sink in and brownies cool completely.  Cut into bars.  Makes about 36.  Keep stored in a zip-top bag so brownies do not dry out.

Easy, DIY Perpetual Buttermilk

We all know the common substitute for a cup of buttermilk using 1 T. lemon juice or vinegar and adding milk to measure 1 cup.  I have never been very satisfied with this substitute.  I do keep some dry buttermilk in my fridge (Saco), but I, by far, prefer using liquid buttermilk.  The problem is that I sometimes don't remember to pick it up.  I now keep liquid buttermilk on hand by making my own.

It takes only a small amount of commercial buttermilk to make homemade buttermilk, so before the buttermilk is gone I make a new batch. Once a batch of homemade buttermilk is made, it is possible to keep using the homemade buttermilk as a starter so one can keep making fresh buttermilk for quite some time.

The proportions to use are 1 part buttermilk, 4 parts milk and 1/8 t. Kosher salt per cup of milk used.  The method is as simple as placing the ingredients in a clean jar, shaking well, and letting the jar sit on the counter for 24 hours.  At that time, the mixture should be thick and smell like buttermilk.  Place in refrigerator to store.

Save some of this buttermilk to make the next batch of buttermilk.  Just keep saving some of the previous buttermilk batch to start the next batch.

I wish you could see how nice and thick this buttermilk is, much thicker than the commercial buttermilk I started with.

Any milk can be used to make this: whole, low-fat (which is what I usually use), skim and even goat's milk.  To make crème fraîche, stir 2 T. of the buttermilk into 1 cup of cream, cover and let stand 8 to 24 hours or until thick.

The recipe for 1 cup of buttermilk:
1/4 c. commercial buttermilk (or buttermilk from a previous batch)
1 c. milk
1/8 to Kosher salt

Combine ingredients in a clean jar, shake well.  Let sit on counter at room temperature for 24 hours.  Store in refrigerator.  Save enough buttermilk to make the next batch.

Each batch of buttermilk will last about two weeks.  If the amount of buttermilk gets "out of hand", it can be frozen.  I wrote a post about how freezing buttermilk here.

The next time there is a bit of buttermilk on hand, give this a try.

Linking to these great parties:
Tuesday Talent Show
Tasteful Tuesday
Show Me What You Got
Totally Tasty Tuesday
Show Me What Ya Got
Two Cup Tuesday
Take a Look Tuesday
Get Your Craft On

5-Spice Stuffed French Toast with Buttermilk Syrup-Secret Recipe Club

My assignment for this month’s Secret Recipe Club was Bad-Girls-Kitchen.  This is both a one-person and a collaborative blog that was started in 2008.  That means there is a wealth of wonderful recipes, and my “to make” file grew by leaps and bounds when I searched through this blog.

There are so many wonderful recipes I want to make, especially Carrot Salad, Spiced Quinoa with Cherries, Instant Chai Mix, Carrot Hummus, Garlic Naan and on and on.

I knew that I would be home alone on Mother’s Day, wanted to make myself a treat, and chose to make Stuffed French Toast with Buttermilk Syrup so I actually made two recipes from the blog.

Min is right about the Buttermilk Syrup, it just may make me give up maple syrup completely.  This syrup is  ridiculously quick and easy to make, but I do have a couple of hints.  Use at least a medium saucepan to make this, as the sauce foams quite a bit when the soda is added.  I used a small saucepan, and the syrup almost foamed over.  I cut the butter into thick slices when I put it in the saucepan so that the butter will melt a little faster.  I think a nice variation for the syrup would be to add some spices to it.  5-Spice, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Apple Pie Spice or Pumpkin Pie Spice would all be good.

I love it so much, I chose to use 5-Spice instead of cinnamon in the Stuffed French Toast.  Although I was making French Toast just for me, I made a full recipe of the filling which I plan to use as a spread on English muffins, bagels, or toast.  I am thinking of adding  a quarter of a cup of mashed berries to the filling sometime.

Because I was cooking for one, I used one egg and a quarter of the rest of the coating ingredients.  I had planned to use Texas Toast, but  my local bakery outlet store was out.  I bought a loaf of bread that was very much like homemade, but it may have been a bit soft for French Toast.  I let the sandwich sit in the egg mixture until almost all the egg was soaked up, turning the sandwich a couple of times.

Trying to be fancy, I chose to bake this in my waffle iron for waffled French Toast.  This worked OK, but the sandwich separated, and I had to use a fork to remove the bread slices from the grids.  I didn’t spray my grids with non-stick spray so that would probably have helped.  Not totally sure that it was worth the effort, though.

I served the French toast with the Buttermilk Syrup, a couple sausage patties, mini orange slices and a couple of strawberries.  This is a delicious breakfast for Mother’s Day or any day for that matter.

Thanks for two delicious dishes.  I have subscribed to this blog and expect to find more great recipes.

Buttermilk Syrup
from The Bed Girl's Kitchen

1 c. sugar
1/2 c. (1 cube) butter
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla

Combine sugar and buttermilk in a medium saucepan.  Slice butter cube and add to saucepan.  Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat, continuing to stir often as butter melts.  When the mixture has reached a full boil, remove from heat.  Cool 1 minute and add vanilla and soda.  Serve warm or cool.  Store in the refrigerator.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

5-Spiced Stuffed French Toast
From The Bad Girl's Kitchen

8 sliced thick, sturdy bread
4 oz.s. soft cream cheese ( I used whipped)
1 t. 5-Spice or cinnamon
1 T. brown sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
4 eggs, well beaten
1 t. 5-Spice or cinnamon
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. milk
1 T. butter

Combine cream cheese, 5-Spice or cinnamon, brown sugar and vanilla in a small bowl and mix well.  Spread 1/4 of the mixture on each of 4 slices of bread.  Top with remaining bread slices to make sandwiches.  Beat eggs well with a whisk in a small bowl.  Add 5-Spice or cinnamon, vanilla and milk.  Pour egg mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish.  Add sandwiches to egg mixture.  Soak until almost all of the egg has been absorbed by the sandwiches, turning to soak evenly.  Slowly heat butter in a large skillet.  Add sandwiches and cook about two minutes on each side or until heated through and a golden brown.  Remove to plates, top with Buttermilk Syrup and enjoy.  Serves 4.

 If you are not familiar with it, Secret Recipe Club matches you up with another blogger each month and you secretly visit their blog, select a recipe, prepare and blog about it on a specific date each month.  All the details are on their blog.

Linking to these great parties:
Mop It Up Monday
Marvelous Monday
Make the Scene Monday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Mealtime Monday
Manic Monday
What'd You Do This Weekend?

Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake

This week's Saturday sweet is coffeecake, which I really like, and don't know why I don't make it more often.  Recently I had some buttermilk that I needed to use up so turned to one of my favorite coffeecake recipes that came from a Sunset cookbook many years ago.

This an easy and simple coffeecake made with vegetable oil and buttermilk.  I like this one in that part of the dry ingredients are used to make the topping.

I wanted to change things up a little this time and decided to add a layer of raspberry jam in the middle of the cake.  This turned out to be a "good thing/bad thing."  The jam sunk to the bottom of the cake creating more of an upside down situation.  Everyone I shared this with, however, didn't care about that and loved the addition of the jam.  So, if you make this, use the jam, or not as you wish.  Putting the jam in a glass measuring cup and heating it in the microwave for a minute made it easier to spread.

To make the original coffeecake use coarsely chopped, toasted walnuts instead of the almonds and leave out the jam and almond extract.

 Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake
adapted from Sunset Ideas & Recipes for Breakfast and Brunch
2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. slivered almonds, toasted
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 c. buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 t. almond extract
1 c. raspberry jam

In a medium-size bowl, mix together flour, salt, the 1/2 t. cinnamon, brown sugar, sugar, and vegetable oil.  Beat with an electric mixer or a wire whisk until well blended.  Remove 3/4 c. of this mixture for the topping and blend into it the nuts and the 1 t. cinnamon; set aside.  To the remaining flour mixture, add soda and baking powder and mix until well combined.  Combine buttermilk, egg and almond extract and mix well.  Add to flour mixture and mix until smooth.  Pour half of batter into a greased 9x13-inch baking pan.  Place jam in a glass measuring cup and microwave for 1 minute.  Spoon over batter and gently spread out evenly.  Top with remaining batter.   Sprinkle the reserved topping evenly over batter and pat it lightly into the batter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until golden brown. Cool slightly and cut into squares.  Makes about 12 to 15 servings.  May be served warm or at room temperature.

Linking to these great parties:
Strut Your Stuff
Seasonal Inspiration
Weekend Potluck
I'm Lovin' It
Saturday Nite Special
Weekend Bloggy Reading

12 Weeks of Christmas Treats-Buttermilk Rum Bars

It is week 2 of this year’s 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats hosted by Brenda over at Meal Planning Magic.

This is the second recipe that can be made from the Holiday Cookie Mix that I posted last week.
It is another bar cookie and contains another unusual ingredient, buttermilk.  This makes a cookie bar with a crisp crust topped by a somewhat custard-like topping.  The topping is flavored with rum extract and nutmeg.  If you like the flavors of eggnog, you should like these.  If you are not into those flavors, you can omit the rum extract and nutmeg and add 2 t. of freshly grated lemon rind for a lemon version.

These are very pretty on a cookie plate, but do need to be stored in the refrigerator due to the high egg content.

Buttermilk Rum Bars
Filling adapted from a Karo Syrup print ad
3 c. Holiday Cookie Mix
4 eggs
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter or margarine, melted
6 T. light corn syrup
1/4 c. flour
1 c. buttermilk
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. rum extract
1 t. nutmeg
Sifted powdered sugar

Press Holiday Cookie Mix into the bottom of a foil-line 9x13-inch baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees 15 minutes.  Let cool.  In a large bowl beat together eggs and sugar until thick and lemon colored.  Beat in butter, corn syrup, flour, buttermilk, vanilla, and nutmeg.  Pour over top of baked crust.  Bake at 350 20 to 25 minutes until edges just begin to brown and filling is set.  Cool completely.  Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar.  Cut into bars.  Makes 36 bars  Can also be cut larger and served with whipped topping as a dessert.  Store in refrigerator.

Check out the links below to see all the treats other bloggers have made this week.  If you would like to join in the fun, you can find all the information on how to participate here.  You are welcome to join us anytime.

Crazy Cooking Challenge-Dilled Ranch Dressing/Dip Mix

I am so glad that Tina over at Mom’s Crazy Cooking is continuing to host Crazy Cooking Challenge.  I have so much fun with this every month.  If you would like to join in the fun, just click on over to get the details and to see what the challenges are for the next several months.

This month’s challenge is Ranch Dressing /Dip.  I suspect that most cooks have their own special recipe for this, and I am sharing a variation that is one of my favorites.  I wanted to change my basic Ranch Dressing Mix recipe up a bit; so, since I really like dill, I decided to add dried dill to the rest of the ingredients.  I guess I could say it turned out well, I am tempted to eat it by the spoonful.

To vary this when using it as a dip, I sometimes add some finely chopped dill pickle, some finely chopped black olives and some finely chopped red pepper just because I like them.

The dry mix ingredients can be kept tightly sealed for a long time if stored in a cool, dry place. Because of the paprika, the dressing/dip is a light pink color and not white like most ranch dressings.

Dilled Ranch Dressing/Dip Mix
3 T. dried minced onion
1 T. dried parsley
1 T. dried minced garlic
2 t. paprika
2 t. sugar
1 t. coarsely ground pepper
1 t. tarragon
1 T. dried dill
1 t. salt

Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Store in a tightly covered container in a cool, dry place.  Makes about 7 to 8 tablespoons of mix, enough for 7 to 8 batches of dressing/dip.

To Make Dressing/Dip
1 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 to 1/2 c. buttermilk or regular milk (add more for dressing, less for dip)
2 T. dill pickle juice
1 T. Dilled Ranch Dressing/Dip Mix

In a small bowl combine mayonnaise, sour cream, buttermilk or milk and the dill pickle juice.  Mix well.  Add dip mix and mix until well combined.  Place in a covered container and chill at least a few hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.  Makes 1 3/4 to 2 c. dressing or dip.  Serve as a salad dressing or as a dip with crackers, pita chips, or veggies for dippers.  I like to put this on baked potatoes, too.

Friday Frugal Tips-Freezing Buttermilk

On Tuesday, I posted a brownie recipe that took only 1/2 cup buttermilk.  I know about the milk and lemon juice/vinegar substitute, and I keep Saco dry buttermilk on hand at all times.  However, I prefer to use real liquid buttermilk when I can.  The problem with liquid buttermilk comes with what to do with any excess.  I sometimes, also, find buttermilk at a really good price as in the photo below.  To keep buttermilk for the long term, I freeze it.

Since a half cup of buttermilk is the smallest unit of measurement I use, I freeze multiples of half cups.  I pour the buttermilk into snack size zip top bags and remove as much air as I can.  I then put the bags of buttermilk into a quart size, zip-top freezer bag, write on the bag how many snack bags of buttermilk it contains, date and freeze.  This way I can take out as many bags of buttermilk as a recipe calls for.  These thaw easily under running water, or cut the bags open and put in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second increments at 50% power until thawed.

Linking to Frugal Friday Link Party

Cooking with the Journal-Deluxe Brownie Fingers

It is about time for another cookie recipe.  This is a very easy and quick brownie recipe.  I like this recipe because it uses cocoa and not a lot of it, and the butter is melted so you don’t have to wait for it to soften.

I do not use the Fudge Frosting recipe that was included with the recipe as I have a similar but easier one that I will post below the recipe.

Deluxe Brownie Fingers
Choice Chocolate Recipes
Farm Journal Books, 1978

1/4 c. cocoa
1 c. butter or margarine
1 c. water
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1 t. baking soda
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. chopped nuts (opt.)

Combine cocoa, butter and water in large saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring, until butter is melted.  remove from heat and let cool. slightly.
Mix together flour, sugar, and baking soda.  Stir into cocoa mixture, blending well.  Blend in eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk, mixing well.  Pour into greased 15x10-inch jelly roll pan.  Bake at  375 degrees 20 minutes or until done.  Cool in pan on rack.  Frost with Fudge Frosting.  Cut into 4x1-inch bars.  Makes 40.

Fudge Frosting
1 1/2 c. sugar
6 T. butter or margarine
6 T. milk
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
20 miniature marshmallows

Combine sugar, butter or margarine, milk and chocolate chis in 2-qt. saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Add marshmallows.  Boil 2 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Cool to lukewarm (120 degrees).  Beat with electric mixer at medium speed until frosting is of spreading consistency.  Spread on brownies.

Fudge Frosting
1 c. sugar
6 tbsp. butter (must be butter)
6 tbsp. milk
1/2 bag semisweet chocolate chips (1 c.)

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and boil for 1/2 minute, take off heat. Add chocolate chips. May add nuts if desired. Stir and spread on brownies.

Ingredient Spotlight-Jam Cake

 I confess, I do not care for blueberries.  However, I did not want to skip this Ingredient Spotlight so I have been keeping my eyes open for something to post.  In the same Farm Journal cookbook that I posted the Sour Cream Coleslaw recipe from yesterday, I spied a recipe for Blackberry Jam Cake.  The recipe said that it was also good with strawberry or raspberry jam.  So I thought blueberry jam-that could work.  I think this is just going to be called Jam Cake as probably any jam flavor could be used.  I love a recipe that is a base from which I can make variations.

This improves with aging so can be made a day or two ahead of serving if one can wait to eat it.  That would not be me.  I put this in a 9x13-inch glass baking dish and baked it for 45 minutes.  I let cool and sprinkled powdered sugar over the top.  The cake is just a hint of purple, is moist with a subtle spice and berry flavor, and is crunchy with the nuts.  So go forth and make a purple cake!

Jam Cake
Great Home Cooking in America
Farm Journal Books, 1976

1 c. butter or margarine
1 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 c. jam of choice
3 1/4 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground nutmeg
1 t. ground allspice
3/4 t. salt
1 c. buttermilk
1 1/3 c. chopped walnuts (I used only 1 cup and toasted them)

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in jam.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition.  Stir in walnuts.  Spread batter in greased and waxed-paper-lined 9-inch tube pan.  Bake at 325 degrees 1 hour and 30 minutes or until cake tests done.  Makes 10 servings.

I am linking to Ingredient Spotlight and Whisking Wednesdays.

Eighteen Dozen Cookies-Part 1

I love, love, love cookies.  I can generally take or leave most other types of desserts, but put a cookie in front of me, and I am a goner.  I think I may have been Cookie Monster's mother in another life.  I don't mind then, once or twice a year,  making a large batch of cookies.  This time it is for our church's annual Highway Rest Stop, Coffee Break Weekend.  This is a fund raiser for the youth group.  I made four kinds and will share the recipes over the next four posts.

This first recipe is a favorite cookie from my childhood.  It is a Betty Crocker recipe from somewhere in the late 40's to early 50"s.  It is a soft chocolate, cake-like cookie.  The original recipe called for shortening, and I still use that; but you can use butter or margarine.  You can use melted chocolate or cocoa.  I use cocoa.  The dough needs to chill at least an hour and can be refrigerated longer.  I generally double the recipe and put half in the freezer so I can bake some at another time.  I either use liquid buttermilk or Saco Dry Buttermilk which keeps a long time in the refrigerator.  I like the flavor these give, but you can do the milk and lemon juice or vinegar substitute.  You can use dried cranberries, candied cherries, other nuts, or any flavor chips instead of the walnuts.

Chocolate Drop Cookies
1/2 c. shortening, butter or margarine
1 c. sugar
1 egg
2 sqs. unsweetened chocolate, melted or
6 T. cocoa and 2 T. more shortening, butter, or margarine
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. buttermilk
1/2 t. salt
1 t. soda
1 3/4 c. flour
1 c. chopped walnuts (I toast them)

Cream shortening and sugar until creamy.  Beat in egg.  Stir in melted unsweetened chocolate and buttermilk.  Combine flour, salt and soda.  Stir into mixture until blended.  Stir in nuts.  Chill 1 hour or overnight.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees F. 8-10 min.  Makes 4 dozen

If using cocoa, add it with dry ingredients.  If using dry buttermilk, add the needed water to the egg/sugar mixture and the dry buttermilk with the dry ingredients.

Enjoy.  Back tomorrow with the second recipe.

Linking to Ingredient Spotlight