Cookies Make Sweet Holiday Gifts

Certain holidays launch a season as well as a celebration. Memorial Day brings the beginning of summer, Labor Day means summer is over, and Thanksgiving signals the start of holiday baking.

But before you dig through the cabinet looking for your collection of holiday goodies, try what I call Once-A-Year Chocolate Chip Cookies - so named because I can’t be responsible for the results if you make them more often.

The recipe is the product of much experimentation (I’d say about 10 excess pounds’ worth). The base is a butter cookie, chock-full of chocolate and nuts. Eaten fresh from the oven, it is slightly crunchy and very buttery tasting. If it sits for a day, it becomes tender and rich-tasting but without the definitive butter flavor.

As a cautionary measure, I designed the recipe to yield six or seven cookies, not enough to get anyone into real trouble. One cookie, wrapped in iridescent paper, makes a nice gift for a bus driver; a half-dozen should guarantee door-to-door service.

Once-A-Year Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup flour, minus 1 tablespoon

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup chunky chocolate pieces (see note)

1/4 cup salted, roasted pecan halves

Cream butter and sugar in bowl of heavy-duty electric mixer until light and creamy. Beat in vanilla.

Add flour and baking powder and beat just until mixed. Mix in chocolate pieces and pecans. Dough will be firm.

Shape into 6 or 7 lemon-sized balls. Arrange 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Using palm of hand, flatten each cookie to 1/2-inch thickness.

Bake cookies at 300 degrees until faintly browned at edges, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

Yield: 6 or 7 cookies.

Note: It’s essential to use the best-quality chocolate available for these cookies. I recommend buying 1 (3-ounce) bar of semisweet chocolate and breaking it into bite-size pieces.