Chocolate Rocks
Page 69 of The Wingold Cook Book, 3rd ed. (complied by Elfrieda Von Rohr Sauer)
1/2 c melted butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 cup milk
2 squares chocolate, melted
1 1/2 c. Wingold flour
1 tesp baking powder
1 cup nuts, chopped

Chop 2 oz chocolate* into small pieces and melt with 1 stick butter in microwave. Blend in electric mixer, with 8 oz. brown sugar, milk and egg. Mix baking powder into the 6 3/4 oz flour and blend. Chop and stir in nuts**. Put in fridge for 10-20 minutes to cool. Preheat oven to 350. Cover cookie pans in parchment paper.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls about 2 inches apart. Bake in middle rack of oven about 12 minutes. If your oven has hotspots, rotate at the 6 minute mark. If using two baking sheets in one oven, trade places from top to bottom at the 6 minute mark.
When done, cool on sheets for 2 minutes, and then remove the cake-like cookies gently from baking sheets, or place entire sheet of parchment on cooling racks.
Made about 36 cookies.

*Trying to get cookies like my Mama-in-law might remember, I used semi-sweet baking chocolate (54%). In the future, I might try some good 65% chocolate.
**GM suggested walnuts would have been what his grandmother used, but I don't like them, and had a cup of pecans, so I used those.

This year's list includes: (drops) Toll House Chocolate Chip, Grandma Roger's oatmeal with blueberries, Grandma Roger's Oatmeal with candied orange peel, Spice Drops (vegan), Soft Molasses, Peanut butter crisps, ginger snaps, M&M cookies
(rolls) Refrigerator cookies with hazelnuts and poppy seeds, Orange and cardamom, Almond thins, Swedish ginger thins.
I'd like to make some rolled and cut cookies, but I don't think I'm going to have time.

GM's paternal grandmother used to send his family cookies every Christmas. GM says he and his brothers got most of the cookies, but his dad kept (some) of the krumkake for himself as they were his favorite. GM got the recipe for me from his Aunt Siggy, and last Tuesday was the first time it worked perfectly. The moon must have been in the right phase, or maybe the humidity was finally not wrong. Or, far more likely, this was the first time I was making krumkake undistracted by the frenzy of the big Christmas bake.

Aunt Siggy's Krumkake recipe
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter (unsalted), cooled to room temp
2 eggs
1 c whole milk
1 1/2 cup flour
pinch salt
1 tesp vanilla
(I added a tesp of powdered ginger. Cardamom is also good.)

Beat eggs lightly. Add sugar to eggs and beat until light. Add cooled butter. Mix in vanilla and salt. Mix in 1/2 cup of flour and tesp of ginger, a 1/2 cup of milk, a 1/2 cup of flour, a 1/2 cup of milk, and the last 1/2 cup of flour.
Put mixture in fridge for at least an hour.

I have an electric krumkake iron, which is much easier and less burny than the stove-top version.
Heat iron, put 1 Tbl of batter on each round. Close iron and wait 1 minute and 15 seconds. Open iron, roll krumkake on a wooden spoon handle if desired. Place on cooling racks. Repeat, preferably while watching television.

I make these every year for one of my brother in law's coworkers who's allergic to either eggs or butter, I can never remember which.
 

Refrigerator cookies are the kind that you roll the dough into a log (or snake), wrap in waxed paper and out in the ‘fridge to chill. When cold, you slice the log into thin cookies and bake. I find as I get older and my hands are less cooperative about rolling out dough I’m making more and more of this kind of cookies.

This morning's bag of snails was 22, most of them no bigger than a pencil eraser. And I cleaned the cat box, so I've got a sense of accomplishment already.

I've got a few more batches of cookies to go before I have enough to send the Christmas boxes out. I'm adding a box this year for GM's godparents, so we're at Mom&Dad, MomInLaw, DadInLaw&BiL_Rik, BiL_Peter, BiL_Andrew , BroChas, Grandma, Nana, GMGodparents, so nine boxes. I feel like I'm forgetting someone, but I can't think of who. Hopefully it will come to me.

This year's list includes: Toll House Chocolate Chip, Grandma Roger's oatmeal with blueberries, Grandma Roger's Oatmeal with candied orange peel, Peanut butter crisscrosses, Refrigerator cookies with hazelnuts and poppy seeds, Jam shortbread cookies, Spice Drops (vegan), Soft Molasses, Orange and cardamom (thanks etaine_pommier!), Peanut butter crisps, Tiny chocolate chip with sea salt (thanks sarahbellem!)

I still hope to make Oatmeal with candied ginger, ginger snaps, sugar cookies (or maybe snickerdoodles), and maybe Rik's favorite almonds thins or my Mom's favorite Swedish ginger thins.

I really should have made a list first.