Brownie Drops

One of the many great things about being home is being able to raid my mom's excellent cookbook collection. I found this gem today:

Okay, okay... so it's backwards... And Paula's in the background...

The point is, it's a first edition of Maida Heatter's "Book of Great Cookies!" And it's signed! And well loved!

And I LOVE the tips Maida gives us. For instance, Santa Fe Chocolate Wafers "are very fragile and not suitable for picnics."Aww, shucks, Maida, you shot that plan down in its infancy, didn't you?

I was curious about "Chocolate Street Cookies," which are really brownies in cookie form-- in fact, they're a great deal like a recipe that my friend Aki gave me. Why they're "street" cookies escapes me... all I know is, they're darn good! I altered them a bit to make them fudgier...

I call this new version "Allie has irrational fears of standardized tests (especially the MCATs) and drowns them in chocolate" cookies.

"Chocolate Street Cookies" 

(version 2.0)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground

1/4 tsp salt

8 oz semisweet chocolate

2 tbsp cocoa powder, unsweetened

1 tbsp butter

2 eggs

3/4 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift all dry ingredients together, except for the sugar. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar, vanilla, and eggs until smooth. In yet a third bowl, melt the chocolate and butter together (I used a microwave for this). Once cooled, add chocolate mixture to egg mixture. Then add that mixture to dry ingredients. Spoon rounded tablespoons onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake 10 minutes, or until tops are crinkley, like brownies. Consume.