Malted Chocolate Chip Cookies

I didn’t take a picture of these because they looked no different from everyday Toll House chocolate chip cookies and everyone knows what they look like.

Malted milk balls are one of the few candies that I DO NOT like. I don’t think that it’s the malt flavor that I don’t like, but the chalky dry interior of the candy. Well, because I don’t like them I was surprised when I felt compelled to buy a couple of jars of malted milk powder. I don’t know what it was, but I HAD to buy them -- a jar of ‘plain’ and a jar of chocolate flavor.

To use some of it, I stirred ¾ cup of the plain powder into the standard Toll House recipe; although it could probably be mixed into the flour and stirred in with the dry ingredients, I stirred it into the butter/egg mixture. After the cookies were baked and cooled I was pleasantly surprised that the cookies didn’t have an overly strong malt flavor. It made the cookies taste ‘richer’ or ‘deeper’ and it’s something that I’d do again if I have the malted milk powder on hand (the two jars I have will likely be on hand for a loooong time). To make these cookies look more obviously like something with malted milk flavor, I'm sure you could stir in some chopped Whoppers or something -- but since I don't like malted milk balls, I won't be doing that.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies (Mrs. Fields)

This recipe came from a cookbook that I was given for my birthday, Mrs. Fields Cookie Book: 100 Recipes from the Kitchen of Mrs. Fields, printed in 1992.

I didn’t quite follow the recipe in the book -- because I didn’t have a fresh lemon, I didn't use the lemon zest, so I used bit more lemon extract; also, I left out the coriander (it's a 'use it once' ingredient for me, so I've never bought any) and probably added more poppyseed than the recipe calls for. The cookies had a nice but not strong lemon flavor and were a little bit crispy; I made them into normal-sized cookies (about 2”) and got probably 4 or 5 dozen. Here’s the recipe as printed in the book:

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsps. freshly grated lemon zest
1 tsp. ground coriander
2 Tbsp. poppy seeds
¼ cup salted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 large whole egg
1-1/2 tsps. pure lemon extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, lemon zest, coriander, and poppy seeds. Mix well with a wire whisk and set aside.

In a large bowl cream butter and sugar with electric mixer at medium speed until mixture forms a grainy paste. Scrape down sides of bowl, then add yolks, egg, and lemon extract. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Add the flour mixture and mix at low speed just until combined. Do not overmix.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake for 23-25 minutes until cookies are slightly brown along edges. Immediately transfer cookies with a spatula to a cool surface.

Yield: 2 dozen.

Chocolate-Macadamia Magic Layer Cookies

“Magic Layer Cookies” are a popular classic recipe from Eagle Brand, using a crust of graham cracker crumbs topped with layers of sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, coconut, and pecans. They're easy and quick to make. My mom and grandmother made them at Christmas almost every year.

Many years ago in a “Favorite Brand Name” cookbook I came across the original recipe that also listed many flavor variations; a few years ago I tried this chocolate-macadamia variation and really liked it. Because the macadamias and chocolate wafers are pricier than the everyday original ingredients it’s more expensive to make these, but they’re a nice treat for a party.

Below is the original recipe, with the variations following (‘mix and match’ the layers to create whatever you might like).

Magic Cookie Bars

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
a 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk (such as Eagle brand -- NOT evaporated milk)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/3 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 degrees for a glass baking pan). Place the butter in a 9x13 baking pan and place it in the oven to melt the butter. Remove pan from oven; sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over the melted butter, then pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the crumbs. Sprinkle with a layer of chocolate chips, then coconut, then nuts; press down firmly (this will press the toppings down a bit, into the sticky milk layer). Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. After cooling, cut into bars and store at room temperature.

Variations:
For the crumb layer, substitute any of the following for the graham cracker crumbs: vanilla wafer crumbs, chocolate wafer crumbs (such as the thin, round Nabisco 'Famous Chocolate' cookies that are usually on the top shelf at the grocery), gingersnap crumbs, quick-cooking oats, wheat germ

For the toppings, substitute any of the following for the chocolate chips: peanut butter-flavored chips, plain M&Ms (regular or mini-sized), raisins, chopped dried apricots, almond brickle or toffee chips, dried banana chips, chopped candied cherries, small gumdrops, miniature marshmallows

For the nuts, substitute any of the following for the pecans: walnuts, pecans, almonds, peanuts, cashews, macadamia nuts

For flavor variations, stir flavoring into the sweetened condensed milk: for mint flavor, stir in 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract (and 4 drops green food coloring, if desired); for mocha flavor, stir in 1 Tbsp. instant coffee and 1 Tbsp. chocolate-flavored syrup; for peanut butter flavor, stir in 1/3 cup peanut butter; for maple flavor, stir in 1/2 to 1 tsp. maple flavoring.

To make Seven-Layer Magic Cookie Bars, add 1 cup butterscotch-flavor chips to the original recipe, layering the chips after the chocolate chips.