It’s finally here. It is Movember, the most beautiful time of the year. Those who know me know my admiration for a nice tall man with facial hair who can clean up well in a suit (aka: my handsome hubby). This time of year it gets a bit more refined. Even the most junior of mustaches is welcomed. And ladies…lets not forget about you!! So many lovely ladies show off their mustache pride and for that I thank you fellow Mo Sistas! This is my 4th year raising money towards the fight against men’s cancers and mental health and this year my goal is to try and raise $500. It is always overwhelming how generous my friends and family are, especially our staff at our work.
Please visit my Movember page here and make a donation today and make your contribution! http://mosista.co/Tehani or http://moteam.co/the-guildford-fuzzy-lips
At this particular location everyone seems to have a sweet tooth so baking sales go over swimmingly. Last week I brought in some Berry Crumble. Yesterday it was Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes. Tonight it’s Walnut Chocolate Cookies.
The base of this cookie recipe is the first recipe I ever mastered when I was a teenager and it’s the Original Nestle Toll House Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I have vivid memories hanging out with my friend Emily as teens and making this recipe, purely so that we could eat half the cookie dough while watching Disney movies and laughing our asses off. I’ve tweeked the recipe juuuuust slightly by adding vanilla and then I swap out the nuts and chocolate chips all the time with whatever I feel like.
For tonight’s fundraising efforts I’m kicking it old school and kicking it up a notch at the same time by topping them in chocolate. Because who can resist MORE chocolate?
For the cookies (adapted from Nestle Toll House):
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups roasted walnuts, chopped
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix sugars, butter, egg and vanilla in a bowl. Stir in all the dry ingredients and then add the nuts and chocolate chips. Make soup spoon sized rounds and bake on a cookie sheet, 12 per sheet, for 10 minutes. Makes about 36 cookies. Let them cool completely before dipping them in chocolate.
Topping them is definitely optional but these are to help raise money so I want to dress them up as much as possible! I did some research on the interweb and it recommended a bunch of techniques and which kind of chocolate to use. Mainly DO NOT use chocolate chips buuuuuuuut of course I only had chocolate chips and was far too lazy to go to the store. I also didn’t have any whipping cream so I tried to thin it out a bit with the butter and espresso. They turned out pretty good still! The chocolate definitely wasn’t as liquid as I wanted for dipping so I spread it on top instead. I only made enough chocolate to cover 2 dozen cookies so I kept the undressed ones at home for the hubby *cough cough* and me too *cough…
**Melt 1 cup chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons espresso and 1 tablespoon butter in a double boiler. Once melted top the cookies with the chocolate then place a whole roasted walnut on top. Let set completely before serving.**
** I HIGHLY recommend finding a recipe with a tried and true chocolate dipping method…and then send it my way! I’ve always had troubles with chocolate. And mac n’ cheese but that’s a WHOLE other story.
I hope our staff enjoy these cookies tonight. Maybe their sweet tooth is directly connected to their wallets and hearts? Please donate today!
xo