Christmas in ... September?

Well, it’s not exactly the Christmas season, but that hasn’t stopped me from hosting a Christmas party. It’s been a pretty stressful time as a second year law student, so one of my good friends suggested that I host a Christmas in September party, in the interest of spreading some good cheer. My friend took care of the crafts and decorations, and it was my job to make the cookies. I made three kinds, each of which will be making an appearance throughout the week.

These first cookies are an old family favorite. My mom found the recipe at least a few years ago, and it has since been a favorite. The cookies are fudgy, and the nonpareils in the center add a nice hit of chocolate. It’s important to add the candies while the cookies are still warm from the oven, so that they melt into the cookie. This is also how they are best eaten. I found the recipe reprinted here, no idea where it originated.

I have no idea how many cookies this makes. The website doesn’t say. I made 42 cookies, and still have between ½ and 1/3 of the dough remaining.

Chocolate Fudge Cookies

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted 

2 cup granulated sugar 

4 eggs 

2 tsp vanilla 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

2 cup flour 

2 tsp baking powder 

Phocolate nonpareil candies 

Powdered sugar

1. Mix the oil, chocolate and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating fully after each addition. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder over the chocolate mixture, and whisk until a dough forms.

2. Refrigerate the dough for several hours, or overnight.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take the dough out of the fridge, and roll teaspoons of dough into balls. Roll each ball in powdered sugar. Put the cookies on a baking sheet, at least three inches between each cookie, and bake for 10 minutes.

4. As soon as the cookies are out of the oven, press a nonpareil into the top of each cookie.