Aunt Tannie’s Chocolate Cookies

 Another classic cookie post.

This recipe is legendary in my family.  These crispy/chewy chocolate cookies are simply known as Aunt Tannie’s Chocolate cookies.  Tannie Daane was my ex’s aunt on her father’s side and she was a marvelous baker who lived her entire life in Sheboygan Wisconsin.

The cookie is not too sweet and has a very dark chocolate flavor, almost reminiscent of an Oreo.  They are positively addicting.

Aunt Tannie’s Chocolate Cookies

Makes 5 dozen

1 1/4 cups butter, room temp

2 cups granulated sugar ( 200 g )

2 eggs, room temp

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour ( 240 g )

3/4 cup cocoa powder ( 90 g )

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine butter and sugar in a stand mixer and cream with paddle attachment until light and fluffy ( about seven minutes). Add eggs and vanilla and cream until smooth.  

In a separate bowl combine remaining dry ingredients and whisk to blend. Add dry ingredients to creamed butter and mix on low speed until well-mixed.

Drop teaspoons of batter about 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheet ( cookies will spread during baking).  Bake 8-9 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE.

Remove cookies from oven and let rest on sheet for one minute before removing to a wire cooling rack.

Poppy Seed Cookies

 

This is an old cookie recipe I haven’t made for decades, but I decided to make for Christmas this year.  The cookies are like a delicious crunchy yet tender shortbread, fragrant with vanilla, nuts and butter with a nice bite from dried ginger.  They are plain to look at but usually end up being the first cookie to disappear. They are absolutely divine with a cup of Earl Grey tea or a cup of coffee.  I think they should be made all year long, and I am resolved to make that happen in 2023.

I first tasted these cookies when I was. Ph.D. Student at Oak Ridge National Laboratories.  The recipe is from Diana M. Popp, who was the wife of the director of my graduate program, Dr, Raymond A. Popp.  My bestie in grad school, Jane Gallager Mural, worked in the Popp’s lab and often house-sat the Popp’s magnificent farm on the banks of the Clinch river in East Tennessee.

Diana was a talented mouse geneticist, amazing cook and fabulous hostess, and general “lab mom” for us students.

Here is the recipe:

Diana Popp’s Poppyseed Cookies

16 oz. Unsalted butter, room temperature 

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp powdered dried ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup poppy seeds

1/2 cup toasted, chopped pecans

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add egg yolk and vanilla and cream until well-incorporated.

Combine flour, ginger, salt and poppy seeds in a separate bowl and whisk until blended.  

Add flour mixture to creamed butter and mix until combined. 

Add pecans and mix until well distributed through the dough.

Place the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a  2-foot log, using plastic wrap to assist with rolling.

Wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, about an hour.

Preheat oven to 325°F

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Cut log into 1/4 inch slices and place on cookie sheet at least 1 inch apart.

Bake for 12 minutes til cookies are just beginning to brown.  Cool completely on a rack.

https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Diana-M-Popp-39844608