I used to think I had a great memory, and then I became an adult (ha!). The older I get, the more I FORget, and now, when long-forgotten memories pop up from my childhood, it’s a bit of a delightful surprise, since I seem to be getting more and more details mixed up or lost as time goes on.
(Yes, apparently I’m 33 going on 83.)
The other day, I was flipping through the cookbook my grandmother gave me many years ago, the one filled with all the “secret family recipes” (many of which I’ve posted here on the blog), when I came across this recipe for fudge revel cookies.
The memory that flooded back was immediate—Christmastime, in the kitchen with my mom. There are cookie sheets everywhere, stacks of paper plates, boxes of colored plastic wrap (which had only very recently been invented). We are wrapping up platefuls of goodies for the neighbors, and the counters are filled with the delicacies my mom has been making over the past couple weeks (and then frozen), as well as the fresh-made divinity candy that is cooling in white wisps on wax paper.
I haven’t made these fudge revel cookies—a recipe of my Grandma Austin’s, according to the cookbook—in years. I haven’t even THOUGHT of these cookies in years.
But the second I see the title, I remember the elegant marbled swirl, the buttery cookie with slightly crisp edges but a clean, soft center, and the very subtle pop of semisweet chocolate swirled through.
How many Christmas seasons did I help make and distribute these cookies? Probably close to ten, at least (or it seems like it, anyway).
So this week, in honor of Christmases past, I made fudge revel cookies.
And we even took a couple small plates around, just to spread the love (and the calories).
Fudge Revel Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 (1-oz) squares semisweet baking chocolate OR 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted + cooled
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a large mixer bowl, combine both sugars and butter. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy (about 1 to 2 minutes).
- Add eggs and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes).
- Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat, scraping bowl often, until well mixed (1 to 2 minutes).
- Pour cooled chocolate over cookie dough and swirl with knife just enough to create a marbled effect. DO NOT OVERMIX.
- Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls (or use a small cookie scoop, like this one, affiliate link) onto ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes or until very lightly browned.
- Let stand one minute; remove from cookie sheets.
Yield: About 3 dozen
Note: To melt the chocolate, I usually put it in the microwave at 30% power for 30-second bursts, stirring in between, until the chocolate is *just* melted all the way through and a pourable consistency.
