A cookie for Cookie

There is never a dull moment in the the company of mischevious girlfriends. And when the girlfriends happen to be the gals you share a bedroom with and paint each others nails with the adventures just get better. I consider myself the luckiest gal to be related to two of the most fabulous women in the world - Gigi and Cookie. Gigi, my sweet as a sugarplum sister whom I can go to when I want to hear a harmless lie about how little weight I've gained even though I spent an entire weekend binging through several boxes of girl scout cookies. Cookie, my comrade in the single woman's cause who will jump head first with all abandon at the hint of an adventure and mischief.
When we were young, Gigi would eat my portion of Ma's Friday morning scrambled eggs( which I loathed) and in return I would eat all the vegetables off her plate during lunch. Cookie and I would sneak out of bed to catch the late night re-runs of Ally McBeal and later raid the kitchen for midnight munchies. I confess that there have been times when we've turned on each other and plotted our revenge because someone pulled the "I'm older than you so you better make my bed'' card and forced the younger ones into additional morning chores. And to avenge this misfortune, someone else let it slip that mommy's innocent little girl was no saint and has a giant-sized crush on a boy who is not so little.
In the end though..........we would split a chocolate bar and all would be well in our world again.

Besides purses, shoes and accessories, Gigi, Cookie and I share a love for food. Here's where we are different though: Gigi would rather eat than cook while Cookie shares a thrill for both.

In the middle of a fierce card game with A.F last Saturday night, the munchies hit us so hard that Cookie and I decided that the only way to to tackle this problem would be with butter(ofcourse!) and dark chocolate chips. We settled on a cookie. Not any kind of cookie though: a chocolatey chocolate walnut cookie dressed with...wait for it...you ready? sure? ok here goes.... a layer of buttercream frosting (Hallelujah!). Oh what joy awaits me when cookie and frosting will unite to create unspeakable pleasure as I ascend to the throne of "sugar" heaven. 45 minutes later the frosting was whipped, the cookies were baked and a chorus of angels were singing as we finished the first batch with glee and gluttony. Before we devoured the second batch, Cookie and I decided to capture the moment and our shared love for cookies using A.F's magic lense of course.

 And here it is....a delectable cookie for my sister, Cookie.
(Wish you were here Gigi. We missed you a lot babe.)

 Chocolate Walnut Clusters
(By Marion Cunningham from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book)



INGREDIENTS

• 1-1/2 oz (1-1/2 squares) unsweetened chocolate
• 4 Tbsp butter (1/2 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups walnut pieces

Topping: Buttercream filling

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease some cookie sheets. Place the chocolate in a small cup or bowl and set in a pan of simmering water to melt. set aside to cool lightly.Combine the butter and sugar and beat until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and beat until light, then stir in the vanilla and melted chocolate and mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and sift together over the chocolate mixture. Beat just until thoroughly mixed. Stir in the walnuts. drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet, placing the mound by about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and place on wire racks to cool.

Spread a thin layer of buttercream filling over each cookie.