THE ORIGINAL ‘RECEIPT’

CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Materials:

½ cup butter.

1 cup sugar.

¼ teaspoon salt.

1 teaspoon cinnamon.

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate (melted).

1 egg.

2 (level) teaspoons baking powder.

2 tablespoons milk.

2 ½ cups (more or less) Ogilvie’s Royal Household.

Preparation:

Cream the butter and sugar, then add the salt, cinnamon and chocolate, now add the well-beaten egg, and the soda dissolved in the milk.  Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough, cut in round cakes and bake in rather a quick oven.

~Ogilvie’s Book For A Cook. Montreal: The Ogilvie Flour Mills Company, Limited, 1914.

THE UPDATED RECIPE

• ½ c. butter
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate (melted)
• 1 egg
• 2 Tb. milk
• 2 ½ c. sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder.

Grease baking sheets with butter.

Melt the chocolate in a small saucepan, over very low heat.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and salt, using a wooden spoon.

Add the cinnamon, and blend in well.

Add the melted chocolate to the creamed mixture, and beat to combine thoroughly.

Beat the egg lightly with a fork, and add it to the dough mixture;  beat well.

Add the milk, and stir with a wooden spoon.

Sift the flour and measure it;  then add the baking powder to it, and sift together.

Add the flour and baking powder to the dough mixture, and stir in well, until the dough is smooth.

For best results, chill the dough for about half an hour at this point – it will roll more easily if cold.

Preheat oven to 350F.

On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling-pin, roll the dough to between ⅜ and ¼-inch in thickness.  (Make it thinner, if you use a small cookie cutter;  thicker for a larger diameter.)

Cut the dough, using a 2 or 3-inch diameter cookie cutter, depending on the size of cookie you prefer.

Place the cookies onto the buttered baking sheets, allowing room between them for expansion.

Bake in a preheated oven, at 350F for about ten to eighteen minutes (depending on the size of the cookies), or until firm and slightly crisp around the edges.  

Yield: approximately 2 dozen large cookies, or 4 ½ dozen smaller cookies.

The larger cookies tend to have a softer texture, while the smaller ones are more crisp.

A note from Patricia: Although these are called ‘chocolate cookies’, the cinnamon flavour really shines through. I made larger 3-inch-ish cookies and they were soft and lovely. I substituted 1:1 gluten free baking flour and they turned out perfectly. And because I have no self control, I also used these cookies to make some ice cream sandwiches.

The secret of making good cookies is in the use of as little flour as will suffice.

~Ogilvie’s Book For A Cook. Montreal: The Ogilvie Flour Mills Company, Limited, 1905.