Fudge Cookies

A year ago, right after Christmas, Nonni texted a suggestion to me: add her brother and sister-in-law (my great-aunt and great-uncle) to my list of people to make Christmas gifts for since they usually give me something. She had a point so I got some flavor ideas: coconut for Barba John and chocolate for Auntie Paldina. Since it was so simple, I figured I'd remember it, even when looking at my flavor ideas list when choosing recipes.

Except I got the two mixed up and chose a chocolatey cookie for Barba John and a coconut treat for Auntie Paldina. Oops! Apparently this didn't matter: when I asked Chiara and Matteo for more flavor ideas for their grandparents, they said that both liked chocolate and coconut. So I decided to stick with the recipes I originally chose for them. For Barba John, I chose a fudgy cookie recipe from Just a Pinch (Auntie Paldina makes fudge for almost everyone for Christmas so I kinda always associate anything fudge-related with both of them).

Fudge Cookies (source)

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup cocoa, unsweetened
• 2 eggs
• 2 cup sugar, plus more for rolling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In bowl of mixer, cream butter and 2 cups sugar.
2. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend until batter is soft and fluffy.
3. Add cocoa, flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir the dough until it is thick and well formed.
4. Roll a teaspoonful into a small ball and roll in granulated sugar.
5. Place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 8 minutes. For larger balls bake for 10 minutes.
7. Cool for one minute before removing to a rack. If your kitchen is warm, store the dough in the refrigerator between batches. (They froze very well.)

I'm not sure if Barba John liked them as he was the one who ended up handing out presents. However, Auntie Paldina and Anne dove right in (despite the fact that I stated they were for John) and commented on how delicious the cookies were (honestly, I had a feeling that they would switch gifts as soon as I realized the mixup).

This is the other recipe I want to make for myself: there were a few that broke as I was pulling them out of the bag I had stored them in so I snacked on the broken pieces as I put treats in tins and OH MY GOODNESS they were so gooey and chewy even after being frozen for a couple weeks and defrosted for a day.