Fudge Thumbprints and Fifteen

Fudge Thumbprints and Fifteen

Dessert Craze

What’s the next big dessert craze going to be?  Anyone have any thoughts on this deep subject?  I’ve lived through my share of fad foods and I’m eagerly awaiting the next.  We’ve had cake pops, cookie store cookies, crazy cupcakes, and drip cakes.  This new fad of scraping the frosting off the sides of cakes makes no sense to me so I am only going to mention it here and waste no additional words on it.  The frosting is the best part so why scrape it off?  

Remember simpler times of having a bowl of jello or pudding for dessert?  Sometimes you even got a squirt of aerosol whipped cream on the top.  My grandmother and I think possibly my mother, too, poured milk on their jello.  Not my idea of a dazzling dessert but interesting nonetheless.  In tv-land today they would call that a deconstructed parfait. 

Pies

Other than jello, my family eats lots of pies.  I like pies, but they aren’t my favorite unless they come from the Amish buffet in Ohio.  Then, we’re talking!  Coconut cream, chocolate meringue, strawberry rhubarb, and shoofly pie.  The list goes on, and so do the calories. But let’s just skip the calories, the diabetes, and the cholesterol and pretend we are in our 15 year old bodies and again and can engage in treats all we want.  What do you pick? I choose cookies.

And while we are in our 15 year old bodies, how nice it would be to go outside and not melt in temperatures over 85.  Or, be able to walk up and down stairs willy nilly without planning ahead so I can put the oxygen tank at the top of the stairs for recovery. (I exaggerate, but only just a little.)  Things we took for granted in our young bodies now are things to consider in our older selves.  

Fifteen Again

Pretty sure my candles had just fallen over and I was laughing at that.

What is one thing you would like to do that you could easily do at 15?  You may say something simple like leaving the house without filing a report of where you are going, what you are getting, and pinpointing your return.  Families come with commitment.  Or, you may say riding a bike on the beach.  Jogging down a wooded trail.  What about fitting into your sassy pants and being all.. well…sassy when you go out for the evening?  All of these sound appealing.

I think I would have to pick being more limber.  Being an ex-majorette and for shorter times a dancer or cheerleader, allows me to compare my more limber self with my now rusty robot self.  Supposedly you can return to a more lithe and limber self with stretches, yoga, etc.  I might accept that challenge and give it a try.  I know I have a yoga mat somewhere in my closet.   Maybe if I put some cookies at the end of the mat, I could reach farther to grab one and stretch out my legs. You just have to pick the right motivation.  

Fudge Thumbprints

Fudge Thumbprint Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks butter, softened

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup mini chocolate chips

Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and egg yolks in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well-blended.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until firm enough to handle.  Prepare the fudge filling and preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Press thumb into center of each cookie to make indentation; fill with scant teaspoonful of  filling.  Bake 10-12 minutes or until light brown around edges.  Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet and place on wire rack.  Cool completely and drizzle with additional melted chocolate chips, if desired.

Fudge Filling

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

½ cup whipping cream (or half-and-half)

1 egg yolk

½ cup chocolate chips

½ teaspoon vanilla extract.

Stir together sugar and cornstarch in small saucepan; gradually stir in whipping cream.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and thick.  Beat egg yolk slightly in small bowl.  Stir about 2 tablespoons hot mixture into yolk.  Return to saucepan, stirring until blended.  Cook, stirring constantly, just until mixture comes to a boil.  Remove from heat; add chocolate chips and vanilla, stirring until chips are melted.  Cool.

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2 Responses to Fudge Thumbprints and Fifteen

  1. Sally July 17, 2020 at 11:14 pm #

    I never ate jello with milk on it!

    • Julie July 17, 2020 at 11:51 pm #

      So I guess it was just grandma and her love of mixing foods.

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