Cookies - Chocolate Filled Yum-Yums

Normally, I'd save the verdict on a recipe until the end of a post, but not this time.  I am going to say right now that you should probably make Chocolate Filled Yum-Yums (CFYYs).  It is possible that this recipe is the best thing I have yet made out of the Cook Book.  There have been some recipes that were decent (Fancy Chocolate Refrigerator Cookies, Mock Apple Pie,  Powdered Sugar Cookies, Marshmallow Pie, Raisin Rolls), but they were all lacking in one way or another.  As a side note, it's curious that the recipes that have fared the best out of the Cook Book have generally come from the chapters on sweets.  I don't know if that is a reflection on my personal sweet tooth or the nature of the recipes and how perhaps cookies haven't changed all that much over the years.  A delicious cookie is a delicious cookie, no?

Preach!

Now before I jump into the preparation of these CFYYs, there is something I need to address.  Chinese Chews.  Here's the recipe page with the CFYYs as well as the Chinese Chews and Tasty Dainties:

So confused

What makes them Chinese?  Coco(a?)nut, huh?  Granted, my knowledge of the flora native to greater China isn’t vast, but I don’t think I’ve ever associated coco(a?)nuts with anywhere but tropical beaches.  Maybe Mao had a thing for them, and that was well known among Lutherans from northern Minnesota.  OR, maybe the cocoanut is native to China, while the coconut is more tropical.  I bet that’s it.  Mystery solved.  But then, if ½ cup of cocoanut is used in Chinese Chews, why doesn’t the 1 cup of cocoanut in the Tasty Dainties make them twice as Chinese?  Beats the heckoutta me.  Maybe Mao knows.

Betcha didn't know that Mao's little red book was actually a cook book featuring the versatile cocoanut.

Preparation

Instead of making these at home, I decided to make them as a way to punish treat for my family up near Duluth.  Helping me is my little sister, Molly.  Hi, Molly.

No silly caption.  Just a nice picture.

Here are our ingredients:

Did you read all the way through the recipe?

Oh wait, like so many of the recipes in the Cook Book, Doris didn’t include all of the ingredients in the list.  C’mon, Doris.

Sadly, not a recipe in Mao's cook book.

There, that’s better.  So now we can get to it.  But wait!  Doris says we’re supposed to add salt.  But how much?  How much, Doris?! 

Don't let me down, Doris.

We settle on something less than a third of a cup of salt.  But it doesn’t take long before we start to question ourselves.  Not having a sense of what the finished product looks like often leads to being unsure of how things are supposed to look along the way.  Molly creamed together the first few ingredients and started to spread it out in the bottom of a pan.

Cookie anxiety is the worst kind of anxiety.

Molly – How is this going to be enough?

Me – Here.  Scrape this batter off my fingers that I cleaned off the beaters [that I totally wasn’t about to lick off].

I guess it’s going to be a pretty thin layer, even with the finger dough.

Step one, complete.  Now Doris wants us to sprinkle chocolate chips over the dough.  Again, how much?  What the heck, Doris?  Well, she says “sprinkle”.  Google says, “scatter or pour small drops or particles of a substance over (an object or surface)” and “a small quantity of something scattered over an object or surface.”  Alright, so that says to me that I should be somewhat restrained.

I can restrain myself with sweets.  I really can.

Seems reasonable, no?

Next part is the top layer.  It looks like a meringue. 

Molly – I’m not a meringue expert.  You’ll have to tell me when it is peaky enough.

While I am here to poke a little fun at Doris, I am going to be nice to my sister when she put the egg whites into a bowl that had been used for butter.  Sorry, Moll, those egg whites aren’t going to beat up into any peaks with fat in the bowl.

Doris disapproves.  I say, "Meh, we'll crack more eggs."

Sarah wanders by and looks at the recipe as Molly is adding the sugar to the whites.

Sarah – There’s a cup of brown sugar?  That’s going to be really grainy.

Thomas pays us a visit too.  Good timing, kiddo.

It's like the kid's got a 6th sense about when treats are to be had.  Pays off.

Sarah - Is it sweet?
Molly - Yes, really.  This tastes like molasses peeps.
Me - It is grainy, really
Molly - Thomas, do you like it?
Thomas - YES!

Well, there's a glowing endorsement from the boy who loves brussels sprouts and doesn't like caramel ice cream.  Weird kid.

Yeah, I’m having concerns about all that sugar too.  But we must not let questionable recipe directions deter us.  It hasn’t slowed us down in the past.  Maybe I’ve just not learned my lesson yet.  We get the meringue on, and sprinkle the chopped pecans.

Sarah – There’s nuts in there too?  That does not sound yum-yum.

So here we are.  I can’t say that I’m very optimistic.  Not that I expect it to be bad, but I don’t really know what to expect aside from vague disappointment.  But we pop it in the oven and pull it out 25 minutes later.  Molly then points out that I made a small mistake with the recipe.  The recipe called for cake flour, but we only had AP flour.

Molly - So it's your fault if it's bad.
Me - No.  It's the fault of the 1950s.

Not that I'm actually concerned about the difference the AP flour is going to make, but I do wish I had used cake flour.  But as the base of the CFYYs is pretty thin, I don't think it'll make much difference.  There is less protein in cake flour than in AP flour, as explained here, so perhaps the base wound up being a little more dense than it would have been otherwise, but ultimately, I think the difference was probably negligible.  Anyway, in goes the CFYYs

No baking without being a little silly.  The silly makes it taste better.

I rest my case.

Doesn’t look bad.  You can see from the hole in the meringue that it has crisped up a little on top. 

Pretend you can taste it now.

Tasting and Reaction

Out of the oven, it looks decent and smells good, and though sweet teeth are calling, we let the CFYYs cool before diving in.

Isaiah comes by.
Me - Isaiah.  do you want to take some to work?
Isaiah - Yeah!
Molly - It'll be great to have some Chocolate Filled Yum-Yums for a snack at work.
Isaiah - That's what they're called *incredulous frown*

I didn't get a picture of Isaiah at this point, but this pretty much nails his expression.  No, Molly's husband isn't blue, but I kind of like the color, so we'll go with it.  Trust me, this is the spitting image of my brother in law.

Isaiah takes a bite.
Isaiah - I kind of like it.  I can't tell how to describe it.  You can tell there's a lot of sugar in it.

Oh wait, I do have a picture of Isaiah.  Like I said above.  Spitting image.

Molly and I cut up pieces for ourselves and for anyone else who happens to come by.

My contemplative face.  My weekend cowlick hair.

Mom - Aaron, you look skeptical.  [No, I look weekendy]
Me - No.  Just thinking.  [and weekending]

Hi mom.  Thanks for letting us make a mess of your kitchen!

Mom - I like it.  I like the crusty crispy top.
Molly - It's caramelly, and there are little chocolate surprises in there.  It's rich though.  Holy cow.
Me - I like it!  it's good.
Sarah [looking at the melty bottom] - Is that done?  It looks raw down there.

Funny how Sarah and Isaiah look so similar..

Sarah takes a bit - It's really sweet.  The meringue isn't as grainy as I thought it would be.  I wish the chocolate were more melty though.  I didn't get a lot of chocolate.  It needs more.
Mom - there's more yum-yum than there is chocolate.
Molly - I think it needs more nuts.
Sarah - Less nuts.
Molly - Less sugar.  I need some water urgh

Here's Molly's derp"urgh" face.

Sarah - I can see how this would work at a church pot luck.  Oof, I think I ate too much.
Molly - I don't know.  They made it look pretty.  It's so sticky.
Sarah - I feel like I need dinner now.  Something savory.

Thomas swings by again and has a taste.

Awww, look at him.  Isn't he cute?

Thomas - Mmmmmm!  I like the top part and this part [pointing at the bottom]
Me - I think this might be one of the best things I've made out of the cook book.  It's too sweet, yes, but it's really tasty.
Sarah - I just want to pick at the meringue.
Me - I like the gooey caramelly bottom.

We then set the CFYYs out for people to eat as they come and go with the stipulation that they write down their comments.

Matt - It's really sweet, as the name suggests.  The consistency of the rust is awesome!  Also, it's really sweet.
Carey - Where's the chocolate?  Pretty malliable, hard to hold.  Cavities are inevitable, better up my dental coverage.  Walnuts are great, they're healthy!  So it's not completely bad for you.  I'd recommend a brownie base and a chocolate top.  Basically a blondie.  Please make blondies.
Burnell - Yum Yum??  Way too sweet... tasted like solid sugar.  Was o.k. with a glass of milk though.

Final Thoughts

After a little reflection, Sarah and I started talking about how the overly sweet meringue reminded us of something else I made.  After we flipped through the cook book a bit, it dawned on us, the Angel or Lemon Pie.  And yes though this was too sweet, the Angel or Lemon Pie was painfully sweet.  CFYYs were genuinely good.  They were chewy.  They were caramelly.  The crispy meringue top with the chopped nuts provided some needed texture.  That is not to say that there weren't issues.  Yes, they were too sweet.  There were also not enough chocolate chips to really be considered "chocolate filled".  I'll chalk that up to a less than clear recipe rather than a problem with the recipe though. 

Then there are a couple issues that aren't related to the CFYYs so much.  Doris, like some of the other Ladies, did not include all the ingredients on the ingredient list.  Nor did she include measurements for some of the critical ingredients.  Maybe there is some font of sacred church basement cooking knowledge that I'm not plugged into, but it's definitely a drawback.  But more fundamentally, these are not cookies.  How could anybody call them cookies??  They're bars.  They are so clearly bars.  And what (aside from lefse, buttered buns at funerals, and weak coffee) are Lutheran ladies known for, but bars?  Why are CFYYs in the Cookies chapter?  A mystery for the ages.

All that said, I would actually make these again.  I'm a little shocked to say it, but it's true.  It just goes to show that after making dozens of ok to much less than ok recipes, you can find a gem of a recipe.  Must be a sign that I can find more good recipes if I keep going.

Challenge accepted!

I liked doing the little poll last time, so I'm going to do it again. 

Next time:  Donuts
Let me know which recipe I should make.

1. Sour Milk Doughnuts
2. Potato Doughnuts
or
3.  Donuts