A grandmother’s careful touch inspires a perfect graham cracker cookie

I used to watch my grandmother make strudel.  She was a pro.  She’d take great pains in rolling out the dough to an impossibly thin sheet, and then she’d carefully put the fillings on.  But Gram wouldn’t take a handful of raisins or walnuts and toss them onto the dough.  No, she would lovingly place each of the food items strategically so the finished product would have a raisin and a piece of walnut in every bite.  Then she would gently, gently roll up the dough into a very long log and seal it almost tenderly.

That is the stock from which I come.

While making strudel is not my forte, I try to take the same care with all my baked goods so that the end results are eye-rollingly good.

The one I want to share today is a wonderful firm not too sweet graham-cracker cookie.

Graham Cracker Cookies

Yield:  3 to 4 dozen cookies 

Ingredients

• ¾ cup butter, softened

• ½ cup white sugar

• ½ cup packed brown sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¾ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

• ½ cup well-chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease or parchment cookie sheets.

2. Beat together butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl; add to egg mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips, and nuts until well combined.

3. Form into 1 ¼” balls and flatten slightly, place onto the prepared cookie sheets. 

4. Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 8 to 9 minutes. Allow to cool on cookie sheets for about 3 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.