Please pass Dad's favorite

Over at Today's Housewife the weekend recipe swap topic is Dad's (meaning hubby's) favorite.

My husband is probably the least picky person I know. When I met him and he was cooking for himself, if a dish didn't turn out very well he'd eat it anyway. "Food or fuel", he'd say. He figured he needed to eat whether it tasted good or not. I've never acquired that skill, to eat something I find distasteful.

He never complains but also seldom raves about a particular dish. There are a few things he enjoys enough to ask for specifically and this cookie recipe is one of them.

I think I first made these cookies when my oldest was a Kindergartner. Our curriculum was Five in a Row and we "rowed" a book called Grandfather's Journey. I looked on the FIAR message boards for recipes to go with the book and found a link to this one. It has been his favorite ever since. The texture of this cookie is different from any other chocolate chip cookies I've ever made. The original recipe can be found here (2nd on page). My slightly changed version is below.

Japanese Chocolate Chip Cookies


1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup raisins, seedless


Mix the flour and baking soda, then set the mixture aside. In a bowl, mix the butter and brown sugar until fluffy, then beat in the egg and vanilla.

Mix the flour mixture into the batter. Add the walnuts, chocolate chips, and raisins and mix lightly.

Drop from a teaspoon onto an ungreased pan. Flatten with a fork dipped in flour. Bake at 320 F. for 15-20 minutes.

My changes: I don't keep cake flour on hand, all-purpose works just fine. I think butter, rather than margarine, makes a huge flavor difference. I slightly mound my packed measuring cup of brown sugar, rather than measuring out an additional tablespoon. I'm lazy like that.