Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Cookies

aka Chocolate Sauerkraut Cookies

Modified from Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke

1 cup butter, softened

3 cups white sugar

4 large eggs, beaten

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup buttermilk [remember you can use 1 tbsp lemon juice and then regular milk for the rest of the cup]

5 cups flour

1 cup chopped (drained/rinsed) sauerkraut (14.5 oz can of sauerkraut) [****I emailed the author (yes, she actually ANSWERS her mail - its cool!) about this and she couldn't remember off the top of her head - I ended up using 2 cups of chopped, packed sauerkraut, but it might be 2 cups starting makes 1 cup finished....now last year I thought this as a bit too grainy (the texture was off), so I used 1 cup chopped, packed sauerkraut and it worked perfectly - I think a much better cookie! As a note if you buy a 14.5 oz can of sauerkraut this actually is a little more than a cup, but I put it all in and it worked nicely.]

Prepare sauerkraut by rinsing it off with cold water under faucet and raining it in colander. Make sure to rinse well, this is important.

Beat the butter and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs and mix them in thoroughly.

Mix in vanilla extract, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Stir until well incorporated.

Add half buttermilk and half of the flour and beat until smooth. Repeat with rest of the buttermilk and flour.

Dump sauerkraut on a cutting board and chop it finely or in food processor on pulse (Adam and I did the food processor - he likes buttons!). It is very important to get into very little pieces.

Measure sauerkraut, packing it down. Pat dry with paper towels (I just let it air dry and it was fine) and add to cookie dough and stir thoroughly. [So you start with 2 cups loose and you end up with 1 cup, packed and chopped. I just did the entire 14.5 oz can and it came out nicely - this was my second attempt and much better!]

Drop dough by teaspoonful onto cookie sheets.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes [One pan took me 12 minutes. I also did this two at a time, 8 minutes, then switched top and bottom and did another 8 minutes]. Let sit for a minute then put on racks to cool.

Mocha Icing [I didn't make this as I don't think icing cookies is worth it and I don't like coffee]

1 cup softened butter

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2-6 tsp very strongly brewed coffee

3-3 ½ cups powdered sugar

Melt chocolate chips with 4 tsp of coffee in microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir and then if still lumpy, do 20 more seconds. Repeat until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Stir in butter until smooth.

Whisk in sugar and stir until mixture is of spreading consistency. If too thick, add more coffee, if too thin, add more sugar.

Frost, sprinkle with coconut before fully set if you desire.

Yield: 8 dozen cookies [okay, I only got about 5 dozen, but I make big cookies]