Pecan Panoche by Rua J. & Chocolate Crackles by Lillian G.

I started the day thinking I would make a quick batch of penoche, and ended up spending the whole day in the kitchen.  I know how to make penoche, so no big deal, right? I put the ingredients in the pan and started it cooking.  My grandma's recipe usually takes up to 2 hours to cook, so I don't even check it for an hour.  This recipe says to cook it at a hotter temperature, so I decided to wait about a half our.  That is too long!!!  It was way past soft ball and almost past hard ball.  I thought, "That's OK, it will just be a little firmer when I stir it."  Wrong!  When I stirred it, it ended up really hard and crumbly, kind of like a smarty.  It still tasted good, but the consistency was strange and you couldn't cut it, you had to break off a chunk.

 Penoche is my husband's favorite, so he suggested that I try again and see if it is better if you do it right.  I checked it after 15 minutes this time and managed to catch it at a soft ball.  It stirred a lot easier and ended up the right consistency, but still a little crumbly.  The flavor was still delicious.  I put a lid on it and when I went to eat some for my after church snack, I found that it is a lot smoother the next day.  The recipe is really easy and it was nice not to have to buy cream to make it.  It is also a lot faster than my grandma's recipe.  I decided that it is good in a pinch, but, if you really want the good stuff, use Louise's recipe.

I tried to take a picture before the frosting set up

Now I had a pan of good penoche, and a pan of strange, chunky penoche that I didn't know what to do with.  So, I decided, chunky penoche isn't that different from toffee chips, I will put it in chocolate cookies.  I needed to try Chocolate Crackles, so I used that recipe.  I took some of the dough out to chill like the recipe says, and added half of the penoche to the rest.  (By the way, I hate chilling dough.  I don't want to wait, I want the cookies now)  The penoche crumbled enough to thicken the dough a little, so I decided to try to cook them without chilling.  They were flatter than pancakes.  Definitely chill the dough!  The dough is a lot like brownie batter, so I decided to cut corners and bake it in a pan like brownies.  This worked great.  Then I added a little milk to the rest of the penoche and melted it down, cooled it, and added powdered sugar to make penoche frosting.  The end result is a really rich and really yummy brownie.  Too bad I will never be able to duplicate it.

After all this experimentation, the dough was chilled, so I rolled the balls in powdered sugar and baked them.  They were not thick, but they weren't pancakes either.  They are gooey and yummy like a brownie cooked like a cookie.  I just wish the dough didn't have to chill.







Pecan Panoche by Rua J.

3 c white sugar
1 lb brown sugar (2 1/4 c)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
5 T corn syrup
2 c milk (I used 1%, whole milk would probably be better)
2 tsp vanilla
4 T butter
1 c chopped pecans

Combine dry ingredients in a heavy saucepan.  Add syrup and milk.  Stir, over medium heat, until boiling.  Boil on medium heat until mixture reaches softball stage.  DO NOT OVERCOOK!!!!  Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter.  Pour into a bowl and cool until just warm to the touch.  Beat until creamy and pour into a 9x9 pan.  Cut into squares.  Will be better the second day. (I'm not sure when you would add the pecans, my other recipe says to add nuts after you stir it.)

Chocolate Crackles by Lillian G.

4 heaping T cocoa.  (I used a tablespoon from the silverware drawer and heaped as much cocoa on it as I could)
3/4 c salad oil
2 c sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c chopped nuts
1 c powdered sugar

Combine oil and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one.  Add vanilla.  Sift dry ingredients together and add.  Add nuts.  Dough is very soft.  Chilll several hours, or overnight.  Roll into walnut sized balls and roll in powdered sugar.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.  Makes 6 doz. 2" cookies