My Mom Saralee's Chocolate Big Bite Holiday Cookies

        When my brother confessed to Mom that he liked Mrs. Field's chocolate chip cookies better than hers, she revised her method borrowed from the chocolate chip bag. She began using chocolate bars and an ice cream scoop to get that Fieldsian soft center.  And she was still sending home baked cookies to him -- a grown man with children -- in Chicago till she just couldn't stand that long in the kitchen any more.

        1 cup + 2 Tbl. all purpose flour

        1/2 t. baking soda

        1/2 t. salt

        1/2 cup butter, softened

        1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

        1/2 t. rum extract

        1 egg

        1 8-oz. semi-sweet chocolate bar, broken into chunks bigger than chips, but smaller than a bread box

        1/2 cup nuts

        Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

        In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.  In a large bowl, combine butter, brown sugar and rum extract; beat until creamy.  Beat in egg.  Gradually add flour mixture.  Stir in chocolate bar bits and nuts. Drop from ice cream scoop 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake approximately 11-14 minutes until soft in the middle and crispy on the outside.

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