One of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes involves corn syrup, and other than some gloppy Halloween make-up, it’s the only thing I’ve ever used corn syrup for.

When I decided to make cookies this morning, the Karo bottle had run dry, having given up its last drop for a batch of cookies just three days ago.

The sweet sticky syrupy stuff which I do keep around all the time is molasses. Don’t use it much, but it makes the kitchen feel Colonial.

So I substituted. Strong flavor, molasses. A doubly sweet cookie—trebly sweet when you count the brown sugar.

 

Here’s what I did:

 

Beat one cup brown sugar with about three quarters of a cup of margarine. (I use Smart Balance brand.)

Add two small eggs (or one large—I like buying those two-and-a-half dozen packs of small eggs) and beat some more.

Vanilla would be optional here. A teaspoon of two.

Mix all that up thoroughly.

Add a half cup whole wheat flour, one and half cups white flour, one-quarter teaspoon baking soda, three-quarters teaspoon baking powder and half a teaspoon salt.

Mix like crazy. Then add a cup to a cup and a half of chocolate chips.

Put tablespoon-sized blogs on a lightly buttered baking pan. (For cookies, I like to use my cast-iron pizza pans.) The dough can fill two large pans, and should make just over three dozen cookies.

Bake for eight minutes at 375 degrees, then check how they’re doing. (You might want to switch upper and lower pans.) Cook another two to four minutes—you shouldn’t go over 15 minutes total. Take the cookies out when they’re puffy but formed—they’ll dry a little harder than they look, and it’s real easy to overcook them.

…but not to overlook them. The aroma is exquisite.