Name: Chocolate Chip Tea Cakes
Ingredients: 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened; 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 cup all-purpose flour; 2/3 cup finely chopped nuts; 2 cup (12 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate morsels, divided

Chocolate Chip Tea Cakes

Try a delicate new dessert this Christmas. Serve these Tea Cakes with hot chocolate for a warm and deliciously sweet winter snack!

Notes

Makes about 4&1/2 dozen cookies.

For a spicier cookie, add 2 to 2-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon to flour before adding to butter-sugar mixture.

MY VARIATIONS: You could make a chocolate dough by adding cocoa to the mix, then use melted white chocolate morsels for a dark cookie-white drizzle look. A variety of these cookies would look nice served on a plate. Instead of using white chocolate as in variation #1 above, you could melt peanut butter chips for the drizzle topping. You could use mint chocolate chips for the drizzle topping for a nice variation of flavor. Instead of a drizzle topping, you could simply melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave or a double-boiler on the stovetop and half-dip the cookies. This could be applied with any of the flavor varieties presented in the variations above.

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup finely chopped nuts
2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate morsels, divided

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat butter and powdered sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy; beat in vanilla.
Gradually beat in flour and nuts. Stir in 1-1/2 cups morsels. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until set and light golden brown on bottom. Cool for 2 minutes on baking sheets, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Microwave remaining morsels in heavy-duty plastic bag on HIGH (100%) power for 30 seconds; knead. Microwave at additional 10- to 20-second intervals, kneading each time, until completely melted and smooth. Cut tiny corner from plastic bag; squeeze to drizzle over cookies.
Chill cookies for about 5 minutes or until chocolate is set. Store at room temperature in airtight containers.