Bern's Imrov Kitchen, Round 1

I have a friend that keeps bugging me because apparently I promised I would make him cookies four years ago. So I finally decided to get the promise (and the nagging) out of the way and send him a package (because of course he lives far enough away where I can't just drop by with a plate of cookies...so why the constant nagging about them...you tell me) However, I pulled a classic amateur baker's move and started the recipe without making sure we had all of the ingredients in the house. SO I had to improvise a little bit, which I love doing with baking and cooking and I have to say that I like the way these turned out, here's to sharing!

Sweet Chocolate Walnut Chunks

2 sticks of Margarine (softened, not melted)
2 Large Eggs
3/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Non-bleached, All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Cups Cake Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
Pinch of salt
Almond extract to taste
2 Tbsp Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 blocks of Semi-Sweet baking chocolate, chopped
2 large handfuls of Walnuts, chopped

Beat eggs with softened margarine, add salt, baking powder and almond extract. Stir in sugar and brown sugar, make sure all the lumps from the margarine are smoothed out. Add All Purpose Flour, followed by sweetened condensed milk. Stir in the remaining flour (cake flour is very fine, so stir it in bits at a time to save  your counter top and shirt!) Fold in chocolate Chunks and Walnuts.

Something that I learned from my mom is to preheat the oven right before the batter is done and then stick the batter in the fridge for a little while, it holds together better that way when you go to shape the cookies.

Take the dough out of the fridge and use a spoon to make balls on a clean cookie sheet, don't use non stick spray, it will make the bottom of the cookies funny, use parchment paper if you are worried about the trays.

Cook at 350 degrees for about 7-10 minutes. Cool, eat, enjoy!