If you are going to sit up and follow election results all night or get up early to find out what happened, as I will *, chocolate chip cookies and/or pancakes might come in handy for an early brunch or midnight snack. To celebrate or to seek comfort maybe…..

* or have in your lunch box and eat while standing in a loooong polling line…..

The TV in Finland and Sweden have direct broadcasting from 2 AM at NIGHT – because of the time difference.  Many here are really interested in the election and follow the election eagerly.  My husband Jonathan will, as the local American, be interviewed on the Swedish speaking radio early in the morning on Wednesday our time.

So here are my favorite recepies in european measurments.

Westervik Griddlecakes (- as they are called in old cookbooks since one used the griddle on the stove for frying)

For 12 – 20 pancakes

4 (+ a little) dl flour – spelt is great or whole meal or a mixture

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbls (tablespoons) sugar – optional

2 egg – or one large – beaten

1 1/2 cups milk

2 tbsp melted butter

Mix dry ingerdients.  Combine egg and milk; add flour mixture and beat until smooth: add shortening.  Bake in ungreased fryingpan. American pancakes are usually a little larger than Swedish “plättar”.  let them fry until the bubbles burst and then turn them.  Serve with maple sirup or honey and we eat with bacon – the american way!

Chocolate chip cookies

The invention of chocolate chip cookies is often credited to housewife Ruth Wakefield who, with her husband, ran the Tollhouse Inn in Massachusetts. The common story goes that Wakefield, who often made food for her guests, decided to make a chocolate butter cookie but didn’t have enough chocolate bars to produce one — instead, she chopped up the bars and added them to the butter cookie recipe.  Another story goes that she dropped some chocolate into the dough by mistake and found it was a great invention!  I like that one better!

Hear more about the cookies in an interesting radio program at NPR – also about how to make THE BEST cookies!

Shirley Corriher, a food scientist, explains how to make a better chocolate chip cookie:

I have two secrets for perfectly soft chocolate chip cookies. The first is to use a recipe that calls for vegetable shortening (in addition to butter). The second is to take the cookies out of the oven sooner — a lot of people overcook them. When the cookies look done, it is too late. Take them out when they no longer look wet, but aren’t brown yet. Loosen them so they come off the cookie sheet, but then leave them on the warm sheet for another 3 minutes so they continue cooking from the heat of the sheet. Then transfer them to a rack to cool all the way. It may take a few batches to get the timing right, but this results in soft chewy cookies, just the way I like them. My husband likes his cookies crispy, and I just leave a tray in the oven longer for him.

I myself  think the keys to a good cookie are: melted butter, only one small egg or half an egg and brown sugar and salted nuts.  And take them out of the oven before they are brown!

Election night chocolate chip cookies

2 dl flour – spelt is great or whole meal or a mixture

1 tsk baking soda or 2 tsp baking powder

100 g butter – melted

1 tbsp cream or milk

1 1/2 dl brown/ mascobado sugar

1/2 tsk salt

some vanilla

1/2 egg (check suggestion for vegans below – have not tried but sounds good)

lots of nuts and/or almonds – I often use salted cashews and pecans – at least 1 dl

1-2 dl chocolate chip or chopped chocolate but not as good since they melt.

Mix or whip butter, sugar, vanilla and add the egg and whip some more.  Add flour, salt and soda – stir, don’t whip. Last the chocolate and nuts.  Place on baking sheet or baking paper far apart – I place 9 on a sheet.

Bake the cookies at a higher temp, 200 C degrees to get the outsides crispy while keeping the insides soft. 5 – 7 minutes -they should melt and spread out. Do not let them get too brown if you want them gooey and chewy…..

Megan in Las vegas writes to CNN a suggestion for vegans:

Not all chocolate cookies have eggs. For a wonderful vegan perfect chocolate cookie I replace the eggs with a ground flax and water mixture. I also replace some of the sugar with a 1/4 cup of maple syrup. Of course with all cookies, you should always remove them from the baking sheet and place on a cooling rack.

Have a great election night!

Related articles

• For the Cookie Monster in All of Us: Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies (currentmom.com)
• Fall Baking: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (news.health.com)
• Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (grainmillwagon.com)
• 2012 US election fever grips Swedish media