By Request Betty Shimabukuro

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The search for the
elusive Golden Nugget

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This is part two in a cookie quest. Last week, Louise Cook's request for a 1950s-era recipe called Golden Nuggets was printed here. "I kept it for years, but when our house burned, the recipe went up in smoke and I've never been able to find it again," Cook wrote.

Just to show how quickly word travels these days, the first response arrived at 4:30 a.m. on the day of publication, from Hammond, Ind., where Mary Ann Carter reads the Star-Bulletin online.

It was the much closer Marilyn Seely of Kaneohe, however, who offered the closest suggestion of the half-dozen sent in. Her recipe was published in the mid-'60s in "Recipes on Parade, Desserts Edition," one in a series compiling recipes from military officers' wives worldwide. Seely said she hadn't baked the cookie in years, but remembered the name. "My family loved them."

I sent the recipe to Cook (e-mail is a wonderful thing). She said it wasn't quite the same. Her recipe didn't include cinnamon, "and my mom would have probably wrung my neck had I used a cup of butter back then." Butter was an extravagance, she said -- she's pretty sure the recipe used vegetable shortening, no flavorings except vanilla and no added nuts or dried fruits.

In other words, our recipe was close, but no banana. But it sounded good, so I tried it, both with butter and shortening. The butter was better, but either made a very nice, light cinnamon cookie, well worth baking.

Golden Nugget Cookies

1 cup butter
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
3-1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

>> Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
60 walnut halves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well.

Sift together flour, salt, soda and cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture. Roll into 1-inch balls.

To make topping, combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll dough balls in mixture and place on greased baking sheet. Press a walnut half onto each. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 5 dozen cookies.

Nutritional information unavailable.

Win a cookbook

The Golden Nugget request was published New Year's Eve as part of a year-end search for some mystery recipes. I'm offering cookbooks to anyone who can solve one of our mysteries. For her contribution, Seely will receive the "Neiman-Marcus Cookbook."

I am still looking for the Chinese recipes for Toong Mai, or Puffed Rice Cake, and for the sugared preserved fruits (especially melon) so popular at New Year's. I've received several copies of old recipes for Toong Mai since last week, but not from anyone who's actually made it themselves. Most of the recipes really could use some extra explaining.

To win a cookbook, send a recipe tested by you or someone you know. Get in touch by one of the means listed below. The Year of the Monkey approaches, so hurry.

See the Columnists section for some past articles.

Send queries along with name and phone number to:
"By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813.
Or send e-mail to bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.