By Request Betty Shimabukuro

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Tofu cookie leaves
trail of crumbs online

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I met someone interesting on the Internet last week -- Pat Dwigans of Greenwood, Ind., also called Cobra Mom, who runs something called OPMALE STAR.

Long story short: Dwigans founded a group that coordinates pen pals and care packages for U.S. troops abroad (full name Operation Make a Life Enriched Saying Thanks and Remembering; OPMALE STAR being much easier to articulate). But before taking on that duty, she managed the Web site www.busycooks.com. "I would post the average of 10 recipes per day," she says.

Dwigans' footprints are all over the Internet, attached to a variety of recipes that have no doubt been picked up and spread around by other cooks.

We connected thanks to a request from Rueben Bermillo, who was looking for a recipe for a tofu-walnut bar similar to one sold at the cafeteria at Castle Medical Center. Well, Castle declined to share, but the idea was interesting enough to continue the search. This led to a number of Internet postings for tofu cookies, but all the recipes were the same and all led back to Dwigans.

A Google search for her name led to the OPMALE STAR site and an e-mail address. Dwigans is pretty much consumed by the group she founded in 1995 and doesn't do much recipe posting anymore, although she's still an avid cook. "I love cooking and love trying new recipes."

She can't remember much about the cookie recipe except that she was experimenting a lot with tofu back then.

I've adjusted it a bit to turn it from a drop cookie to a bar. This is an adult treat (my daughter pronounced it "boring"), that would go nicely with a cup of coffee or tea. It's rather dense, not too sweet and a bit spicy with all the ginger.

Don't look at it as a health bar, despite the tofu -- it's made with honey and a half cup of butter. The tofu seems to add moisture and a bit of protein. The recipe could be modified to add more nuts or perhaps even chocolate chips.

To catch up with Dwigans in her current pursuit -- and perhaps adopt a serviceman or woman -- look up hometown.aol.com/opmale1/myhomepage/profile.html or call (317) 882-2155.

Tofu-Walnut Cookie Bar

1-1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried fruit (raisins, dried cranberries, chopped dates or prunes, or a combination)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon EACH ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg
1/2 cup honey
1/2 pound soft tofu, well-drained
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, fruit, nuts and spices.

Put remaining ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Fold wet ingredients into dry and stir to moisten. Press into baking pan. Bake 20 minutes.

Cool and cut into squares. Makes about 2 dozen bars.

Approximate nutritional analysis, per bar: 125 calories, 6 g total fat, 3 g saturated fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 120 mg sodium, 16 g carbohydrate, 2.5 g protein.

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