Maida Heatter’s Supremes

Ingredients

For the dough

2 1/2 c sifted all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter

1 tsp instant coffee or espresso

2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 c old fashioned or quick-cooking (not instant) oatmeal

7 ounces (2 cups) walnuts, cut or broken into medium sized pieces

Chocolate Filling

1 fourteen or fifteen-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

12 ounces (2 cups) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate morsels

2 tbs butter

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

For the dough

Adjust a rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven, and preheat to 350°. Butter a 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 by 1 inch jelly roll pan.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter.

Add the coffee, vanilla, and sugar, and beat well.

Add the eggs and beat well.

On low speed, gradually beat in the sifted dry ingredients and then the oatmeal, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary.

Finally, mix in 1 cup of the walnuts (reserve remaining cup for the topping).

Remove and reserve 2 cups of the dough. Place the remainder by large spoonfuls over the bottom of the buttered pan. With well-floured fingertips, press all over to make a smooth, even layer. Set aside and prepare the filling.

Chocolate Filling

Place the condensed milk, chocolate morsels, butter and salt in the top of a large double boiler over hot water on moderate heat.

Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are melted and the mixture is smooth.

Remove the top of the double boiler from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Pour the warm chocolate mixture over the bottom oatmeal layer and spread evenly.

Place the reserved oatmeal mixture by small spoonfuls. Do not spread smooth. Sprinkle the reserved cup of walnuts evenly over the top.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Reverse the pan front to back once toward end of baking to ensure even browning. The top mounds of dough will flatten slightly but they will not run together to cover the chocolate.

Cool completely in the pan at room temperature, not in the refrigerator, for several hours or overnight.

To cut the cookies

Cut around the sides to release the cake. Then cut the panful into eighths and with a wide metal spatula, transfer the sections to a cutting board. Cut each eighth into 4 or 6 pieces. If the cookies are soft, or do not cut neatly or evenly (if they squash), chill on wax paper on a tray or cookie sheet in the freezer or refrigerator only until they are firm enough to cut neatly.

The cookies may be placed on a tray and covered with plastic wrap or packed in a freezer box or wrapped individually in clear cellophane or wax paper.

If the filling is too soft, these should be stored in the refrigerator.

Notes

Dark chocolate variation - use dark chocolate morsels in lieu of semi-sweet.

Consider adding 1/8-1/4 tsp nutmeg to cookie dough batter.

Add instant coffee to the fudge instead of the cookie dough; replace with instant espresso powder if feeling particularly fancy.

Sweetened condensed milk can be substituted with equivalent volume of heavy cream