Gooseberry Patch Harvest Haystacks and Cocoa Brownies...What a sweet harvest treat!

Well it's that time again... I have been in my kitchen making dessert for the weekly Feed My Sheep Ecumenical Dinner, tomorrow night.  For this round I dug through my "Gooseberry Harvest Recipes" book pictured above. 

For my contribution of 25 portions of dessert for this week, I made the haystacks from page 123 of the book(which I got 20 portions out of). Since I came up short, I went ahead and made the brownies on page 125 of the same book.(that got me 24 brownie bites, and made my quota plus some for my contribution.)

For some you may wonder what a haystack cookie is, it is the cookie that your mom made from the crunchy chinese noodles. I remember my mom making those growing up.  The second is a standard brownie, done from the ground up, that you can add most anything to pending on the taste of the people you will be serving.

If you are curious about the recipes, and you don't have the book yet, look below: (then get on amazon.com and grab you a copy for this fall/holiday season.)

page 123-Haystacks:

1 & 1/2 c chow mein noodles

1c. butterscotch chips

1/2 c. peanut butter chips

1T. shortening

Place chow mein noodles in a large mixing bowl;set aside. 

Melt chips and shortening together in a double boiler; stir until smooth.

(* It took me two 45 second rounds in the microwave to get it done, since I do not have a double boiler.)

Pour over noodles; stir to coat. 

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto wax paper; set asisde until firm. 

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

( *As an alternative if you are not a peanut butter or butterscotch fan, you can use your favorite chocolate chip, or flavored chip for an extra kick.I sometimes do an alternate flavor depending on my husband's taste, or what ever group I cook for.)

page 125- Cocoa Brownies

1c. sugar

2/3 c. all-purpose flour

1/2c. baking cocoa

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 c. margarine, melted

1 t. vanilla extract

2 eggs

3/4 semi sweet chocolate chips

Combine sugar,flour, baking cocoa and baking powder; add margarine, vanilla, and eggs.

Spread in a greased 9x9 baking pan; sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. 

Cut into squares. 

(* I used a mini muffin tin for individual portions, and sprayed it liberally with non-stick.I also mixed in the chips to the batter instead of sprinkling them like the recipe called for).