By February 2022 and the book galleys arrived. Galleys: the typeset version of the manuscript, what the final pages will look like, my words in the actual book font and layout and with the cover on the front — they sent a cover image too, which I stared at for a long time. My name on a book cover. Michelle Larson in clean type over an image of hands in dough, a kitchen window behind them, light coming through just right. My kitchen window. My hands.
The cover design team had apparently pulled the photo from one of my YouTube videos without knowing it until they showed it to me. It was a moment from a bread video — me shaping a boule, the morning light coming through, completely unconscious of being captured. That unconscious moment became the book cover. That feels right. The book is about cooking when you're not performing it. The cover should be too.
The channel has been growing again. A Valentine's Day video I posted did unexpectedly well — chocolate mousse, the simplest version, made with just chocolate and cream and effort and time. People love a dessert that seems impossible until it isn't. The comments were full of people saying "I can't believe I made this." I keep that folder of responses when I need to remember why.
Olivia read the galley this week. She asked if she could. I said yes. She read it over two evenings and came to me on the second night with a face I couldn't quite read and said, "Mom. You wrote about us." I said, "Yes." She said, "It's very good." Pause. "And also very real." I said that was the point. She said, "I know. I'm not upset. I'm proud of you."
My daughter is proud of me. I'll carry that for a long time.
The Valentine’s Day chocolate mousse video was the one that surprised me most that season — but it wasn’t the only chocolate recipe living in my kitchen while the galleys were arriving and Olivia was reading and everything felt quietly momentous. These German chocolate cookies are the ones I kept coming back to when I needed something grounding, something that asked me to be present without being showy. They have that same quality the mousse has: they seem like they require more than they do, and then you pull them from the oven and they’re just exactly right — dense and dark and honest. That’s the kind of cooking I want to keep making.
German Chocolate Cookies
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 12 min | Total Time: 27 min | Servings: 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 package (4 oz) German sweet chocolate, chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the German sweet chocolate and butter together, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar into the cooled chocolate mixture. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the chocolate mixture until just combined.
- Fold in mix-ins. Gently fold in the shredded coconut and chopped pecans until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Chill the dough. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes to firm up the dough slightly for easier scooping.
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Portion the cookies. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
- Bake. Bake for 10—12 minutes, until the edges are just set and the centers still look slightly soft. Do not overbake — they firm up as they cool.
- Cool. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 118 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 15g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 42mg