Chocolate Meatball Cookies- For my Mother

As a kid I loved sweets, particularly chocolate. Today I don't like sweets at all and a strong chocolate smell makes me a bit ill. These cookies were a bit part of my childhood chocolate addiction  To be completely honest I think I like the raw dough more than the finished product but they were a favorite for sure. This recipe makes a huge amount of cookies, scale as needed.

Dry:

16 cups flour

10 heaping Tbps unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

8 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp allspice

1 Tbsp nutmeg

1 Tbsp ground cloves

1 Tbsp powdered ginger

4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Wet:
1 quart buttermilk

3 cups sugar

2 cups shortening

1 1/2 cup vegetable oil

6 eggs

Extras:

2 1/2 cups chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts were most common)

2 bags chocolate chips

Mix all the wet ingredients together to form a loose batter. Sift together all the dry ingredients and mix well with the wet. Stir in the chopped nuts and chocolate chips and mix well with your hands. No spoon is man enough for the job. Let it rest in the fridge for about hour so it comes together. Preheat oven to 350

Roll the dough into balls, smaller than commercial or restaurant meatballs, think about a two bite cookie that you could eat in one bite if you wanted to 

Place about 1 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake 10-12 minutes.

My mother always coated them with powdered sugar or made a quick powdered sugar glaze and dipped the tops in the glaze before serving.

Enjoy.