Palomino White Chocolate Cherry Pie Cups
“She could give him a good rubdown that night, but when she reached his stall, Tate Jordan was already waiting, his green eyes like smoldering emerald fire, his face harder than she had seen it before, but he was looking taller and more handsome than any cowboy on a poster and for an insane moment she thought of her agency’s new car ads. He would have been perfect as the male model, but this was not a commercial, and this wasn’t New York.”
I have to tell you—I don’t usually read romance novels. Especially romance novels like this. They’re too sweet and too over-the-top. Too… much.
But my great-grandmother gave me this book. It was one of her favorites and, being a retired English teacher, she made it clear that I was to read this book and talk to her about it.
So I did.
She still couldn’t convince me to love it.
I’m not sure anyone can.
And I know so many people who adore everything about this book.
I didn’t hate it, though, so there’s that. And, really, that’s a pretty impressive testament to Danielle Steel’s writing.
I just don’t do romance novels.
Maybe it’s because I try my hardest to avoid drama? It’s exhausting, and I don’t have the energy for it.
I decided to make something borderline too-sweet. Because that’s what this book is.
At least, it was, when there wasn’t a bunch of unnecessary drama happening (her husband leaves her, she meets a man named Tate, falls in love with him, he leaves, she meets his son, she falls in love with his son, she breaks her back, she almost adopts an abused child, the child is taken away from her, she finds out that her newest boyfriend is Tate’s son, he dies, Tate comes back, she hides her paralysis from him, he finds out, and they confess their love for each other).
Since it’s something I don’t usually read, I thought it would be fitting for me to make something I don’t usually eat: cherry pie.
But I could only take this book in small doses, like I can with cherry pie. So I thought making mini pies would work.
I decided on using a graham cracker cookie base because it takes place on a ranch and graham crackers have a rustic feel to me.
While the cherries are sweet, they have a bit of a tart bite to them, so they weren’t as sweet as I wanted this cookie to be. I decided to add white chocolate chips to the cookie to really add some sweetness.
It’s fitting, too, because palomino horses are golden with white tails and manes. The base is the golden graham crackers with white chocolate chips.
For people who enjoy white chocolate and all things sweet, this is heaven.
Cookie Cups
-1/2 c unsalted butter, semi-melted
-1 c light brown sugar, packed
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-1 egg
-2 c cinnamon graham cracker crumbs, crushed
-3/4 c all-purpose flour
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 c white chocolate chips
Mix the butter, sugar, and vanilla.
Beat in the egg.
Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Stir in the graham cracker crumbs.
Fold in the white chocolate chips.
Scoop about a tablespoon of batter into each well of a mini-cupcake pan.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.
About four minutes after you remove them, use a spoon to create little wells in the center of each cookie. I found that a tablespoon worked best.
Let them cool completely then remove them from the cupcake tin.
I decided to buy the cherry pie filling, rather than make it myself. Everything in the novel happens so fast, and almost out of no-where, so I though it would be fitting to save time and just go to my local supermarket. And, who knows? Maybe I met my future, on-again/ off-again husband while I was there, and I won’t find out about it for another month or so when one of us gets injured and his (surprise!) son shows up to help out, only to tell us that we had already met.
I doubt it.
I don’t live in a romance novel. Thankfully.
I don’t think I could handle that much drama in my life.
So I spooned two cherries from the pre-made pie filling into each cookie, with a little of the syrup they were in.
And they were done.
Or were they?
Just kidding. They were definitely done.
