Oh, our deeply missed and beloved Wolferman’s. That glorious grocery store in Brookside, with the wonderful house brand condiments – the long-lost and keenly mourned sherry mustard or the watermelon pickles, just to name two – and the Tiffin Room downtown, with the gorgeous salads and the only Thousand Island dressing worth eating, and the real, the original, the best in the world Wolferman’s English muffin. All other breads claiming to be English muffins are merely round breads someone sat upon and squished flat, for they lack the breathtaking height and chewy centers, with the wide air tunnels that could be toasted crisp and filled with melted butter or hollandaise sauce. Sadly, we don’t have the recipe for the muffin, but Mamcik somehow managed to wheedle the recipe for these tasty chocolate cookies.

Update! Since we posted this last year, we have discovered that the Harry & David company bought out whatever was left of the Wolferman’s company and their recipes. To our wild joy, they even sell what they call the “1910 Original Recipe Super-Thick English Muffins.” Seriously, the best lunch in the world is toasted buttered Wolferman’s English muffins, split in half, topped with asparagus and either cheddar cheese sauce or hollandaise.

• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 stick butter
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• 2 eggs
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
• ⅜ cup milk
• 1 ¾ cups flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and sugar; add vanilla, salt and corn syrup. Slowly add eggs and chocolate. Add milk, then stir in flour and baking powder. Add nuts. Drop batter onto parchment paper on cookie sheets, and bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool thoroughly before icing.

Icing:

• 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate
• 3 tablespoons butter
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• Dash vanilla
• Dash salt

Melt chocolate and butter in milk; add powdered sugar and mix well. Add vanilla and salt, and mix well.