Instructions: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat butter and sugar in bowl of heavy-duty electric mixer until light and creamy. Beat in vanilla. Add flour and baking powder; beat just until mixed. Stir in chocolate pieces and pecans.

Dough will be firm. Shape into 6 or 7 lemon-sized balls. Arrange 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Using palm of hand, flatten each cookie to 1/2-inch thickness.

Bake cookies until faintly browned at edges, about 45 minutes. (The cookies are so big that they require a long baking time.) Remove from oven; let cool on wire rack.

Yield: 6 or 7 cookies.

Note: Its essential to use the best-quality chocolate available for these cookies. You can buy 1 (3-ounce) bar of semisweet chocolate and breaking it into bite-size pieces.

(Barrons).

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