Jackson Free Press

All the women in my family share a love of all things chocolate. Mothers passed down several delicious family chocolate recipes through the generations. At my wedding shower six years ago, a cousin gave me a gift of a recipe book filled with treasured family recipes from the women who came before me.

In my opinion, chocolate is an essential part of any Mother's Day celebration, and any of these family recipes would make an excellent Mother's Day treat for the mom in your life.

Crackly Hot Fudge Sauce

My grandmother's sister gave her this handwritten recipe as a wedding gift in 1952. It has been a part of celebrations from birthday parties to book clubs ever since.

1 tablespoon butter
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate
1/3 cup boiling water
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

Melt butter in saucepan. Add chocolate and stir until melted. Add boiling water while stirring. Heat the mixture to boiling. Add sugar and corn syrup. Stir until dissolved. Simmer five minutes. Add vanilla and salt, stir well.

Serve hot by pouring over ice cream of your choice. Sauce will harden when it comes into contact with ice cream.

Lynn's 'House' Cookies

My great-grandmother invented this chocolate cookie recipe for my mother's sister, who famously declared during a family Christmas celebration that she only liked to eat chocolate cookies.

1-1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour, plus flour for rolling dough
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup softened unsalted butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup warm water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then combine into a dough. Roll the dough into a log. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

When the dough is chilled, roll to 1/4-inch thickness on a floured cutting board and cut with cookie cutters of your choice. Our family tradition is to cut these cookies with a house-shaped cookie cutter like my now-deceased Aunt Lynn did as a little girl in Madison, Wis. Decorate with sprinkles or small candies.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.