I have to admit my affinity for what I term "novelty" recipes. Sometime these are the recipes that add a different and/or unsuspected ingredients to what are traditionally classic foods. Other times these are the recipes that seek to replicate a famous dish or even brand name items. I have an affinity for the former definition, while the latter leaves me simply confused. I mean really; why would anyone want to replicate TGIFriday's Mozzerella Sticks?

But back to the former. It is these recipes that try something new or different that lead to the innovations in the kitchen. These are the recipes that make a person consider the new paths available to them once new taste combinations are discovered. Of course, these are also the recipes whose results often lead to the garbage can, so there is a trade off here.

This was the thought that hit me as I came across this recipe in The Garlic Lover's Coobook - Volume II. This recipe would either fail miserably, or open my eyes. I'm happy to say that I was quite pleased with the outcome

The trick to adding garlic to a chocolate chip recipe is having it work with the other ingredients, rather than in spite of them. Garlic's role here is not as a soloist, but rather as a supporting member to the choir. The way they are added to the cookie accomplishes this task quite nicely.

The end result? The Garlic is there, but very much subdued. Tara said she couldn't taste it at all, but I noticed that the cookie had a nice, warm undercurrent, providing a sensation of "roundness". Yeah, I know how silly that sounds, but hey, that's how I felt.

I do recommend this recipe, for a variety of reasons. One, it'll amuse a few of your friends who eat the cookie. But more importantly, it'll add new dimensions to how you can use ingredients in atypical situations.

• 10 cloves garlic
• Boiling Water
• 1/2 cup Maple Syrup
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
• 2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Drop the whole garlic cloves into the boiling water and cook until tender (about 7 minutes). Remove from the water, peel and then chop the garlic. Soak in the maple syrup between 20 minutes to an hour. The longer you soak them, the stronger the garlic taste.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy.

In a different bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. Combine the flour mixture into the butter mixture and fold in well. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts, mixing them in until evenly distributed. Pour in the syrup into the cookie batter and fold in well (at this point, you can either add the garlic in addition to the syrup, or you can filter the garlic from the syrup and discard the garlic cloves. Either way will work, but if you want a stronger garlic taste, obviously you will want to retain the garlic bits.)

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart from each other. Place in the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on racks.

Makes 5 dozen, give or take.