It’s July in Hollywood.  The way you can tell is that everyone in town is tan… except me. Well, Robert Pattinson and me.

MG is in Athens, Georgia visiting his family, and I’ll be joining him in a little less than a week.  I keep hearing the same two things about Georgia: I’m going to be amazed at the food, and I’m going to be dripping wet from the humidity.  Earlier this week, I was prepping a GSN Live phone contestant who was calling in from Atlanta and I asked her if she had any advice for how I could handle the heat when I’m there.  Her answer: “Stand still.”

I’m choosing to not overly concern myself with The Peach State’s current 53% humidity. Instead, I’m focusing on the fun I’ll have with MG’s family, the beautiful scenery, visiting UGA, having smothered, covered, chunked, diced, peppered, capped and topped hash browns at a Waffle House, and the  numerous “chicken trucks” I’ve been told I’m going to see on the roads. MG has also promised to take me someplace where I can see some authentic “hill people,” which I still don’t really believe exist.

I’m using MG’s time away to power through a lot of recipes and rescue the ten or so blog posts that have been lingering in “draft mode” ever since the mercury began to rise and my productivity began to wither.  These cookies were actually made about three weeks ago. The choice of powdered sugar over granulated or superfine, and the exclusion of eggs gives these cookies an excellent shortbread-like texture that truly creates a “melt in your mouth” experience, without being overly-chocolaty.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pine Nuts from Giada DeLaurentiis

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup toasted pine nuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt. Beat the mixture until creamy. Add the flour, pine nuts, and chocolate. Stir until just mixed.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out 1-inch balls of dough. Place on the cookie sheet. Bake until the tops look dry, about 18 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes on the baking sheets. Dust with powdered sugar (if desired – I felt it unnecessary).