One of my Christmas gifts this year was a small 4-½ x 6 inch leather bound book labelled “Cooking Recipes” that I bought at an antique shop in Sugar Creek, Ohio. The pages of the book are decorated with a gold border, and there are 10 index tabs for categories of dishes. The real gold in this book, however, is the collection of handwritten recipes. There aren’t that many recipes – only 25, 22 of which are desserts. The book itself may date from the 1930s, but I believe the recipes date from 1945-1950 because of the use of shortening in many of the recipes, the use of the word “oleo” instead of margarine in most recipes, and the very specific oven temperatures. I believe this is the post World W II period because all of the desserts are laced with sugar.
The print is clear and the ingredients are correctly listed, but most of the recipes do not give instructions on how to cook, which pan to use or how long to bake. So I decided to cook each of the recipes with the products listed and add my own instructions. I imagine a woman in a 1940s kitchen (who would be about my mother’s age) would be thrilled that someone could recreate these recipes and make delicious meals for the whole family.
These big, old-fashioned cookies measure 3½ inches in diameter, perfect for a lunchbox, and one is enough.
I was surprised at how delicious these cookies turned out. They are crisp, they taste lemony, they are delicious, and they have an unexpected piece or two of sultana filling in the center . Both my daughters really enjoyed these cookies .
INGREDIENTS :
Servings: 14 large cookies
Cookie Dough:
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2-¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ tsp. lemon flavoring or extract
Filling:
- ¾ cup raisins
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2-½ tsp. all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup water
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Lightly grease two cookie sheets
First prepare the filling: Combine the sultanas, sugar and flour in a saucepan over a medium heat and add the water. Bring the mixture to the boil while stirring and continue stirring for about 8 minutes until the mixture thickens. The mixture should resemble a thick jam. Leave to cool while you bake the cookies .
Prepare the cookies :
In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar and egg.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and whisk to combine the dry ingredients. Add the milk and whisk, then add the rest of the flour mixture and the lemon flavoring. Mix everything into a smooth dough.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of ¼ inch on a lightly floured board and cut out circles with a diameter of 2½ inches using a floured pastry cutter.
Place half of the circles on a lightly greased cookies sheet, leaving a gap of about 5 cm. Place 1 teaspoon of the sultana filling in the center of the cookies .
Place another cookies on top, press the edges together with a fork and press the prongs into the top of the cookies to create 4 small holes……
Repeat the process with the rest of the dough/filling.
Bake for about 12-14 minutes at 375 degrees until the top and bottom are golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
