Sunday, December 23, 2007

Merry Christmas (cookies)

A couple of years ago my husbands grandmother came down to Indiana for Christmas and she brought these joyous cookies with her and I just loved them. So last month when I was up in Michigan visiting her I asked her for the recipe. She told me the story behind the recipe and that it came out of the Betty Crocker cookbook that she received at a young age. She was kind enough to gently get the book down and make a copy of the recipe for me. I then googled it so I could find a link to source the recipe too.

These cookies remind me of a moist delicious sugar cookie with just the right amount of a lemon kick to them. They are really easy to make and take minimal ingredients. I know you are asking if I really used shortening (AKA "white devil") and yes, I did. I did not want to mess with the "science" of the recipe but I plan to try making them at a later date with either margarine or butter. At first my frosting (glaze) looked wonderful but for some reason it now looks funny. So please excuse the fact that it looks all weird. :)



Merry Christmas Cookies

(Source: WhatsCookingAmerica via Bettty Crocker Cookbook circa 1960's)

Ingredients:
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon lemon extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
- In a large bowl, cream vegetable shortening, sugar, egg, honey, and lemon extract until light and fluffy. Sift in flour, baking soda, and salt; stir until well blended. Refrigerate dough at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease cookie sheets.
- On a lightly floured board, roll dough to 1/4-inch thick; cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart onto prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks. When cool, frost with Milk-Frosting and decorate as desired.

Milk Frosting

Ingredients
1 cup powdered (confectioners') sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
Food coloring of your choice

Directions
-In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, lemon extract, and enough milk to make frosting easy to spread. Tint, if desired, with a few drops of food coloring.

2 comments:

Julia & Tyler said...

lmao at "white devil"! ;) I am pretty anti-shortening but I think I'm gonna break down and use it this week when my sister and I make sugar cookies. This recipe looks so yummy, I love the hint of lemon!

Jaime said...

your cookies look great! not sure why the frosting would turn out that way, except maybe it wasn't mixed well before you frosted the cookies?