Rum Balls

Pete Schweddy would be jealous! Yes, I know these are standard fare at Christmas, and everybody already has the recipe, but I'm posting it anyway. They are favorites!

6 oz. pkg vanilla wafers

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp Karo syrup

1 cup chopped nuts

8 Tbsp. rum or whiskey

2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa

Crush or grind wafers and mix with powered sugar and nuts. Mix rum with Karo, pour slowly over dry ingredients. Mix well. Make balls and roll in powdered sugar.

I use a Cuisinart for this recipe. And I usually double it since most vanilla wafers I can find come in an 11-ounce box. This isn't a problem since we're all very fond of rum balls. I use any variety of nut that I have available - pecans, almonds, walnuts - or a mix, and I grind them separately in a small electric grinder until they are powder fine. I add everything to the wafers in the Cuisinart and let it mix. I also use whatever form of hooch I have on hand - Bacardi Rum (light or dark) or Seagram's VO are my favorites. Rum balls, bourbon balls - they're all good. I then chill the mixture in the fridge because it's just too soft to work with. Using a teaspoon, I scoop out a ball, roll it lightly in my hand, lay it on a pan or in a bowl, and sprinkle it with powdered sugar that I keep in a shaker with uncooked brown rice, roll it around. The rice keeps the sugar from clogging up the holes in the shaker. When I have one layer of cookie in the storage container, I give it another quick sprinkle with the sugar before adding the next. As I complete another layer, I give another quick pass with the powdered sugar. Storage is in the refrigerator, and I keep a lid or saran wrap over it to keep the balls from drying out. However, even dry, they're pretty darn good, if not better.

Christmas Butter Cookies

This is another cut-out cookie recipe found in my grandmother's cookie recipe file. It's a newspaper clipping which means it probably came from the Chicago Tribune. The paper is quite tanned and probably dates back to the 1950's or 1960's.

The recipe said to chill the dough several hours. I made the dough last night, so it chilled for approximately 24 hours, which was too long. It was quite hard and impossible to roll out, so I had to soften the dough a bit at room temperature first.

Be sure to reserve the egg white from the second egg for brushing on the tops of the cookies.

I think this recipe is a definite keeper, although a more appropriate name might be Christmas Lemon Butter Cookies. My husband and I are fans of lemon anything, and the lemon rind in this recipe makes this cookie delicious. I used freshly grated rind from a real lemon - no dried lemon peel from a jar for this cookie!

Isn't it funny how they spell "cooky" in the body of the recipe?

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp grated lemon rind

3 cups sifted flour

1/2 tsp salt

Colored sugar, silver dragees

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk. Add lemon rind. Sift flour and salt; gradually work into butter mixture. As dough stiffens, work flour in with hands until dough is smoothly blended and stiff enough to roll. Wrap dough in waxed paper and chill for several hours. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness on floured pastry cloth. Cut with cooky cutters, place on ungreased baking sheets, bush with remaining egg white, and decorate with colored sugar, silver dragees, or as preferred. Bake at 375 degrees F. for about 8 minutes. Remove from cooky sheets immediately and cool on racks.

The stated yield is 8 to 9 dozen, but I don't think I'll get that many out of the batch because I'm using primarily larger angel and reindeer cutters. I sprinkled the cookies with cake mate brand "red crystals decors." The angels were a bit "fragile," and I found that letting the cookies rest on the baking sheet for a while helped eliminate breakage. I'm sure it's just a design issue because the reindeer came off the sheet in fine shape.

These cookies should freeze quite well.

Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies

This recipe appears to be from the Chicago Tribune, circa 1950's or 1960's. Upon sampling, it became apparent to me how conditioned I have become to things that are ueber-sweet. This recipe might be considered bland by some. It is not sugary (despite sugar sprinkled on top) as store-bought sugar cookies often are, and it is definitely not a soft sugar cookie. The nutmeg is very mild, and the sour cream probably contributes to keeping the sweetness at bay. It's crunchy, but not hard or tough. Nor is it particularly crumbly. This is a simple cookie to enjoy with tea or coffee.

Here are some of the little adjustments I made. The recipe says to use a round cutter. I elected to also use various Christmas shapes: snowman, tree, bell, star, holly. And I divided the dough into thirds before chilling. I chilled the dough overnight. I sprinkled the cutouts with a coarse sugar called White Sparkling Sugar by Wilton ("sprinkles"). Baking for nine minutes was sufficient. At 10 minutes, the edges got a little browner than I was aiming for, but the color was still perfectly acceptable and not "burnt." In my oven, 12 minutes would be way too much! The yield is over seven dozen, not the four dozen stated in the original recipe.

This is a very basic cookie which could possibly be further decorated with an icing of some sort. It should freeze well. I still haven't decided if I'll keep it in the arsenal.

4-3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup soft butter

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup sour cream

Granulated or colored sugar

Sift together the flour, salt, soda, baking powder, and nutmeg. Cream butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar gradually, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, mix until smooth.

Cover with waxed paper, foil, or plastic film. Chill in refrigerator until firm enough to roll (several hours or overnight). Roll 1/3 of dough at a time. Roll 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Store remaining dough in refrigerator until ready to use.

Cut rolled dough into rounds with floured 3-inch cutter. Arrange on ungreased baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 10-12 minutes or until done and lightly browned. Yield: About 4 dozen cookies.

Coconut Crisps

Let's be clear about one thing. I am not a cardiologist, nor do I play one on TV. When I make cookies, I use butter. If the recipe says "butter or margarine," I always use butter. And if the recipe calls for margarine, I use butter. Just so there's no confusion...

These cookies are fast and easy to make. They pack a walloping 100 calories per cookie, 1 gm of protein, 5 gm fat, 12 gm carbs, 73 mg sodium, 16 mg cholesterol. I believe the recipe came from an old issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. I've made these cookies before, and they were delicious enough and easy enough that the recipe became a part of my permanent cookie repertoire.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Yield: Approx. 3 dozen

2 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 c. softened butter

1 c. sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1-1/2 c. shredded sweetened coconut

Beat the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. While your KitchenAid is doing the work, stir the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Add the egg and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture. Turn the mixer to low speed and add in the dry ingredients just until they are combined. Stir in the coconut. Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten the dough with a glass (or your hand) and then press a fork into the dough to form little ridges. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Let them sit for a minute or two on the cookie sheet, then transfer them to cooling racks.

I love these cookies for a couple reasons. They are fast and easy. And if you don't over bake them, they are crisp but still chewy enough to remind you that they have a lot of real coconut in them. I made these in preparation for Christmas, so they'll be going in the freezer for now.

Enjoy!

So Many Cookies, So Little Time

My grandmother was the consummate cookie maker! Some of her best recipes came from sources unknown, however friends and The Chicago Tribune were great contributors to her collection. Every morning, she read the newspaper over breakfast and clipped many recipes for later trial. Naturally, she never got through all of them, but her influence had its effect on me. In addition to her file, I collect cookie recipes from friends, cookbooks, and magazines. I decided to try and work my way through the thick file, post pix of the finished product, share the recipes, and give a brief review. This blog will be sporadic, but I hope it disciplines me to bake more and eat store-bought, packaged cookies less. Sorry, Keebler. The first recipe is soon to be posted.