This week we have Christmas cookies!!!
AuthorRetroRuth
From The Sacramento Bee Newspaper, February 10, 1958
Tested Recipe!
[cooked-sharing]
Cream together butter and sugar with chocolate. Add eggs, vanilla, and flour. Mix well, then chill, roll thin and cut. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 7 to 10 minutes.
Yield: 5 dozen cookies
Ingredients
Directions
Cream together butter and sugar with chocolate. Add eggs, vanilla, and flour. Mix well, then chill, roll thin and cut. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 7 to 10 minutes.
Yield: 5 dozen cookies
Notes
This is also the first week that I’m actually bringing you a recipe that I made in the kitchen of our new house. It’s been a long time coming, but I feel like we are finally starting to get back into the swing of things here.
When I found out I needed to bring cookies to my friend Carolyn’s holiday open house (in exchange for her making a hilarious gelatin), I hit the books I had unpacked to try and find something I was really interested in trying. I hit on Pat Nixon’s Chocolate Cut-Outs and an interesting holiday cooky (you like that vintage spelling?) that used only maple syrup as sweetener, which I assume stemmed from WWII rationing (that recipe is coming next week). I decided to start with the chocolate butter cookies because they needed time to chill before rolling out. Also…chocolate.
This recipe comes from a recipe box that was sent to me by a reader. It looks like the recipe was clipped from the February 10, 1958 edition of the Sacramento Bee. Based on the date, I wonder if it was supposed to be for Valentine’s Day?
In any case, Alex and I mixed up a batch and set it in the fridge for about two hours.
When we came back, we tried to roll them out, and they were still too sticky. They stuck badly to the cookie cutters. So, we popped the dough back in the fridge to chill overnight and we attacked it again the next day.
This time we had more success. The dough still needed some assistance, though. When I do cutouts I normally use powdered sugar, but for these I had to switch over to flour just to get my cookie cutters to stop sticking. But eventually we managed to get some cookies cut out. They also took about 7 minutes at 400 degrees to bake if you only have one sheet in the oven, 10 minutes for two sheets of cookies.
Time for a test!
(Do you like our Charlie Brown-style sad Christmas tree? TJ has been putting that thing through the wringer.)
“So, how are they?”
“Ok. Kind of bland.”
“Well, they don’t have salt in them.”
“Also no frosting.”
“They don’t call for frosting.”
“But they need it.”
So we frosted some.
I sandwiched them together with a quick Maraschino filling that I whipped up.
AuthorRetroRuth
Tested Recipe!
[cooked-sharing]
Cream together shortening and butter until smooth. Gradually add in powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add in vanilla, whipping cream and Maraschino juice, beat until the cream is whipped and filling is thick and creamy.
Add additional Maraschino juice if you want a softer filling. A pinch of salt is optional.
Ingredients
Directions
Cream together shortening and butter until smooth. Gradually add in powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add in vanilla, whipping cream and Maraschino juice, beat until the cream is whipped and filling is thick and creamy.
Add additional Maraschino juice if you want a softer filling. A pinch of salt is optional.
Notes
They were really good.
And while I was making the filling, Tom had an idea. Tom had a wonderful, awful idea.
“You know what would really be good? If you put some of those cherries inside the cookies. Then covered them with powdered sugar.”
I stared at him. “That’s…actually a really good idea.”
“Of course it is. I know cookies.”
So, for the next batch I rolled about a tablespoon of dough around a maraschino cherry.
I also reduced the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees and baked one sheet at a time for 10 minutes. By this point the dough was soft again, so I had some cookie spreading. But overall they turned out really well. Very good with the cherry and a little fudgy.
Tom’s heart grew three sizes that day.
The Verdict: Fun
From The Tasting Notes –
A good, versatile dough. It tasted like hot cocoa. A very lightly chocolate hot cocoa. They were not overly sweet and had a good butter flavor but not too greasy. It would probably benefit from a little added salt. Maybe not stellar by themselves, but this makes a very large batch that can easily be used for making different kinds of cookies. I made three kinds, but I imagine you could really roll this dough over anything, dip finished cookies in chocolate and nuts, use the dough to make little pecan tassies or the peanut butter cup tassies. Really whatever you want. So make one batch and make 5 dozen assorted cookies. Easy peasy. But overall an interesting cookie base that has lots of possibilities.
Welcome back – your fans have missed you!
I know this is off topic, but I love the artwork in your home! The peanuts…the sail boats…where do you find it?
Would you please share the ‘quick Maraschino filling’ you ‘whipped up’? (I don’t think that those words have ever been uttered at my house…) I’d love to try them with the filling and with the cherries inside!
I am so glad you are settled and baking in your new kitchen. Alex looks so tall. It looks like she has grown a lot. Tell her I said hi.
Oh my gosh, Alex has gotten so big! Glad you’re back!
So glad to see you in your new home.
So glad you’re back and baking too! Good to see Tom’s “testing face” again. 🙂 The cookies look really good — especially the ones you doctored. What did you do to make the filling?
I wonder if a couple of Ts of cocoa (plus a little salt) might pump up the flavor without messing up the texture too much.
I’m late to the welcome-back party, but I hope I can still extend my glad-to-see-you-agains and say that I’m glad you got your mojo back!
And also, I really like you photo of the basic cookie! I do love a good “base” dough I can do all kinds of things with.
So happy you are back and enjoying your new digs. Merry Christmas.
Thank you! I have missed all of you as well!
Thank you! Tom loves artwork, so we have a really eclectic collection. The sailboats we thrifted before Alex was born, and Tom actually painted the peanuts!
Hi Anne! I added the recipe to the middle of the post. Enjoy!
Thank you, and Merry Christmas to you, too!
Thank you, Freezy! 🙂
Hi Marty! I added the recipe to the post, enjoy!
And I totally think the recipe could take a couple of T’s of cocoa. It was a really soft dough.
Thank you!
I know, Mary! It’s crazy! I think she’s gone up a whole clothing size in the last 2 months. 🙂
Hi Robin! I hope you guys had a great Christmas. Alex did get really tall all of a sudden. She misses you guys and the dogs like crazy!
The peanuts are my favorite! Bravo Tom!
I made these and mine definetly did not turn out as brown (chocolate-y) as yours pictured. I think the addition of cocoa powder would definetly help. I’m going to make mine into sandwiches with the Cherry filling you also posted, going to add some mini chocolate chips too.
Do you miss your pink and aqua retro kitchen? (I know I would…lol)
I miss it like crazy. But this new kitchen is laid out really nicely, so I can’t say that the old one functioned better. But I do miss having metal cabinets and my enormous fridge!!!