Vintage Cookie Baking for the Holidays

cherry-winks

Cherry Winks

Sugar Glazed Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Sugar Glazed Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

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Crescent Cookies

Whew! Have you survived Christmas, are you still celebrating with family?

I am not sure that I have survived and recovered yet. LOL

Don’t get me wrong…I love, adore and dream of Christmas, all year long. When it is over, I am like,” what happened, it is over already?”

Gee… I must have blinked. Only a second ago, I had  packages wrapped under the tree, cookies out for Santa, goodie trays nearly finished, and then I blinked and I have wrapping paper, boxes, and bows, cookie crumbs and little pieces of wrapping paper stuck with scotch tape all over the floor.

It was like Christmas exploded in my living room and kitchen.

I will be pulling little pieces of wrapping paper from under my couch till summer along with a few candy canes.

It just makes Christmas last that much longer.

Anywho…enough of my silly chit chat…LOL….lets talk Christmas baking and cookies. This year, I wanted to make new cookies. As in new to me, but old cookies to my Mom and family. I did make a delicious chocolate chip cookie for Christmas I will share with you later, but for my gifts to my teacher friends, I wanted to make some vintage cookies.

I settled on Cherry Winks, Glazed Raisin-Oatmeal Cookie and Crescent Cookies.

I have never posted 3 recipes in one post before and it would make this post really long with all the pictures.

So, let me start with the Cherry Winks.

I promise to add the other two later tonight or tomorrow morning.

My family loves maraschino cherries. I usually have a jar or two tucked away in the cabinet for some random cherry emergency….like….mmm these little sugar syrup little jewels look good enough to eat for a snack. I really am not saying that I do that…. when you have grand children you can always blame the grand kids for opening your mini marshmallow bags, chocolate chip bags and getting into your cherries when you are not looking. haha!

So, when I was looking through a old cookie cookbook and I saw these cookies, remembering that I have tasted them at church fellowship dinners or Christmas parties way back in my youth, I just knew I have to give them a try.

These cookies have little “winks” of cherries put on the top of each cookie, which gives these cookies their name. They also have chopped cherries added into the cookie dough to add flavor and a little pop of color. I loved the dates and the pecans in the cookies and the crunch of the crushed corn flakes that surround the edges and bottom of the cookies.

These Cherry Winks have all those vintage ingredients in them that you don’t see in a lot of recipes…..I mean dates…and rolled in corn flakes…..

But this adds to the charm of this cookie.

So if you are looking for a little nostalgia and a really good cookie all in a crunchy (but tender on the inside) cookie, give this cookie a try.

Here is what you will need! : )

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For this delicious cookie you will need flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, shortening, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, chopped nuts, chopped dates, chopped maraschino cherries, and crushed corn flakes.

I took the  ingredients to school and some of my wonderful students make this cookie dough when they were all caught up on their work, so I do not have the usual step by step pictures and directions for this recipe and I am sorry!!! The directions are listed below in the recipe though : ).

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Look at that beautiful cookie dough. It is full of chopped pecans, dates, and maraschino cherries.  I am using my kitchen shears to cut my cherries into small pieces to set down into the cookie dough to form the “wink.”

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I used a cookie scoop to scoop out the dough and then I rolled the cookie dough into the crushed corn flakes. Then I pressed the cherry in the top. I ran out of maraschino cherries so I had to get into my candied cherries I bought for a cake…oh well.

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Place them on parchment paper and bake. They spread out just a bit and get light tan around the edges.

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Then I cooled them on a cookie sheet until I put them in a cookie tin to stay moist.

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Here’s to, “Winking at You.”

Here is the recipe:

Cherry Winks

From Vintage 1958 Cookie Cookbook

Ingredients:

21/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup vegetable shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons milk

1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

1 cup chopped dates

1/3 cup chopped maraschino cherries (more for cutting pieces for wink)

21/2 cup crushed corn flakes

Directions:

In a medium bowl lightly stir together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together shortening and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and milk. Mix well. Blend in the dry ingredients (the flour mixture).

Mix well. Add in the nuts, dates and cherries. Shape the dough into balls. I used a cookie scoop. Roll each ball into the crushed corn flakes and top with one fourth of a cherry. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a cookie sheet. Yield about 4 dozen cookies. I made mine a tad bigger and I did not get that many.

Hope you enjoy this cookie recipe!

Becky

 

 

 

Holiday Baking…whew…..

Can you see the grand girls behind the creative mess on my dining room table?

I have had a fun two days in the kitchen making a grand mess with my granddaughters and my baby college girl.

Never thought making a mess would be so fun and tasty!

Every years for as far back as I care to remember, I have been making goodie trays for my family at Christmas.

Normally every year, I spend my time alone in the kitchen cooking away. I think I kinda drive the kids out of the kitchen cause I am in the “zone” and on a mission to get everything made and wrapped up on a limited amount of time.

WELL….this year I had help. Baby College Girl took off of work and came up to hang out with me in the kitchen along with two of my granddaughter. I was a little nervous about turning over my baking and candy making to my little chefs, but I was so glad I did. They did a great job. We hung out and dipped candy, made cookie dough, melted chocolate for fudge, wrapped goodies up and had a totally perfect holiday fun in the kitchen.

Here is a few things that we made:

White Chocolate Fudge with chopped Oreos.

Peanut Butter Fudge with Nutella and Reece’scup filling.

Milk Chocolate Fudge with colored chocolate chips and sprinkle.

Baby College Girl Making PIC Grandpa’s Peanut Clusters.

Grand girls dipping the Cherry Cookies in white chocolate.

Cherry Cookies with White Chocolate.

Grand girls filling the pan with fudge puddle dough.

Fudge Puddle Cookies.

Dipped Pretzels.

This is what I still need to make!

Caramel  Toffee Pretzels

Poppy Seed Bread or maybe some Pumpkin Bread….I need to decide soon…haha…

Cracker Toffee (love this stuff!)

I also have a couple of cookies I would love to make but Christmas Eve is tomorrow…and I hardly have any presents wrapped. But, I am craving some Ranger cookies.

Don’t you love Christmas Baking????

How is your baking going?? Are you running as late as I am?

I better get back into the kitchen. If I do not show up with Caramel Toffee Pretzels, I doubt anyone would let me into the house when I arrive at Mom’s for Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Becky

 

 

 

 

Praline Snickerdoodles

How is everyone?

If you live in central Missouri, I hope you are not floating down the Missouri River like Tom Sayer. : )

We have had so much rain lately maybe we all should be buying a boat. Not that I am complaining after the drought we had last summer. I am sure the ground is loving this rain.

One of the things that I love to do when it is stormy outside (since I can’t go outside and plant my seedlings) is to spend some time in my kitchen baking something yummy.

I noticed this recipe a few weeks ago while I was looking through that Brownies and Bar magazine that I made those yummy Banana Bars and the  Chocolate Shortcake Brownie with Macaroon from. This recipe really got my attention because my son the  Super Hero  loves snickerdoodles. The praline part sounded really pretty good too.

So anywho, the other night when it was raining outside I made these sinfully chewy cinnamony cookie.

They are easy to whip together. Just allow an extra hour for refrigeration to chill the dough and then they will be ready to pop in the oven.

Warning: These cookies are highly addictive. Do not eat them right out of the oven while they are warm, with milk, if you plan on having any cookies left over.

Here are your step by step instructions:

Suprise…..they have pecans in them too.

    

In a large mixing bowl put in 2 sticks of soften butter and cream.

Add the sugar. Cream the sugar and butter together.

     

Next add the baking soda, cream of tartar and salt to the creamed butter mixture. Then add in the vanilla and two eggs.

    

After  you add the eggs and mix, be sure to stop and scrap the bowl several times.

Now that the butter, sugar and eggs are all cream together it is time to add the flour, chopped pecans and those yummy toffee pieces.

     

Add the flour and the chopped nuts.

    

Add the toffee pieces and using the mixer combine all the dry ingredients without over mixing. Place the dough in the refridgerator for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

          

In a small bowl mix 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon together. After the dough has chilled, scoop out 2 inch balls and roll into the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.

Place the scoops of cinnamon coated dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 9 to 10 minutes. Do not overbake. Bake just until the outside edge starts turing brown.

I ate one while the cookie was still warm right out of the oven….OH. MY.

I told the Super Hero to try one. OOOPS….I forgot the Super Hero does not like nuts.

This means only two thing.

It means that I will have to make a batch without the nuts for him.

AND it means more cookies for me.

My BAD.

Here is  your recipe;

Praline Snickerdoodles

Adapted from Better Home and Garden

Ingredients:

1 cup soften butter

1 and 1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup almond toffee bits

1/2 cups chopped pecans

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl cream the soften butter. Add the sugar and cream together. Add the cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Beat until combined. Be sure and scrap the bowl down several tims. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined.

Add the flour, chopped pecans and toffee bits to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Mix in the dry ingredients with the mixer until all the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix.

Chill the dough for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

While the dough is chilling, make the cinnamon sugar coating. In a small bowl stir together the sugar and cinnamon.

When the dough is chilled, scoop out 2 inch balls of dough and roll each one in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.

Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for  9 to 10 minutes until the edge just starts to turn brown. Do not over bake.

Cool on a cooling rack.

Makes 2 dozen cookies.

Enjoy!

Becky

Here is some post you may enjoy reading : D

Buttermilk Chocolate Cookies

Chocolate Shortbread Blondies with Macaroon

Don’t you love it when you buy a new recipe magazine and you can not decide which recipe to make from it?

That was my problem last night.

A few weeks ago I bought this Better Homes and Garden magazine on Brownies and Bars.

The pictures are so gorgous, you’ll want to rip out the page, crumble it up and put it in your mouth for a taste.

But don’t. You might eat the recipe.

Trust me I know.

Anywho, last night I was looking for a yummy recipe to make into little goodie boxes for my Mom the Princess, Neiner Weiner, Jeanie Beanie and PIC. I wanted to take a little chewy goodie to give them when I went up for a visit today.

After narrowing down the choices to three, I finally had to decide on the one that I had all the ingredients to.

So, I settled on making Chocolate Shortbread Blondies with Macaroon.

Whew….who came up with that name?

I would have just called them Knock Your Taste Buds Off and Bring Me A Glass of Milk Blondie.

Maybe, we should keep with the original name.

If you love chocolate. If you love peanuts. If you love coconut. If you love chewy, moist, lick your fingers clean, blondies, then you have to make these.  Allow yourself a couple of hours. They have a few steps to them, but I know you can do it! Just follow the step by step pictures to help you out. I made a couple of small mistakes, but they were easily corrected.

These are the little goodie tins I made for everyone. I bought the tins for 3 for $1.00 at the dollar store. They even came with a lid. Cool uh?

PIC took hers to her work and I don’t think she had any left by they time she left to go home.

If you need a recipe for a pot luck, office party, holiday dinner or pinic, these would be perfect.

Have a go and give them a try.

Here are your step by step instructions.

This is what you will need to make these sinfully delicious blondies. I forgot to put one more stick of butter in the picture. I can’t count sometimes.

The first thing you will make will be the crust on the bottom.

    

Add the flour and the sugar into a medium bowl.

    

Add the cocoa and the miniature chocolate chips to the flour and the sugar.

    

Stir the flour mixture together and add 2 sticks of butter.

With a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles course crumbs.

    

Line a 13 x 9 x 2 baking pan with foil and lightly grease (I used cooking spray). Press the crust mixture evenly in the bottom of the pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 8 minutes or until set.

This is what it looks like when it comes out of the oven. Just let it cool while you make filling and the macaroon topping.

Now it is time to make the macaroon topping.

    

In a medium bowl, add the flour and sugar (not shown because I forgot to take the picture). Measure out the coconut and add it to the flour and sugar.

    

Lightly beat 3 egg whites. Add the lightly beaten egg whites to the macaroon mixture.

    

Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Set the macaroon topping aside for later.

Now it is time to make the filling.

    

In a medium sauce pan melt together the butter and the brown sugar.

Stir while it melts together. Cool slightly and and pour into a medium size bowl.

    

Add two slightly beaten eggs and stir together. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla and stir.

    

Add the flour and baking powder.

    

Add the baking soda and stir everything together.

    

This what it will look like. Now, add the chopped peanuts.

Now the fun begins…..though I know you were already having fun! Right?

    

Pour the filling over the chocolate crust. Spread out evenly.

    

Spoon macaroon topping into small mounds evenly over the top of the filling. Spread out evenly. Place in a 350 degree preheated oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until the topping turns light brown.

This is what mine looked like when it came out of the oven. Cool bars in the pan on a wire rack.

When cool, take the blondies out of the pan and drizzle melted chocolate over the top.

Cut into 32 bars.

Can you believe I gave them all away??? Was I crazy or what?

I did eat one of the Princess’s before I left for home.

I may have to go back tomorrow for another visit to eat (gobble down) another one.

When you make yours, be prepared to gobble too.

Enjoy!

Becky

Here is the recipe

Chocolate Shortbread Blondies with Macaroon

Adapted from Better Homes and Garden

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 and 1/2 cups of flour

2/3 cups of sugar

1/2 cups of cocoa powder

1 cup of butter

1/2 cup miniature semi sweet chocolate pieces

For the Macaroon Topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 and 1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

3 slightly beaten egg whites

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the Filling:

2 cups packed brown sugar

2/3 cups butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup chopped peanuts

Optional: melted chocolate chips to drizzle on top

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan by lining it with foil and lightly grease.

For the crust:  In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, chocolate pieces and cocoa. Using a pastry blender, cut up the butter until the crust resembles course crumbs. Press the crust evenly into the foil lined pan. Bake for 8 minutes or until set.

For the macaroon topping:  In a medium bowl stir together the sugar and flour. Stir in coconut and 3 lightly beaten egg whites. Stir in the vanilla and set aside for later.

For the filling:  In a medium saucepan melt together the butter and the brown sugar. Stir till totally mixed together. Cool Slightly. Pour into a medium sized bowl. Stir in 2 slightly beaten eggs. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder and soda and combine together. Stir in the chopped nuts.

Putting it all together: Pour the warm filling over the crust and spread evenly. Spoon out the macaroon topping in small mounds evenly over the top. Spread the macaroon over the top of the filling. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the macaroon topping turns light brown. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Using the edges of the foil remove the bars from the pan. Drizzle the bars with melted chocolate if desired.

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