March 6   #536                           Cookies

            It’s late winter and your kids are getting mighty antsy in their eagerness for Spring to arrive.  It’s a great excuse for marching them into the kitchen and teaching them a thing or two about making cookies.  Over last year’s Christmas holidays, we heard of several office “cookie exchanges” that involved inviting people to bake up 8 dozen of their favorite cookie and then sharing them out.  We tasted quite a few delightful cookies and two stayed in our mind.

            We also ransacked our old cookbooks for ideas we might bring you and this lead to two very interesting cookie ideas with Hispanic traditions.  But first, a cherished family recipe from Al’s late Mom.

Mrs. Spoler’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 sticks margarine

3 whole eggs

3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

1 cup raisins

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, and dollop tablespoons of batter on an un-greased cookie sheet.  Bake in a 350 oven for about 15 minutes.  Cool on a rack. 

Yields 2 ½ dozen.

   Ann Furman’s English Toffee Cookies

Preheat oven:  300 degrees

Yield:  5 dozen

1 cup butter (or ½ butter and ½ margarine)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups sifted flower

1 egg white, beaten stiff

½ cup finely chopped nuts

Cream butter and sugar.  Add vanilla and flour, mix until well blended.  Spread mixture on lightly greased 14 x 17 inch jelly roll pan with rim.  Top with beaten egg white, then nuts.  Press latter with spatula.  Bake 30 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.  Cut while warm and remove from pan.  To cut in diamond shapes, first cut inch-wide strips the length of pan and then cut in inch-wide strips diagonally.

PINE NUT CRISPIES

(From “The Different Flavors of Spain” by Letamendia and Plana, Ministerio de Agricultura, 1991)

1 lb. sugar

4 fl. Oz. water

½ tsp cream of tartar

1 lb. ground almonds

1 medium white sweet potato, peeled, boiled and mashed

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

6 oz. pine nuts

1.  Make a syrup with the sugar, water and cream of tartar.  Place ground almonds in a bowl and pour syrup over them. 

2.  Add the mashed sweet potatoes, mixing thoroughly.  Add the eggs and stir until the mixture is smooth.

3.  Allow the mixture to cool, then tip onto a smooth working surface and knead the dough for a few minutes.

4.  Shape the dough into little 1” balls, dip into the egg yolks and then cover with pine nuts.  Bake for 8-10 minutes in a 350 oven.

ALMOND AND WALNUT COOKIES

(From “Mexico’s Feasts of Life” by Patricia Quintana, Council Books, 1989)

8 egg whites at room temperature

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cups sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour, sifted

1 ½ cups clarified butter, cooled

1 cup almonds, blanched, lightly toasted and ground

1 cup walnuts, ground

2 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp almond extract

pre-heat oven to 350 and grease 4 cookie sheets

1.  Beat egg whites and salt until they begin to stiffen.  Gradually add sugar until they become glossy.

2.  Gently fold in the3 flour by hand and add in turn, little by little, the clarified butter, ground almonds, ground walnuts and extracts.  If the dough becomes too dry, add a little more clarified butter.

3.  Place a heaping tablespoon of batter on the cookie sheets and smooth slightly until you have 3 or 4  2 ½-3” circles on each.  Bake for about 8 minutes.

4.  When the cookies have flattened and browned, remove them from the oven, allow to cool until you can handle them.  Wrap each circle around a buttered rolling pin or bottle and allow to cool.  The result with be curved thin cookies that can be stuffed or eaten plain.

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