1/2 cup suet. ground or shopped fine
1 cup boiling water
salt
2/3 cup molasses
1 teaspoon soda
Enough flour to make a stiff batter
Raisins – optional
Put water over suet, add salt, and let stand for a few minutes.
Add molasses, soda and raisings.
Add enough flour to make a stiff batter.
Steam until done on top of stove in steamer or double boiler.
Serve sliced with hard sauce.
Recipe from wedding shower box of recipes 1982. Family tradition for Christmas
3/4 cup unsifted all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup slice dates
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla extract
confectioners sugar to dust with
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and line the bottom of a 9x9x2 baking pan with waxed paper or parchment.
Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt. Stir and set aside.
In a medium bowl, with electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar until light. Add the brown sugar. beating until smooth and fluffy.
Add the chopped dates, chopped nuts and vanilla and mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix well.
Spread into the prepared pan.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until surface springs back when lightly pressed with fingertips.
Cool slightly. Remove from pan to wire rack, peel off the wax paper while still warm.
With a sharp knife, cut into 24 bars while still warm, cutting at an angle to make diamond shaped cookies.
Dust lightly with confectioners sugar.
Makes 24 cookies.
Recipe from Mary Roth from the Windmill
Been a family tradition since the recipe was shared in the 1980’s. Great way to use fresh dates at other times for a nice treat. Recipe given by Mary Roth at the Windmill Farm Market when we both were vending there.
Master List of Recipes
Will be making a master list of all recipes soon. Check back later. Working on revisions and organization of recipes
Regular Posts Recipes format
Date and Walnuts Bars
Recipes in the WP Recipe format
Coconut Cookies – God Jul
Bought the box mix for Cinnamon Bun Mix from King Arthur Baking to try out and compare against my family’s traditional recipe for cinnamon buns.
Box contained a packet of spice mix and a packet for glaze mix in addition to the dough mix.
The dough mix contained flour (wheat flour and malted barley flour), cane sugar, nonfat dry milk, sour cream, sea salt, and flavoring .
The filling mix contained cane sugar, Vietnamese Cinnamon, cornstarch
The glaze contained confectioner’s sugar and flavoring
Yeast was a pre-measured packet that had yeast and ascorbic acid.
The mix only made 9 cinnamon rolls.
Reactions: the dough did not rise very much the first or the second time. Not sure about the yeast packet since since it was a pre-measured sort of thing and there was no date on the yeast packet for determining how fresh the yeast was. The box recommended the mix be used before 09/15/22. I was sure that the water was not too hot and was only barely lukewarm. So not sure why it did not raise more. The directions called for adding in to the flour mixture.
New technique of making the filling into a paste and spreading on the rolled out dough. Have always just sprinkled the spice and sugar mixture over top of melted buttered dough rolled out to size. This dough did not not call for spreading melted butter on first.
Tasted good but there was some sort of taste that I picked up that I did not really like. Not sure if it was the Vietnamese cinnamon or not. In my pantry I have both Vietnamese Cinnamon and cinnamon that I have purchased from Oak Hill bulk foods since I do so much baking. The batch of cinnamon rolls that I had made from scratch the week before used the Oak Hill cinnamon and was the traditional family recipe. Will have to experiment and see if I get that same reaction. Those rolls were much better tasting than this box mix. They also rose higher and the dough had more of a buttery taste and had more butter in them.
The cost for the mix $14.95) and the small number of rolls (only nine) will probably prevent me from buying the mix again. If I had to pay for shipping it would also add to not buying again. But since was buying other items I included it in an order and it was worth a purchase to check it out.
This is the BEST pumpkin cake I’ve ever had and I know you’ll feel the same way! It’s supremely moist, soft, rich, and spiced with pumpkin spice flavor.
made 10-15-21
Fruitcake – recipe from Ann Stover in 1978. Has become a family favorite.
1 cup chopped candied cherries
1 cup yellow raisins
1 cup chopped candied pineapple
2 1/2 cups candied fruit mix
1 cup chopped walnuts (or less)
3 cups flour
1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
3/4 cup corn syrup
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp rum extract
1 tsp vanilla
Combine fruit and nuts with one cup of the flour and mix.
Cream butter and sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each egg.
Combine corn syrup and flavorings and add to mixture.
Add alternately the dry ingredients with the wet mixture. Fold in the fruit/nuts mixture.
Grease pans. Makes eight small loaves of the 4.5 x 2.75 x2.25 size or can make three regular size bread pan.
Bake 275 degree for one hour. Remove fruitcake within 5 to 10 minutes checking for doneness and let cool completely.
Wrap cakes in foil with sheeting (sheeting dipped in pineapple or orange or combination of juices. Add rum or brandy if desired too.)
Let sit in refrigerator for one week.
Repeat dipping sheet and wrap again. Repeat again in another week if cakes are uneaten.
I bought some new cookie cutters in December 2020 to make a gingerbread house using a molasses cookie dough. I did not want to put together a full house but thought that a platter of cookies with these shapes would work. Will try again at another time to make in the shape of a gingerbread house and decorate the cookies.
Due to major shipping delays with the Covid Virus infecting everyone and postal service backlog of deliveries the cookie cutters never arrived in time for me to try them out for the holiday. Big disappointment.
Gingerbread House Cookie Kit
1 ½ cups butter softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
5 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
powdered sugar for rolling
In a large mixing bowl (or your stand mixer), beat together butter and sugar until light in color and fluffy. Add eggs, one at time with mixer running on low. Turn mixer up to medium and beat until well combined for about 2-3 minutes. Add extracts as mixer is going.
Combine dry ingredients and slowly add to butter mixture, beating on low speed until just combined.
Place about 1 cup dough mixture onto parchment paper or wax paper that has been dusted with powdered sugar and cover with an additional sheet of parchment paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out to ¼ inch thickness and place in sealed storage bag or large covered container.
General Tips
Original Recipe Source: The BEST Cut-Out Cookie Recipe https://amindfullmom.com/best-cut-out-cookie-recipe/ November 28, 2020
Made recipe 2020. Excellent taste. Left dough in refrigerator two days before rolling. Should have rolled per instructions since it was a huge hard ball of dough that was hard to portion out to roll out and needed to soften first. Should have made cookies a little thicker for softer cookies. Very similar to Mom’s crispy cutout cookie recipe but has butter instead of shortening. these taste better than Mom’s recipe. This is the Sugar Cookie recipe you have been looking for! This recipe produces the most perfect Cut Out Cookie EVERY single time. They bake up soft, are full of flavor, and the dough holds its shape while baking.
You can freeze both iced and un-iced sugar cookies in the freezer, keeping in mind that iced cookies will not retain their flavor as long when stored in the freezer as plain sugar cookies do.
Why powdered sugar?
I strongly suggest you use powdered sugar instead of flour for rolling out the sugar cookie dough. The powdered sugar works to keep the dough from sticking to your work surface just like flour, but the powdered sugar dissolves into the cookie when baked. Meaning, no raw flour taste or cookie coated in white dust.
How do you roll out sugar cookie dough evenly?
To roll out sugar cookie dough, I think it is best to roll out your cookie dough before refrigerating. It is MUCH EASIER to manage. To ensure the dough is even when rolled out, my tip is to use wooden spoons on either side of the cookie dough. These wooden handles work as a guide so that your dough will be rolled out to the same depth as the handle, about ¼ inch-evenly across the parchment paper or working surface.
What if sugar cookies look under-baked?
Do not be tempted to over-bake sugar cookies. They should be very blond in color and just set to the touch. Leave the cookies on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes to continue cooking a bit after removing from the oven and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Sugar cookies will go from perfectly cooked, to very crispy and browned in a matter of a minute or two and will lose the soft texture they are known for.
How many times can I re-roll dough scraps?
After you cut out as many cookies as you can, place the scraps together to form a ball of dough and roll out the sugar cookie dough again and cut out additional cookies. After that process has been repeated, place the 2nd batch of scraps together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and roll out the sugar cookie dough one final time. That is a total of 3 times for rolling out sugar cookie dough. Any additional rolling after that will result in an overworked cookie that will be tough and burn easily.
Adaption One: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/warm-sticky-toffee-pudding/
Adaption Two (mine made in 2020 ) – same basic recipe but I used dark brown sugar, molasses and added some candied fruit. Definitely need to serve warm!!
Sticky Toffee Pudding demands to be served warm. I mean, think about it: soft dates, gobs of toffee, and buttery cake. If you’re going to eat a cake smothered in creamy, sugary toffee sauce, if you don’t eat it warm, you’re missing out on of one life’s great pleasures.
For the toffee sauce
For the pudding
Serving: Spoon portions of the cake into serving bowls and douse with additional warm toffee sauce. Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream are good accompaniments, although I enjoy it just as it is.
Note: To make the pudding in advance, bake the cake without the toffee in the bottom. Let cool, then cover until close to serving time. Poke the cake about fifteen times with a chopstick. Distribute half of the sauce over the top, as shown in the photo, cover with foil, then re-warm in a 300F (150C) oven, for 30 minutes.
RASPBERRY LEMON THUMBPRINT COOKIES
MAKES 4 DOZEN COOKIES
1/2 cup raspberry jam or jelly
1 tablespoon raspberry liqueur, such as Chambord
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for forming
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, stir to combine jam and Chambord; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk to combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, along with the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla and beat until combined.
Add the flour mixture, in 2 additions, and beat just until moist clumps form.
Remove dough from the bowl and gather with your hands to form a ball.
Pinch off small pieces of dough and roll to form 1-inch balls.
Place on prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.
Dip your index finger in flour and press into a ball of dough to form an indentation in the center of each ball. Fill each indentation with nearly ½ teaspoon reserved jam mixture.
Transfer to oven and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, copyright Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, LP., all rights reserved.