We all have traditions, some of us do not even realize that they are there. Be it for the good or the bad our history is part of who we are. It has been a difficult year, not just for me ,but for the world. People have lost homes, jobs, families, some have lost their moral compass, some feel lost. For me traditions always center me, so for those who do not have them I will share them, for those who have them share them with us. In a time when so much is uncertain, let this be a place where there will always be kindness, a recipe, a pattern, a thought or a process that perhaps brightens a day. After all part of being an eejit is that there is unconditional love, kindness and support.
Meggie
I found the original recipe for this years ago …….. my oldest is now in his mid-30’s and I’ve been making these since he was about 2 years old …… I no longer remember for sure where the recipe came from. I think it was a magazine.
ReplyDeleteOne note …. I will give the original amount of spices called for but I triple this amount. Yes, I like my spice cookies to taste like spice cookies!
These are perfect for those Hallmark cookie cutters with all the lines inside them. Unlike sugar cookies which puff up, then lose their shape when they bake, these cookies will look exactly the same when you take them out of the oven. Wish I still had my collection but they disappeared years ago during one of our moves.
You can serve these plain, or you can use frosting & extras like sugar crystals, dragees, & all the ‘dress up’ stuff in the cake aisle to pretty them up. They make wonderful holiday gifts when you don’t have the money to go out & buy expensive gifts (I know …….. ). They travel beautifully, and actually taste better if they have a chance to mellow a bit. The year I gave them as gifts, one box got ‘lost’ behind some other things & wasn’t found until about 3 months later. The cookies actually tasted better than they had when first baked! And they weren’t hard, either.
Golden Spice Cookies
1/2 c margarine or 1/4 c margarine & 1/4 c butter-flavored shortening
1/2 c brown sugar (dark is better)
1/4 c white sugar
1 lg egg
1 3/4 - 2 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp grd cinnamon (I use 3)
1/2 tsp grd cloves (I use 1 1/2)
1/2 tsp grd nutmeg (I use 1 1/2)
1 tsp vanilla (splurge - get real vanilla)
Beat margarine in large bowl until fluffy. Add sugars gradually. Add egg, beat well.
Add 1 3/4 c flour & rest of ingredients. Beat until well blended.
Spoon in enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough (you will need to use your hands to add in the last of the flour.)
Wrap & chill at least 3 hours or freeze for 1/2 hour. (Don’t skimp on the time.)
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Divide dough in half (or in quarters if you made a double batch). Refrigerate all but the one portion of dough you are working with. Roll out on lightly floured board to just a little less than 1/4” thick if you are using the Hallmark cookie cutters. If you are using normal cutters without all the detail lines, 1/4” thick is fine. Do not roll out to 1/8” thick - it is too thin & the cookies tend to burn & get brittle.
Cut out dough leaving as little waste dough as possible - rerolled dough is not as tender as the 1st rolling. Put all scrap dough into a covered bowl in the fridge & re-roll all at the same time. When re-rolling, handle as gently & quickly as possible.
You can re-roll a 2nd time if you want to …. I don’t.
Bake 15 minutes on greased cookie sheets. Cool before icing/decorating.