I have loved to cook since I was very, very young. I remember being frustrated by the limitations of my EasyBake Oven, wanting to do much more than it could do, and wanting to cook and bake much more often than a very busy mom had time to allow. I couldn't wait to get to junior high school, once I learned I'd be taking Home Ec, and it's no wonder that my first real job was at a little diner, where I was a waitress for a single day before becoming a cook....
I never waited tables again. And I've never stopped cooking.
Most of the recipes I tried in that 7th grade Home Ec class were never repeated ('pizza' made with uncondensed tomato soup on saltine crackers, French toast made with eggs, milk, salt and pepper) but the one that's been used over and over again is a cookie recipe we never made in class. Mrs. Geiger mentioned that another student had brought her a half dozen sugar cookies from her mother's bakery, and that they were the best she'd ever tasted.
My mom likes any flavor as long as it's vanilla, and I asked if I might have this cookie recipe. Mrs. Geiger handed it over, I copied it quickly and handed it back, and took it home. Mom tried the recipe that same night, tweaking it a bit (using evaporated milk instead of just plain milk) and a family tradition was born. The cookies are soft and sweet, with a wonderful texture and flavor, deceptively simple, and every bit as evocative as any madeleleine Proust ever spoke of.
We seldom ice and decorate these cookies in my house, usually just sprinkling them with colored sanding sugar; mostly we cut them in rounds, as big as possible. Valentines Day always meant heart shapes and red or pink sugar; Christmas meant bells and stars, with red or green sugar. And these were a neighborhood favorite when you could still give out homemade treats at Halloween. When any of my nieces or my own daughter speak of "Grammy's cookies," these are what they mean.
"Grammy's" Vanilla Sugar Cookies
5 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs, beaten
3 cups margarine
3 cups canned evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 tablespoons baking powder
13 cups all-purpose flour, divided
Sanding sugar, if desired
In large bowl, mix baking soda and baking powder with sugar, add margarine, and cream it well. Add evaporated milk, eggs and vanilla, beat again until smooth. Add 6 cups of the flour and mix well. The remaining flour will have to be beaten in with a wooden spoon until a thick, smooth dough is formed. Smooth it down, cover with plastic wrap and/or foil and chill a few hours or overnight (makes much easier handling for rolling and cutting.)
Use plenty of flour when rolling the dough, which is very soft and delicate. Do not roll it too thin and handle it as lightly, and as little, as possible. (I am still nowhere near as good at this as my mom!) Sprinkle with sugar, if desired. Bake on parchment lined pans at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes for average sized cookies; if you want them to be soft, do not let them brown. The bottoms will be pale golden. We use a 'cookie sheet' to cool them on (several thicknesses of an old bedsheet, folded and stitched to a smaller size) and when they are not completely cold, transfer them to a tightly sealing container.
These cookies freeze beautifully, so you won't mind such a big batch....and you might be surprised at how quickly they disappear. (After all...you might have noticed that the platter is NOT full!!)
As I said, the memories are sweeter than the sweet....my aunt lived with us for five years, and she was the one who copied the recipe from my Home Ec book onto an index card for Mom's recipe box. The card is barely legible now, not that it matters, for the recipe was long ago committed to memory, but no one can bear to make a new copy, for she is in Heaven now and we still miss her so. The day we baked the cookies you see in this picture, we spoke of her again, of how she would love what we were doing.
I think, really, that's the secret of these cookies...it's the love.
5 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs, beaten
3 cups margarine
3 cups canned evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 tablespoons baking powder
13 cups all-purpose flour, divided
Sanding sugar, if desired
In large bowl, mix baking soda and baking powder with sugar, add margarine, and cream it well. Add evaporated milk, eggs and vanilla, beat again until smooth. Add 6 cups of the flour and mix well. The remaining flour will have to be beaten in with a wooden spoon until a thick, smooth dough is formed. Smooth it down, cover with plastic wrap and/or foil and chill a few hours or overnight (makes much easier handling for rolling and cutting.)
Use plenty of flour when rolling the dough, which is very soft and delicate. Do not roll it too thin and handle it as lightly, and as little, as possible. (I am still nowhere near as good at this as my mom!) Sprinkle with sugar, if desired. Bake on parchment lined pans at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes for average sized cookies; if you want them to be soft, do not let them brown. The bottoms will be pale golden. We use a 'cookie sheet' to cool them on (several thicknesses of an old bedsheet, folded and stitched to a smaller size) and when they are not completely cold, transfer them to a tightly sealing container.
These cookies freeze beautifully, so you won't mind such a big batch....and you might be surprised at how quickly they disappear. (After all...you might have noticed that the platter is NOT full!!)
As I said, the memories are sweeter than the sweet....my aunt lived with us for five years, and she was the one who copied the recipe from my Home Ec book onto an index card for Mom's recipe box. The card is barely legible now, not that it matters, for the recipe was long ago committed to memory, but no one can bear to make a new copy, for she is in Heaven now and we still miss her so. The day we baked the cookies you see in this picture, we spoke of her again, of how she would love what we were doing.
I think, really, that's the secret of these cookies...it's the love.
Yay for me... I'm the first follower!! ; )
ReplyDeleteWhat beautifully decorated cookies. I'm also baking along with the 12 Weeks group and can't wait to see what else you come up with.
ReplyDeleteThese cookies remind me of the ones I buy at Walmart..the fluffy round ones with the super sweets pastel color icing, only I am positive these are so much better!!
ReplyDelete