Yesterday, I shared what may be the simplest ever Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. Today, I’m pulling some of my favourite family cookie recipes out of the pile to demonstrate just how versatile and varied the Fruits of the Cookie Method can be…
An array of my family’s most loved Cookies: Gingerbread front, Shortbread
at 2 o’clock, and Old Fashioned Hermits at 11 o’clock. Christmas
Cake Cookies are featured in the photo, top of page…
The Cookie Method
As I hinted yesterday, the Cookie Method can be applied to countless recipes yielding what some my find a bewildering array of results. It al starts with creaming together Butter and Sugar. After that the basic ingredients and the procedure remain pretty much the same. Usually, the recipe will call for the wet ingredients to be combined in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another, large bowl. Then you add the wet to the dry and you’re away to the races.
All-time Favourite: Scottish Shortbread
There isn’t another Cookie Recipe in existence that’s simpler or uses fewer ingredients -or is such a treasured treat – as silky, Buttery traditional Scottish Shortbread. My Mom’s favourite recipe is from her high school Domestic Science text book published in 1936, and my Mom was born in Scotland. You can’t get much more authentic than that!
Mom’s recipe uses just three ingredients: Flour, Brown Sugar and Butter – a lot of Butter. I add a teaspoon (5 ml) of Vanilla Extract, which I think gives the Cookie a bigger, more complex flavour.
Christmas Cake Cookies
This one will appeal to everyone, not just those who love Holiday Fruitcake. Even the haters love the flavours of the season, and this one has them all – in a light, chewy cookie. It’s a rather lengthy, effort-intensive recipe, but I always double or triple it and make lots, to make the making worthwhile. This recipe also calls for a long list of ingredients. Be sure you have them all on hand before you start to mix up the batch!
Old-Fashioned Hermits
While my Mom’s people were from Scotland, my other Grandmother was very British, and this cookie was her specialty. Nobody is sure why these old favourites are called ‘Hermits’, but they are generally accepted to be direct descendants of the famous, ubiquitous spice Cookies which the British have called ‘Tea Cakes’ since time immemorial. They first appeared in North America in the 1870s.
Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
Here’s an anytime favourite that goes back at least a thousand years, when an Armenian Monk brought the recipe with him to Europe. From there, it spread across Europe with travelers and emigrated to the rest of the world with European explorers. And it’s still a universal favourite today! There’s something about the blend of Sweet Molasses and Spicy Ginger that makes this cookie unique.
That ought to keep you busy for a while…
Stay home, stay healthy, and stay sane!
~ Maggie J.