Not My Grandmother's Fruit Cookies

Do you have a special recipe in your family that you are hesitant to share? We do in our family. (I have sworn to take my leek and potato soup recipe with me to my grave; I won’t, but don’t tell my kids that.) In my family it is a cookie recipe that dates back to my great, possibly great-great grandmother. Initially it was just a list of ingredients on a rather yellowed piece of paper. It was later written up in a more workable form. The original recipe called for black walnuts and currants, but over the years as black walnuts became increasingly less available, and people started substituting raisins for currants, the recipe changed. I am not going to give you that recipe, but I am going to give you one that is equally as good, perhaps better, and based on one that has been in my family for generations.

Not My Grandmother's Fruit Cookies

1 c. granulated sugar
½ c. dark brown sugar
1 c. butter, room temperature
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground cloves
1 t. ground mace
1 t. ground allspice
2¼ c. flour
1 t. baking soda dissolved in ¼ c. buttermilk
1 c. raisins
½ c. golden raisins
1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375° F. Spray cookie sheets with PAM; set aside.

Cream butter, sugar, and spices together until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk mixture. Fold in raisins and pecans. Scoop cookies into balls and bake until lightly browned, 13-15 minutes. Let cool a couple of minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to cool on a rack.

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Boston Brown Bread

 

This is an old family recipe that has been around for as long as I have, maybe more. I first became acquainted with it while watching my grandmother prepare it in her kitchen one Saturday afternoon. I was fascinated at the prospect of something being baked in a can that once housed vegetables. An impatient six-year-old, the hour of time required for baking seemed like an eternity. I could hardly wait to see them come from the own, wondering just how high they would rise above the can. These are beautiful little loaves, made extra charming, I think, by the impression the can ridges make along the side, almost as if put there intentionally as a guideline for slicing. 

Dense, moist, rich and delicious, this makes for an excellent breakfast treat whether slathered with creamery butter or left plain. Good for the heart, and good for the soul. Give this retro recipe a try. 

Boston Brown Bread

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup 100% All Bran

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup raisins (I used half golden raisins)

1 cup nuts (I used pecans)

1 extra-large egg

1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease three 15-ounce, ridge-less cans.  (I used a Chinese vegetable can.  Many vegetable cans, such as green bean cans, shown on the left, have a lip at the top that will prevent the loaf from exiting the can.) 

Pour bran into a medium mixing bowl and add buttermilk.  Allow to stand for 30-45 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together egg and sugar.  Stir in soda mixed with water, flour, [soaked] bran mixture, raisins, and nuts.  Blend until combined.  Fill each can 2/3 full.  Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

This post is linked to:

Simple and Sweet Fridays

Home Sweet Home

Jumbo Raisin Cookies

This is a cookie that is quietly addicting.  It is lightly sweet with a comforting texture, and moist delicious chewiness thanks, in part, to the raisins.  The toasted pecans give it crunch and a depthless of flavor that will send you back for first another, and then another, and then… you’re going to have to put them away.

Jumbo Raisin Cookies

½ cup raisins

½ cup golden raisins

½ cup water

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

¼ cup butter

¼ cup shortening (Crisco)

1 cup sugar

1 extra large egg, beaten to blend

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ cup chopped toasted pecans

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Put raisins and water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Boil until raisins are plump, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat; set aside to cool. (Do not drain.)

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.  Set aside.

Cream butter and shortening together until thoroughly blended.  With mixer running, gradually pour in sugar, beating until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well.

Stir in the raisins and any remaining water.

Gradually add the flour mixture, beating to blend.  Fold in toasted pecans.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment or Silpat-lined cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.  Makes about 2 dozen.

This post is linked to:

Sunday Sweeties

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Pancakes

I love pancakes, but the mister is a pancake purist.  When he sees me pull more than one bowl out of the cupboard and move the box of Bisquick aside in favor of a variety of ingredients, he starts to panic.  I assured him this morning that plain pancakes would be his if he just indulged me momentarily while I tried a revised version of a recipe that I spotted in the December issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine.  He eyeballed the ingredients, shrugged and said that he’d try what I was having.  As it turned out, he was very glad he did.

The December issue of Rachael’s magazine featured a rather unique variety of pancakes.  Trying to get more whole grains into my diet, the oatmeal pancake caught my eye.  It was an altered version of the recipe in the magazine for “Classic Pancakes” (pictured below), that I further altered with excellent results.

Their recipe, simply called Oatmeal Raisin pancakes (also pictured below), I turned into Oatmeal Raisin Cookie pancakes, by adding a sprinkling of chopped pecans and a pinch of cinnamon (two ingredients that are musts in my oatmeal cookies).  These two ingredients made all the difference.

  

They really did taste like oatmeal raisin cookies.  Your kids (if not your husband) will love them!

Mango Chutney

I first tasted mango chutney in the late 90s at Punjab Restaurant in Covent Garden in London. That was my first experience with Indian food and I loved it! Ever since then I've been exploring recipes, buying spices (Penzey's has nothing on me!), and filling the larder with many different kinds of chutney, all made by my own hand. It's become a late summer/early fall ritual, and one that I particularly enjoy. There is something so wonderfully cozy about "putting food by" when the weather has turned cold and nasty.

While plum is my personal favorite, mango chutney seems to be the one that even those unfamiliar with Indian food seem to know, so I make a lot of it and gift both guests and hosts during the holidays. It's a lovely tradition, and one you might consider.

Mango Chutney
(Printable Recipe)

3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped

2 large mangoes, peeled and chopped

1/2 medium sweet red pepper, diced fine
1 small jalapeno, seeded and diced fine

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup currants

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup finely chopped peeled ginger root

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon each: ground nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt
1/4 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

Combine apples, mangoes, red pepper, sugar, onion, raisins, vinegar, and ginger root in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, and boil gently, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until fruit is tender and mixture is thickened, stirring occasionally. Add lemon juice, curry powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt; boil gently for 5 minutes.

Remove hot jars from canner and ladle chutney into jars to within 1/2 inch of rim and process 10 minutes for half-pint jars and 15 minutes for pint jars.