Cherry Walnut Bars

From: Mrs. Mousekin’s Book of Christmas Nibbles, page 19

2¼ cups flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter or margarine

½ cup white sugar

2 eggs

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 small jar maraschino cherries, chopped

½ cup walnuts

½ cup flaked coconut

Mix flour, brown sugar, butter until crumbly. Press into 13×9-inch greased pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Blend egg, sugar, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Drain cherries, save the liquid. Stir chopped cherries and walnuts into egg, sugar mixture. Put on top of baked crust. Continue baking at 350° for 2 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Frosting

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1 tablespoon cherry juice

Blend butter, powdered sugar and cherry juice together. Spread coconut on top and cut into bars.

Nancy’s Notes: First made in December 1976 – Excellent, brown sugar taste, pretty. I omitted the coconut. Cut into diamonds.

I purchased this little cookbook at a craft fair show in 1976. I’ve made several of the 26 recipes – always with success.

Cream Wafers

From: Mrs. Mousekins Book of Christmas Nibbles, page 15

 

1 cup butter or margarine

1/3 cup whipping cream

2 cups flour, sifted

Sugar

Creamy Butter Filling

Mix butter, cream and flour thoroughly. Chill 1 hour. Heat oven to 375°. Roll dough 1/8-inch thick on lightly floured board. Cut into 1½ inch rounds. Transfer to w axed paper heavily sprinkled with sugar, turning to coat both sides. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Prick in 4 places with fork. Bake 7-9 minutes or until slightly puffy. Put two cooled cookies together with filling.

Creamy Butter Filling

¼ cup soft butter

¾ cup sifted powdered sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Red or green food coloring

Blend all ingredients, tint with food coloring as desired.

Nancy’s Notes: First made December 1976 – very flaky, filling very light. Dough must be very chilled – hard to work with, breaks easily. Do not roll too thin or brown. Worth the effort.

I purchased this little cookbook at a craft fair show in 1976. I’ve made several of the 26 recipes – always with success.

Almond Rocca Bars

From: Mrs. Mousekin’s Book of Christmas Nibbles, page 13

 

1 cup butter

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

1 beaten egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups cake flour

2 (10 oz.) bars sweet chocolate

½ cup finely chopped almonds

Mix butter and sugars together until light. Add beaten egg yolk and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and mix thoroughly. Spread mixture thinly on ungreased 11×17-inch cookie sheet with sides. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes. While baking, melt chocolate in double boiler. Spread chocolate over warm baked cookies. Sprinkle copped almonds over chocolate and press down lightly. Cut into bars while warm.

Nancy’s Notes: First made December 1976 – very chocolaty taste, bakes a large batch.

I purchased this little cookbook at a craft fair show in 1976. I’ve made several of the 26 recipes – always with success.

Lemon Cheesecake Squares

From: Crème de Colorado – Junior League of Denver, page 297

14 ounces sweetened condensed milk

½ cup fresh lemon juice

1 ½ teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel

2/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup quick oatmeal

In small bowl, mix condensed milk, lemon juice and lemon peel; set aside. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add flour, baking powder, salt and oatmeal. Mix until crumbly. Firmly press half of crumbs onto bottom of buttered 8×12-inch baking dish. Pour condensed milk mixture on top. Cover with remaining crumb mixture and press down gently. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until brown around edges. Chill before cutting.

Nancy’s Notes: Fresh lemon juice makes a world of difference in taste.

Sugar Cookies

From: I Have No Idea, It’s Been in my Recipe Book Forever

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

3 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk. Chill. Cut into desired shapes. Bake in preheated 400° for 5-8 minutes. Frost and/or decorate.

Nancy’s Notes: This has been my “go-to” recipe for cut-out cookies for decades.

Hungarian Fruit Squares

From Mary Helen Kondrad

3 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup butter or margarine

2 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

¾ to 1 cup apricot preserves

¾ to 1 cup red raspberry preserves

Sift together dry ingredients. With pastry blender cut in margarine until size of peas. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well. Chill ¼ of dough. Press remaining dough onto bottom and sides of greased 15½ x 10½-inch jelly roll pan. Spread half of dough with apricot preserves; remaining half with raspberry. Roll chilled dough on lightly floured board; cut into ½ inch strips. Place strips diagonally across preserves to form lattice pattern. Press around edges to seal. Bake in preheated 325° for 40 minutes. Cool, cut into squares. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Nancy’s Notes: A great way to get two flavors from one recipe. Instead of doing the lattice top I like to use tiny cookie cutter to place a holiday shape – stars, hearts, angels, etc. – on each cookie when cut.

Basic Spritz Butter Cookie

From: The Denver Post – A Long Time Ago

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

½ cup sugar

2 egg yolks

2 cups sifted flour

½ teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring of your choice

Food coloring

Cookie decorettes

Cream together butter and sugar, add egg yolks, mixing well. Gradually add flour, mixing after each addition. Add flavoring and food coloring of you choice. Put dough through cookie press on ungreased baking sheet, about two inches apart. Sprinkle with decorettes. Bake in 375° preheated oven about 10 minutes, or until lightly brown around edges. Remove from baking sheet immediately. Let cool on wire rack. Makes about four dozen cookies.

Nancy’s Notes: This old standby spritz recipe can be easily varied with flavorings, shapes, icings and edible decorations.

Christmas Fruit Cookies

From: Better Homes and Gardens – A Long Time Ago

 

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup light-brown sugar, firmly packed

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch salt

1 cup unsifted all-p0urpose flour

2 cups chopped pecans

6 slices candied pineapple, chopped

½ lb. Candied red cherries

Preheat oven to 300°. In large bowl, with electric mixer at high speed, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, beat until light. Add vanilla and salt. At low speed beat in flour until well combined. Grease and flour 2 (11x7x2-inch pans. Sprinkle 1 cup nuts n each pan. Drop batter on nuts; spread evenly over nuts. Press the candied pineapple and cherries into batter. Bake 30-40 minutes, or until golden. Remove to wire rack. Cut into squares while warm. Makes 4 dozen.

Nancy’s Notes: Want a fruitcake taste in a cookie? This is it!

White and Dark Macadamia Kahlua Cookies

From: Meadow Creek B&B Inn – Pine, Colorado

1 ½ cups brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 cups butter-flavored shortening

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 tablespoons very strong coffee (or Kahlua)

4 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 bag (16 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1 bag (12 ounces) white chips

1 small can (3.5 ounces) macadamia nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream sugars and shortening well. Beat together eggs, vanilla and coffee in a separate bowl. Stir into creamed sugar mixture. Mix together flour, salt and soda; add to cream\ed mixture – do not overmix. Add chocolate and white chips and macadamia nuts.

Drop large teaspoons of dough 2 inches apart. Bake 8-10 minutes. Loosen and cool on pan before removing to cooling rack. Makes about 3 dozen.

Nancy’s Note: I use the Kahlua instead of coffee. Sometimes I use all white chips in place of white and dark. Use a spring-loaded scoop to drop cookies onto baking sheet.

Two Sisters’ Gems

From: Two Sisters Inn, Manitou Springs, Colorado

1 package (5 ounces) dried cherries

¼ cup Grand Marnier (or frozen orange juice concentrate)

½ cup butter or margarine

¼ cup sugar

1 1/3 cup flour

2 eggs

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup shredded coconut (preferable unsweetened)

½ cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350°. Put cherries in small saucepan with 1/3 cup water and ¼ cup Grand Marnier, simmer gently 10 minutes – the liquid will reduce to about 1 teaspoon. Remove from heat and cool in pan. Carefully check for pits, then chop and set aside. Blend together butter, ¼ cup sugar and 1 cup flour until crumbly. Pat into bottom of greased 8×8- or 9×9-inch square pan. Bake about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven.

Beat eggs, brown sugar and vanilla until creamy. Sift remaining 1/3 cup flour with baking powder and salt and blend into egg mixture. Stir in cherries, nuts and coconut. Spread over baked layer. Bake for approximately 30 minutes longer. Cool, then cut into diamonds. Makes 16 servings.

Nancy’s Notes: These Gems won a contest held by the Colorado Bed & Breakfast Association innkeepers.