An Amish Country Christmas (30 page)

I love to bite into a cookie and have it bite me back, spice-wise! These soft, chewy
molasses cookies are easy to mix ahead and then chill until you have time to bake.

 

¾C. butter
1 C. sugar
1 egg
¼C. molasses
2 C. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 T. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ginger
extra sugar

 

Cream the butter and sugar, then add the egg and molasses. Mix in the dry ingredients
and spices until well blended, wrap the dough in wax paper, and chill until you’re
ready to bake. Preheat the oven to 375°. Roll the dough into 1¼-inch balls and then
roll in sugar. Place 2” apart on the cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes for
a soft cookie, slightly longer for a crisp cookie. Makes about 3½ dozen.

 

Kitchen Hint
: For a sophisticated presentation, I like to roll one edge of a cooled cookie in
melted white chocolate and then quickly roll it in raw sugar or holly-berry jimmies.
Let dry on wax paper.

My mother
loved
coconut, and these were her favorite cookies. If cream cheese and coconut isn’t enough
yumminess for you, add a cup of M&M mini baking chips for variety.

 

C. butter
1 3-oz. pkg. cream cheese (full fat), softened
¾C. sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tsp. almond extract
2 tsp. Triple Sec, other liqueur, or rum flavoring
1¼. C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
14-oz. pkg. of coconut, divided

 

Cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, and flavorings. Mix in the flour
and baking powder, and then 3 C. of the coconut. Chill dough at least an hour (or,
it will keep for a few days in the fridge).

 

Preheat oven to 325°. Shape dough into 1” balls and roll them in remaining coconut,
pressing it in. Bake on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper for 15 minutes, or
until barely starting to brown. Cool on the sheet for a minute, and carefully remove
to a wire rack.

 

Kitchen Hint
: Use good-quality, moist coconut for this, and use full-fat cream cheese or the cookies
won’t hold together right. If you don’t find bags of the mini M&M baking chips in
the baking aisle, look for tubes of them at the check-out counter.

I made the mistake of not baking these one Christmas, and when my niece searched her
cookie bucket and found none, Aunt Charlotte heard about it! A soft, yummy cookie
beloved by those who can’t have chocolate.

 

1 C. butter-flavored Crisco
1 C. peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
1 C. sugar
1 C. brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 C. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
extra sugar
18 oz. jar of jelly/jam (see hint)

 

Preheat the oven to 350°. Cream the Crisco, peanut butter and the sugars, then mix
in the eggs and vanilla until well blended. Add the flour and baking soda. Roll dough
into 1” balls and then roll in the extra sugar to coat them. Place balls on cookie
sheets lined with parchment paper, and bake about 7–8 minutes (don’t overbake!). Cool.
Match pairs of cookies so they fit, then spread the flat side of one with jelly and
press the flat side of the other cookie to form a sandwich. Allow jelly to dry before
stacking in a storage container. Freezes well.

 

Kitchen Hint
: I’ve used a lot of red jams/jellies and they each add their own special tartness
or sweetness. Red plum is my favorite, but cherry is tasty and so is raspberry. Be
aware that with strawberry jam, the chunks make the sandwiches harder to press together.

Mom used to stir these up, and the aroma of the brown sugar and cooked dates made
the house smell divine. A really moist, chewy cookie.

 

1 C. margarine or butter, softened
2 C. brown sugar
½ C. buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
3½ C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon

 

2 C. chopped dates
¾ C. sugar
¾ C. water

 

Preheat the oven to 375°. For the dough, cream the margarine /butter with the sugar,
then add the buttermilk and the dry ingredients. Set aside and make the filling: place
the dates, sugar and water in a medium pan on the stove and cook, stirring constantly,
until thickened.

 

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. To form each cookie, drop 1 T. dough, spread
slightly with the back of the spoon, then drop on a tsp. of the filling and top with
another tsp. of dough. Bake 10 minutes, or until firm. Cool a minute or so on the
pan before transferring to a rack to cool completely. About 4 dozen.

 

Kitchen Hint
: Don’t have buttermilk? Measure 1 T. vinegar or lemon juice into a measuring cup
and then pour the milk to the ½ C. mark. Stir and let it sit until it thickens.

Here’s a versatile shortbread cookie you can fill with any flavor of jelly or jam
you prefer. I like this recipe because by baking the jelly filling (rather than adding
it after you bake), you make the cookie much easier to freeze, ship, etc. I’ve nicknamed
these “jelly eyes” because they’re so perfect and round with shiny centers!

 

1 C. softened butter (no substitutions)
C. sugar
½ tsp. almond extract
2 C. flour
to ½ C. jelly or seedless jam

 

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the extract and gradually add the flour until
the dough forms a ball. Wrap the dough in wax paper and chill at least an hour, or
up to 3 or 4 days, if that’s more convenient.

 

Preheat oven to 350°. Roll dough into 1” balls. Place balls on a baking sheet covered
with parchment paper and carefully make an indentation in the centers with the end
of a wooden spoon. Fill with jelly, and bake 12–14 minutes or until firm (I don’t
let mine get even slightly brown). Cool on a rack.

 

For a decorative variation, make a glaze of 1 C. powdered sugar, 2–3 tsp. milk, and
½ tsp. almond extract. Tint with paste coloring, if you like. Carefully spoon the
glaze into a pastry bag with a small round tip and then zigzag the glaze over the
tops of the cooled cookies.

 

Kitchen Hint
: When I’m making the indentations in the dough balls, I “wiggle” the wooden spoon
a bit so the top of the indention is wider—but don’t let the dough crack. Then I spoon
the jelly into a pastry bag with a large round tip and squeeze it into the holes before
baking, to keep the jelly nice and neat.

Here’s another great bar that starts with a cake mix—which means the flavor variations
on this recipe are endless! The cream cheese filling keeps them moist and chewy.

 

1 lemon cake mix
2 eggs
C. oil
8 oz. bar of cream cheese, softened
C. sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice or ReaLemon
Colored sugars, jimmies, etc. if desired

 

Preheat the oven to 350°. Mix the dry cake mix,
one
of the eggs and the oil until the mixture’s crumbly. Reserve a cup for topping, and
firmly pat the rest of the dough into a sprayed 9 x 13” pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile beat the cream cheese, sugar, the remaining egg and the lemon juice until
smooth. Spread over the baked layer, and then sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture.
Sprinkle with colored sugar or jimmies, if desired, and bake 15 minutes longer. Cool
in the pan before cutting.

 

Kitchen Hint
: I have also used a chocolate cake mix and sprinkled on nuts; strawberry cake mix
and sprinkled with mini M&Ms; coconut cake mix and sprinkled it with chopped macadamia
nuts. The possibilities are only limited by your taste and imagination!

Here’s a minty surprise in a firm, sweet cookie. I’m disappointed some years when
I can’t find mint chocolate chips, but butterscotch chips (or Hershey Special Dark
chips) make a tasty replacement.

 

1 C. sugar
¾ C. oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2½ C. flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
1 10-oz. bag of mint chocolate chips
Extra sugar

 

Preheat the oven to 350°. In the mixer bowl, blend the sugar with the oil, eggs, and
vanilla. Add in the flour and baking powder, then stir in the chips. Shape rounded
spoonfuls into balls and roll in the extra sugar. Place balls on cookie sheets that
have been covered with parchment paper and bake 8–10 minutes. Cool for a minute on
the pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. About 5 dozen.

This recipe comes from Lovina Eicher’s “The Amish Cook” column (now featured on a
Facebook page called “The Amish Cook from Oasis Newsfeatures”) and it’s indescribably
soft and chocolate and wonderful with a marshmallow surprise beneath the rich cocoa
frosting.

 

1 C. shortening (Crisco, for instance)
2 C. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 C. flour
1 tsp. each baking soda and salt
C. cocoa powder
1 C. thick sour milk or buttermilk
36 big marshmallows, cut in half

 

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Set
aside. Beat together the shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Add flour
mixture alternately with the sour milk. Drop batter by spoonful onto greased baking
sheet. Bake at 350° for 8 minutes. Top each cookie with a marshmallow half and return
to oven for 2 minutes to soften. Cool completely.

 

6 T. butter or margarine, melted
¼ C. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla
3½ C. powdered sugar
5–6 T. milk

 

Combine all ingredients and beat together until smooth. Spread over tops of cooled
cookies, covering marshmallows.

 

Kitchen Hint
: To make sour milk, place 1 T. lemon juice or vinegar in measuring cup. Fill with
milk to make one cup. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes until thick and lumpy.