Mennonite Girls Can Cook (37 page)

........................................... Yields 4 dozen

• 1 cup / 250 ml milk
  
• ½ cup / 125 ml shortening
  
• 6-7 cups / 1.5-1.75 L flour, approximately
  
• 1 cup / 250 ml sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon / 5 ml salt
  
• 2 eggs, beaten
  
• 2 tablespoons / 30 ml instant yeast
  
• 1 cup / 250 ml unseasoned mashed potatoes or prepared instant mashed potatoes
  
• 4 cups / 1 L cooking oil for deep frying
  

1. Combine the milk and shortening; heat until shortening melts.
   
2. Combine 3 cups / 750 ml flour with sugar, salt, and yeast.
   
3. Mix in the warm milk and shortening.
   
4. Add beaten eggs, and mashed potatoes.
   
5. Add remaining flour, one cup at a time, until the dough is soft and slightly sticky.
   
6. Knead for a few minutes, making sure that the dough remains soft and slightly sticky. If necessary grease your hands to keep the dough from sticking. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
   
7. Roll it out to about ½-inch / 1.5-cm thick and cut into doughnuts. Place them on parchment-lined baking sheets and let rise until all the dough is cut out. Fry the doughnuts that were cut out first.
   
8. Heat oil in a deep saucepan over medium high heat to 375° F / 190° C. To test, use an oil thermometer or drop a piece of bread in. It should turn brown in 30 seconds.
   
9. Drop doughnuts into oil. Brown one side, then turn over quickly and fry on other side until golden. Do not leave oil unattended.
   
10. While the doughnuts are still warm, dip them in the following glaze or shake in a bag with icing sugar and cinnamon.
    

• 4 cups / 900 ml icing sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon / 15 ml cornstarch
  
• ½ teaspoon / 2 ml vanilla
  
• Hot water, enough to make a thin glaze
  

1. Mix ingredients in a saucepan. Keep warm on the lowest setting on the stove.
   
2. Dip doughnuts in the glaze and lay them on parchment paper to dry.
   

—
Charlotte

........................................... Yields 5 dozen

• 1 cup / 250 ml shortening
  
• 1½ cup / 375 ml sugar
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 teaspoon / 5 ml vanilla
  
• 4-4½ cups / 1000 ml flour, approximately
  
• 4½ teaspoons / 22 ml baking powder
  
• 1 teaspoon / 5 ml baking soda
  
• ½ teaspoon / 2 ml salt
  
• 1 cup / 250 ml buttermilk
  

1. Cream shortening and sugar.
   
2. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
   
3. Mix 1 cup / 250 ml of the flour with baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture.
   
4. Add remaining flour as needed, alternately with the buttermilk, until it forms a soft ball. The dough will be slightly sticky.
   
5. Cover bowl and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.
   
6. Remove dough from fridge. Roll to desired thickness, approximately ¼-inch / .75-cm. Take care not to use too much flour for rolling or the cookies will be less tender.
   
7. Cut with desired cookie cutters and place on parchment-lined baking pans.
   
8. Bake at 375° F / 190° C for 9 minutes and allow to cool.
   
9. Ice when cool.
   

• 3 cups / 750 ml icing sugar
  
• 1½ tablespoon / 22 ml soft butter
  
• 4½ tablespoons / 67 ml whipping cream
  
• 1½ teaspoon / 7 ml hot water
  
• 1½ teaspoon / 7 ml vanilla
  
• Food coloring
  

1. Cream all ingredients together till smooth.
   
2. For desired color, add one drop of food coloring at a time, stirring well.
   
3. Spread icing on cookies and let dry before storing. These cookies freeze well.
   

—
Betty

Betty says

......................................... Yields 6-7 dozen

• ¼ cup / 60 ml butter, soft
  
• 1 cup / 250 ml sugar
  
• 2 eggs
  
• ¼ cup / 60 ml oil
  
• ½ cup / 125 ml Roger’s Golden Syrup (or corn syrup)
  
• 1 cup / 250 ml sour cream
  
• 1 tablespoon / 15 baking ammonia
  
• 1 tablespoon / 15 ml hot water
  
• 4¼ cups / 1000 ml flour
  
• ½ tablespoon / 8 ml baking powder
  
• ½ teaspoon / 2 ml baking soda
  
• ½ teaspoon / 2 ml salt
  
• 1 teaspoon / 5 ml allspice or mix of star anise and cloves
  
• Thick jam (recipe follows for thick plum jam)
  

1. Beat butter, gradually adding sugar, then eggs, individually.
   
2. Add oil, syrup, and sour cream in order, beating well after each ingredient.
   
3. Dissolve baking ammonia in hot water; add to mixture.
   
4. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients, then gradually stir into wet
   ingredients, switching to hook attachment if using mixer.
   
5. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
   
6. Slightly grease and flour aluminum cookie sheets.
   
7. Take
   of the dough from the fridge. Roll out on floured surface to about ¼-inch / .6-cm thick.
   
8. Cut circles with a 2½-inch / 6-cm round cookie cutter and place about
   ¾ teaspoon / 3 ml of thick jam (recipe follows for plum jam) on each circle.
   
9. Fold the circle, pinching together to make a pocket, then turn seam-side down. Place 1-inch / 2.5-cm apart on prepared cookie sheets.
   
10. Bake at 375° F / 190° C for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Cool and glaze (recipe follows).
    

Tip:
Purchase baking ammonia at some drug and specialty food stores. It usually comes as a lump and needs to be ground to a powder before use. Keep it in a well-sealed container. Do not confuse baking ammonia with regular, household ammonia used as a cleaner, which is poisonous.

• 1 cup / 250 ml sugar
  
• ¼ cup / 60 ml water
  
• 1 egg white
  

1. Line cookie sheets with wax paper.
   
2. Beat egg white until almost stiff.
   
3. In small pot, between low to medium heat, bring sugar and water to boil, then cook about 2-3 minutes or until it begins to look syrup-like when you drip it off a spoon.
   
4. Gradually add to beaten egg white, while beating, and continue beating for a few minutes until glossy peaks form when you lift beater.
   
5. To glaze cookies, begin with the cookie bottom; turn and smooth over the whole cookie. If the glaze begins to feel dry too quickly, wet your hands. Set cookies on wax paper and let dry a few hours or overnight. Store in a sealed container in a cool place, refrigerator, or freezer. These cookies keep well.
   

Tip:
This glaze is a learned art. If it does not work well the first time, try again. It should feel smooth for glazing. If it has a granular texture, it has cooked too long.

• 6 cups / 1.5 L cooked, mashed fruit (from about 11 or 12 cut up plums)
  
• 6 cups / 1.5 L sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon / 15 ml fruit pectin
  

1. Wash plums, remove pits, and cut into quarters.
   
2. Cook plums in a large pot until juices are basically gone.
   
3. Cool slightly and mash or blend in blender. Measure out 6 cups.
   
4. Place fruit, sugar, and pectin in a large heavy pot.
   
5. Bring to full boil, stirring constantly; continue cooking for 15-20 minutes, until it begins to gel.
   
6. Pour into hot, sterilized jars, and seal. The jars seal automatically if both jars and jam are hot. No water bath needed.
   

Tip:
Because this is thick, it is not likely to drip out during baking.

—
Anneliese

................. Yields 10-12 dozen cookies, depending on size

• ½ cup / 125 ml softened butter
  
• 2½ cups / 625 ml sugar
  
• 3 eggs
  
• 2 tablespoons / 30 ml baking ammonia dissolved in 2 tablespoons / 30 ml water
  
• ½ cup / 125 ml oil
  
• 2 cups / 500 ml sour cream
  
• 20 drops peppermint oil (
  teaspoon / 1.5 ml)
  
• 1 tablespoon / 15 ml baking powder
  
• 1 teaspoon / 5 ml baking soda
  
• 8 cups / 2 L flour
  

1. Prepare cookie sheets, preferably light colored aluminum, by coating lightly with shortening and sprinkling lightly with flour. Tilt cookie sheets and tap ends to allow flour to disperse evenly.
   
2. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar; beat in eggs one at a time.
   
3. Dissolve baking ammonia in hot water, making sure there are no lumps.
   
4. Add oil, sour cream, peppermint oil, and baking ammonia/water to egg
   mixture, beating until well combined.
   
5. In separate bowl mix dry ingredients; add to wet ingredients, stirring with wooden spoon or using the hook attachment on the mixer.
   
6. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
   
7. Divide dough into 4 portions. Roll out to ¼-inch / .6-cm thickness, using a light dusting of flour on the surface as well as on top of the dough.
   
8. Cut with a small round cookie cutter.
   
9. Bake at 400° F / 205° C for 10-12 minutes or until golden underneath.
   
10. Remove onto wire cooling racks. Reuse cooled baking sheet without washing. You may scrape up the flour with a plastic scraper and dust with flour again, but you don’t need to keep greasing it for the rest of the batch.
    
11. If desired, make a thin icing with icing sugar and whipping cream, mixing to a consistency that spreads easily on cookies.
    

Tip:
There are two important ingredients to have on hand for these soft white cookies. The first is baking ammonia, a type of leavening agent, which gives the cookies their light texture. The second is peppermint oil, which does not evaporate while baking the way extract does. Look for these ingredients in a store that carries candy making supplies, a bakery, a health food store, a drugstore, or on the Internet.

Do not confuse baking ammonia with regular, household ammonia used as a cleaner, which is poisonous.

—
Anneliese

Anneliese says