CORIANDER CHRISTMAS COOKIEs

(modern recipe adaptation)

Yield: 8½ dozen 1½ inch cookies

5¼ c. all-purpose flour plus extra for the board

½ c. ground coriander seeds (or more, if you like a lot)

½ tsp. baking soda

½ lb. (2 sticks) butter, softened

1½ c. granulated sugar

¾ c. buttermilk or soured milk

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, ground coriander seed, and baking soda. Set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until well blended. Add the milk and the flour mixture alternately. The dough should be moist and pliable but not sticky. On a well-floured board, knead the dough just enough to keep it from sticking while rolling. Roll the dough out and cut with your favorite cutters. Place cookie cut-outs on cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Using the parchment paper on which the cookies were baked, slide the whole sheet of cookies into the cookie tin. Cool 5 minutes before eating.

Please take notice of this antiquated version. 

To three pounds of flour, sprinkle a tea cup of fine powdered coriander seed, rub in one pound of butter, and one and half pound sugar, dissolve one tea spoonful of pearlash in a tea cup of milk, kneed all together well, roll three-quarters of an inch thick, and cut or stamp into shape and size you please, bake slowly fifteen or twenty minutes; tho’ hard and dry at first, if put in an earthen pot, and dry cellar, or damp room, they will be finer, softer and better when six months old.

 

CHOCOLATE PUFFS

Adapted from The New Art of Cookery, 1792

1 c. superfine sugar, plus 2 Tbs.

¼ c. plus 1¼ Tbs. unsweetened cocoa, preferably Dutch processed

1 egg white from large egg

1 pinch cream of tartar, optional 

Preheat the oven to 225°F. Set aside two parchment-lined cookie sheets. In a small-medium bowl, whisk together the sugar and cocoa until they are a uniform color. Set the mixture aside. With a hand-beater, stand mixer, or clean whisk, whip the egg white until it is very frothy and beginning to stiffen.  “When using a hand or stand mixer to whip egg whites, start at a low speed and slowly raise the speed to medium. Do not use the higher speeds because egg whites whipped that way are less stable. If desired, add a pinch of cream of tartar to help the egg white froth and stiffen. Once the egg white reaches the soft peak stage, slowly add the sugar/cocoa mixture while continuing to beat the egg white. The result should be a thick paste.

Wet your hands slightly and form the batter into small coins about ¾ inch diameter. Place them on the parchment-lined cookie sheets. If you let the formed cookies sit on the cookie sheet for about 30 minutes before baking, they seem to puff up more.

Bake for 1 hour to 70 min. Store the cookies in an airtight container. Recipe makes about 24 cookies.

 

GINGERBREAD COOKIES 

½ c. and 2 tsp. packed brown sugar

2 Tbs. and 2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. mace (or substitute with extra nutmeg)

1 Tbs. coriander

1 Tbs. caraway seeds

6¾ c. flour

1 c. molasses

1 egg beaten

2 c. butter, melted

Melt butter and let cool. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a very large bowl, stir the molasses and egg into the cooled, melted butter. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients into molasses mixture, stirring by hand. Form dough into discs and place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll dough out to approximately ¼-inch. Use flour to prevent sticking. Cut out using a simple cookie or biscuit cutter. Bake at 350°F. for 7 minutes. Makes approximately 80 cookies.

 

VEGETABLE SPREAD

Recipe by Ronda Bowden

1 15-oz. can chick peas, drained and rinsed

1 15-oz. can Great Northern or Navy Beans, drained and rinsed

¼ c. sundried tomatoes

1 15-oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained

1 tsp. garlic (or one clove minced)

Juice from half a lemon plus zest 

1 tsp. salt 

½ tsp. black pepper

3 Tbs. minced red onion

In the bowl of a food processor combine all ingredients except red onion.  Process until a smooth paste has formed. Fold in onion. 

VEGETABLE SPREAD TEA 

SANDWICH

Spread on a slice of bread of your choice with crust removed. Cut into quarters. Top each piece with a thin slice of cucumber or radish, sprinkle with minced chives.

 

MRS. COLIN CLARKE’S COCOA NUT BALLS RECIPE

In July 1933, Mrs. Martha Page Vandergrift (101 years old) described the following recipe passed down to her by Mrs. Colin Clarke of Warner Hall. 

What You’ll Need

1½ lbs. granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

½ pint of water

1 grated cocoa nut or 1 lb. dry commercial cocoa nut

Few drips of vanilla

What You’ll Do

Cook sugar and water until syrup [ropes], pour into bowl of cocoa nut, stirring all the time. The more you stir, the whiter the candy. When cool enough, make into balls and put on platters to dry in a cool place. Make the balls about the size of a walnut, and roll them in the palm of your left hand, with fingers of right hand. Set the platters in a cool place until the balls are dry on the outside.

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