Grandma Goodies

Last week I had planned on making another batch of cookies, but got slammed to the ground by a pretty terrible cold. I had the perfectly cold, blustery day available too! Aren't wintry days perfect for baking cookies-- even if it was almost May? The heat from the oven, the warm smells that emanate while the cookies are baking bring a homey feel throughout the house that make you forget about the howling wind, your cold feet and your discontent with being stuck in the house for yet another day....

I wish I could say that I just stayed in bed recuperating, but I can't. I will admit that some of the day was spent in a hazy stupor .... clogged sinus glands, irritated bronchil tubes and a pounding headache kept me praying for an early death.

Wait.

That sounded a little dramatic.

It wasn't that bad. But I was pretty miserable.

Unfortunately, rather than wallow in my own mucus feeling sorry for myself, I had some pretty important tasks to fulfill:

• I was asked to decorate a door for Teacher Appreciation Week again, and I needed to get all the dye cuts and paper ready for that. (Below is the finished door. I decorated the Library this year. I don't know if you can see, but all the "flowers" are covers of popular children's books.) (Max came and helped ((THANK YOU!!)) can you tell what he glued on the door?)

• Inigo had an "art show" at school that I needed to attend.
• I had a meeting scheduled (which I ended up cancelling).

That was all I could handle for the day, so sadly, no cookies were baked.

Flash forward to Saturday.

I'm climbing out of the pit. I am not feeling 100%, but during the daytime I'm pretty good at 90%, and my fever is gone. I think that I can satisfy that craving I get to bake. (Nights are always worse when you're sick, aren't they?) Plus, one of my primary children got baptized on Saturday and I thought it would be fun to take some cookies to class to celebrate. (I realized very late into the process that Sunday was Fast Sunday which meant NO TREATS!! Darn!)

The cookies I chose to bake is an old family recipe. We got this recipe from my Gramma Millie. I don't even know what their proper name is. We just call them Burnt Butter Frosting cookies. (If there is someone out there who knows what these cookies are really called, I would LOVE to know!!)

Sadly these don't look as great as they normally do. But, their flavor was FANTASTIC... or, to quote my children, "Mom, these are AHHH-MAZING!" Proof that you can't judge a book by its cover... or a cookie by its flatness.

Burnt Butter Frosting Cookies

Mix together:

1/2 c shortening
1 c brown sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

(you can see that it's pretty dry...)

Add:

2 eggs

(You can see that it's a LOT creamier now!)

Add:

1 c evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla
(now it's very liquid-y)

Sift in:

2 3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

(Now you can see it's much thicker, but the dough still has a pretty runny consistency)

Cover and chill for about an hour.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375* for 10 mins.

(Here's is where I started manipulating the recipe: I think the cookies will spread less if you add a little more flour and I didn't add enough. Also, I cooked the first pan at 375 and I didn't like the results. Instead of having cookies, I ended up with pancakes.

I turned the oven down to 350 and extended the baking time 2-3 minutes. You can see these are slightly better. I have made these cookies many times before and had them turn out perfectly. Maybe they're camera shy. )

Now onto the frosting. This is what makes these cookies so delicious!

Heat:

2 Tbsp butter or margarine til golden brown

(watch it! You don't want it burned!)

Blend in 2 c powdered sugar

1/4 c evaporated milk

Frost while warm.
(I didn't 'frost while warm' and it was okay.)

Let's just say that my family wasn't disappointed that I couldn't take these to Primary. They have eaten most of the batch today. The brown sugar taste of the cookie blends so well with the warm buttery flavor in the frosting. It's kind of a maple-y / caramel-y flavor that will leave you wanting more!


(And I have really struggled with pictures on this post, so if it looks terrible, please excuse me.)