When I inherited my mom’s recipe box, I knew mostly what I’d get: her pecan-heavy riff. Fresh Cranberry-Walnut Cookiesthree or four versions of monkey breadI request sukiyaki for dinner almost every weekday; Lots of recipes for her darling bulgur wheatOne of the biggest surprises was something completely unfamiliar – to my knowledge, it had never been mentioned, let alone cooked. The card was in my aunt’s handwriting, labeled “Grandma Anderson’s Sour Cream Cookies.” Any cookie connection to my great-grandmother, who died more than 30 years before I was born? I had to bake them.
This meant I had a lot of gaps to fill. There was no measurement of flour. The flavor was “whatever you like” rather than specific ideas such as vanilla or almond extract. It provided suggestions for rolling out or cutting the dough, but did not specify any baking temperature or time. It felt more like the idea of ​​a cookie than an actual cookie, but it was a simple recipe, and I felt I was up to the challenge.
An Internet search turned up several close versions, including one from Herbert Hoover’s presidential library in the 1930s: This included Brown sugarWhich was not mine. Another lightly condensed version appeared in home economics texts in the 1950s and early 1960s—with very similar content, but differing significantly in their quantity. Something similar was published in McCall’s holiday issue. 1970sAs cut-out cookies for decoration. Countless other sources across multiple generations claim it as a family recipe, and they’re evenly split between drop cookies and cut-outs.
These gave me the background I needed for testing: The flour ranged from 3 cups to 5 cups; Vanilla, lemon and nutmeg were the most common flavours, with rare glimpses of almond extract and cinnamon; All were baked at either 375 degrees or 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Why are Great-Grandma’s Sour Cream Drop Cookies so delicious?
I first went with the simple drop cookie version, which was flavored with vanilla and sprinkled with a little vanilla sugar just before baking. The texture was amazing – extremely tender and cakey – but overly sweet for my palate. To adjust, I added salt (the original dough didn’t use any at all), removed the sugar topping, and added a tablespoon. lemon juice For my spoonful of vanilla. This is a winner – chunky, freezes well, quick to make and very simple. I think Great-Grandma Margaret would recognize this cookie as her own, even if I gave her a 1/2 cup cookie. Minimize To the mixture of butter (for flavor) and shortening (for texture).
Get the recipe: Great-Grandma’s Sour Cream Drop Cookies
Variations on Great-Grandma’s Sour Cream Drop Cookies
- Cut-Out Cookies: I then adapted the recipe for cut-out cookies by increasing the flour to 5 cups and chilling the dough overnight. It remains quite soft, so I rolled it between two sheets of parchment and used a well-floured basic round cutter. Even with the two leavenings in the recipe (baking soda and baking powder), the cookies are still a little puffy and stay on the soft and tender side of sugar cookies, reminding me of pink-frosted ones. Lofthouse Cookies Sold in many grocery stores. They will stand up well on your thick layer Favorite Frosting and seasonal sprinkles, but I opted to brush on a simple lemon glaze while they were still warm: 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice packs a tart punch and allows the cookies to cool. But sets not sticky but dry. I will definitely be using this version to pair with raspberries from my garden in future summers.
- Whoopie Pies: Finally, I went back to the idea I had with my first piece of drop cookie: These tender little cake-cookies could live their best life if I gilded the lilies and turned them into lemon whoopie pies. Would great-grandmother have approved? I hope so, because this is my favorite way to eat her Old Fashioned Cookies. I made buttercream with a stick of butter at room temperature, 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, a pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon milk (heavy cream also works), and 1/4 cup. Homemade Lemon Curd (I almost always have some stored in my freezer). This batch of buttercream is perfect for filling 12 whoopie pie sandwiches; These will keep in the refrigerator overnight, but are best served at room temperature.
My great-grandmother’s sugar cookies couldn’t be more different from the sugar cookies I grew up with — those soft, slightly hard, never-breaking doughs that parents kept in the pantry for kids, with sprinkles of every color. Used to prepare for pasting. When it comes to taste, but especially texture, the drop cookies I made from her recipe are so much better to eat that they don’t even deserve the name.sugar cookie.” I’ll never bother to find out the exact recipe I grew up with (it’s not good enough to bother bringing back), but these infinitely better tasting ones will go into my regular rotation.
The final step? Write down my three variations — along with all the measurements and cooking temperatures — on some of my mom’s extra index cards, and put those cards back in their recipe boxes attached to the originals. Future generations, welcome.
