Sherman Family Christmas cookie favorites include sugar cookies and date bars.
Every year my family looks forward to my mother’s cookies and fruit cake. She bakes yule logs flavored with molasses, date bars, rolled sugar cookies, and fruit cake.
This year, I followed her recipe for sugar cookies and for the filled bar cookies, using chopped dates. She sometimes substitutes part of the water with orange juice. I added a quarter teaspoon of orange extract.
My mother rolls her sugar cookie dough and then cuts them into shapes. I was lazy so I formed the dough into balls and then pressed them flat with the bottom of a glass.
This are my Mother’s recipes as she wrote them:
Filled Bar Cookies
Make date or other filling.
Preheat oven to 400°.
3/4 cup margarine 1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 3/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
Mix margarine and sugar together thoroughly.
Mix together and stir in flour, soda, and salt.
Stir in oats and mix thoroughly. Place 1/2 the
crumb mixture in a greased and floured 9 x 13
pan. Spread with cooled filling. Cover with
remaining crumb mixture……patting lightly.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes until lightly browned.
While warm cut into bars and remove from pan.
Date Filling: Mix together in saucepan; 3 cups
cut-up dates (24 oz.), 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 1/2
cups water. (I have substituted orange juice
for part of the water.) Cook over low heat,
stirring until thickened. (About 10 minutes)
Cool.
Prune Orange Filling: Mix together in saucepan;
3 cups cut-up cooked prunes (drained), 1/2 cup
sugar, 1/2 cup orange juice, 2 tbls. lemon
juice and 2 tbls. grated orange rind(optional).
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until
thickened. (About 10 minutes) Cool.
Fig, Apricot,or Raisin Filling: Use date recipe
and replace with figs, apricots, or raisins.
Sugar Cookies
4 1/2 cups sifted flour 2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt 4 eggs, beaten
4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup margarine 2 tablespoons milk
Sift flour, salt and baking powder together.
Cream margarine and sugar together. Add eggs
and vanilla. Add sifted ingredients and milk.
Roll and cut. You will probably have to add
more flour as you roll. Sprinkle with sugar and
bake on an ungreased baking sheet in 375° oven
12 minutes.
To Fill Cookies:
Roll out dough and cut into circles. Place
teaspoon of filling on half of the circles,
keeping it away from the edges. Cover with
remaining circles and press together around
edges with tines of a fork. Bake as for sugar
cookies.
Raisin Filling
2/3 cup sugar 2 cups raisins Dash of salt
2/3 cup hot water 3 teaspoons margarine
Combine ingredients and cook until thick. Cool.
Fig Filling
1 cup chopped figs 1 cup water Juice 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar 2 tbls. flour Dash of salt
Combine ingredients and cook until thick. Cool.
Catherine Sherman 