Lemon Crinkle Cookies
A few years ago, my Husband and I lost a dear friend, Patrick. The stories of Patrick's love of history, art, literature, Russia, Orthodoxy and his church -- not to mention his eccentricities -- could go on for days. My Husband and I helped sort through his house after he was gone. In the kitchen, stuck to the inside wall of the kitchen cabinet, with a myriad of papers strewn around that cabinet shelf, was a half legal sized yellow envelope, full of index cards. On each index card was a handwritten recipe. I did not make the final decisions for his belongings, so I merely wrote with a thick black Sharpie marker: recipes, please do not throw away - Elizabeth. When we received some of Patrick's things, these recipes and 2 small cookbooks were included for me. I nearly cried, I was so deeply touched; and I carefully put all of his recipes in a binder, keeping the yellow envelope in the front folder of the same binder. Such a treasure trove of recipes! These lemon crinkle cookies are one of these recipes.
LEMON CRINKLE COOKIES
from a dear friend or family of Patrick's in Florida
Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbs grated lemon rind
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
pinch of salt
about 2 tbs sugar
Cream shortening and brown sugar until fluffy; add egg and lemon rind, beating well. Combine flour, soda, cream of tartar, ginger, and salt; stir dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Roll dough into 1 inch balls; roll each in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350F for 10 to 12 minutes.
Makes 3 1/2 dozen
I made these cookies for the first time today. I zested 2 (organic) lemons -- avoiding any 'bad' spots and the lemon zest smelt so wonderfully lemony, the air was full of the scent of refreshment. I baked them in 3 batches in my toaster oven for 10 minutes. I found that the recipe made about 3 dozen, in part because my cookies were not fully uniform in size. They came out of the oven soft, warm and a bit puffy. As it has an egg in it (and today is Friday which is a fast day for us, as it was for Patrick), I am not trying one of these wonderfully smelling cookies until tomorrow morning! They cooled into small slightly crisp cookies and retained a wonderful lemony smell. I have a feeling that they are going to be wonderful with a pot of hot black tea!
I hope to report back tomorrow on how they taste and my impression of them. I can't wait!
July 27, 2019
The cookies, that make a pleasing quiet clatter when placed on one's plate, were so lovely. These cookies feel part of the past, as if they had an old soul; as if I can feel all the years ago, when Patrick first had these cookies in Florida. They are surprisingly soft, chewy, a great level of sweetness (not over sweet). The lemon, my Husband said, was like a 'hint' of lemon; I found the lemon tang lingered and was tasted most right before one swallowed, as if it was a second level of tasting experience. My Husband found the chewy soft inside of the cookie to be like the texture of a ginger cookie. The brown sugar and lemon zest made it a lovely balance. I love how it feels like these cookies would have been made by my Great Aunt, my Grandma's sister who is over 90 years old now. I can't wait to make these again!
Elizabeth, this is such a touching story as to how you obtained the recipe. Precious memories that will now live on. 🍋💛🍋
ReplyDeleteThanks so much P.! Yes, they will live on! I had another cookie today, it's really a lovely cookie and they are staying very fresh as well!
Delete