Raisin Rounds, an old Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe

This recipe is from a 1950's Pillsbury cookbook, from the 8th annual Bake-Off contest (which was called the "Grand National" for the first several years). These cookies were soft and chewy and had a mild flavor; I liked having the raisins ground up, so that there are bits of raisin throughout the cookies and in every bite.

Although this is the 'original' recipe ingredient-wise, I changed the instructions slightly. Note: I didn't have a fresh orange on hand, so I substituted 1 tsp. of orange extract.

Raisin Rounds

4 cups sifted Pillsbury flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup Crisco

1 egg

2/3 cup sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1 Tbsp. grated orange rind ((or 1 tsp. orange extract))

3 cups (a 15-oz. pkg.) ground seedless raisins (pulse them in a food processor)

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together; set aside.

Cream sugars and Crisco together; blend in egg, sour cream, orange rind, and ground raisins. Gradually blend in flour mixture. If desired, chill dough 30 minutes for easier handling.

Shape dough into balls, using a rounded teaspoon for each. Place on ungreased baking sheets and flatten to 1/8 to 1/4-inch thickness with a fork (dip fork in flour or sugar to prevent stickiness).

Bake cookies at 375 degrees for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes about 6 dozen.

Cream Wafers

These cookies can be hard to make -- they’re fragile, so can break or crumble easily -- but they melt in your mouth. I made them a few weeks ago to take to a party. They’ve been around for years; I found the recipe in a 1963 “Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book” that I was given for Christmas last year.


Cream Wafers

1 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup whipping cream
2 cups flour
granulated sugar, about ½ cup
buttercream frosting (use any favorite recipe)

Mix butter, cream, and flour thoroughly. Between sheets of waxed paper, roll dough 1/8” thick; slide dough (with waxed paper) onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate one hour or until firm. Note: divide the dough into two portions before rolling it out, if it’s easier to handle that way.

Place sugar in a small bowl or plate. Remove top sheet of waxed paper from chilled dough; cut dough into 1-1/2” rounds. Place cookies in sugar, turning to coat both sides. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet; prick four times with a fork. Bake at 375 degrees for 7 to 9 minutes or until slightly puffy (cookies will be pale); cool on wire rack. Sandwich two cookies together with buttercream frosting. Due to buttercream frosting, store cookies in refrigerator.

Makes about 5 dozen.

Caramel Macchiato Bars

I first saw a similar recipe at the cookiemadness.net website and thought I would give it a try. I’ve always liked the ‘standard’ Toll House recipe for chocolate chip cookies, so that’s the base recipe that I used ... that recipe can easily be found on the Toll House package or at the Nestle website, so I won't bother repeating it here.

I added 3 Tbsp. instant coffee crystals to the dough, stirring it into the egg/butter/sugar mixture and then letting the mixture sit for a few minutes to let the coffee dissolve. After that I continued with the usual recipe until it came to adding the 2 cups of chocolate chips and the optional 1 cup of chopped nuts … instead of stirring those in, I used 1-1/2 cups of chocolate chips and 1-1/2 cups of Kraft Premium Caramel Bits.

When it came to baking the cookies, I didn’t like the way the drop cookies turned out; some of the caramel bits melted completely and ‘ran’ onto the cookie sheet, leaving holes in the cookie and burnt caramel on the edges of the cookie and on the baking sheet. These bake up REALLY nicely into pan cookies, though.

The caramel bits are something that Kraft came out with last year; they're small 'beads' of caramel about the size of a large pea. Because they're unwrapped, they're easier and quicker to use in recipes, and because of the small size they melt more quickly than the chunky square caramels. It's hard to find the bits in this area but Super Walmart has carried them (unfortunately for me, the nearest Super Walmart is a 45-minute drive away).

Cherry Cordial Cookies

If there’s a cookie that I hate or dread to make, it’s these. They’re a lot of work and are a pain in the rear to make but they’re unusual, not overly sweet, and sooo pretty. It’s the soft dough that challenges patience.

I’ve had the recipe for years but it didn’t have the name written on it, so I’d called them Cherry Cordial Cookies. I later found out that they’re actually called “Cherry Delectables”. The original recipe is below (with my suggestions on rolling and cutting the dough, and keep returning it to the refrigerator if it softens too much). Because I don’t soak the cherries in brandy -- I just drain them really well and continue on -- maybe I’m justified in re-naming the cookies.


Cherry Cordial Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups flour
2 - 16-oz. jars maraschino cherries without stems
1 - 8-oz. jar maraschino cherries without stems
¼ cup brandy
sifted powdered sugar

Combine cherries, cherry liquid, and brandy; chill 8 hours or overnight.

Cream butter and cream cheese; gradually add flour, blending until a stiff dough is formed. Divide dough in half; between sheets of waxed paper, roll each half of dough to 1/8” thickness. Slide dough (still between waxed paper) onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate two hours or until firm.

Drain cherries well, discarding liquid; place cherries on cherries on paper towels to absorb excess liquid.

Working with one portion of dough while keeping the other chilled, remove top sheet of waxed paper and sift powdered sugar over dough; replace waxed paper and turn the dough over, removing the other sheet of waxed paper and sifting the other side of the dough with powdered sugar. Replace waxed paper; using light pressure, use a rolling pin to press the powdered sugar into the dough. Remove top sheet of waxed paper and cut dough into 3” by 1” strips; if dough becomes soft, return it to the refrigerator while sugaring & cutting the remaining portion of dough.

Place a drained cherry on each strip of dough and roll up, pinching end of strip to seal (cherry will be exposed on each side of dough strip). Place cookies seam-side down on parchment-lined baking sheets -- if dough becomes soft, place cookies in refrigerator to firm up before baking.

Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack to cool; while cookies are still slightly warm, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Makes about 100 cookies.