A Fondness For Homemade Cookies

By Nancy Crevier

My mother was a working mother in a time when not that many women held a position outside the home.

My sisters and I were very proud of her, and because she had worked outside the home since before I entered kindergarten, we thought nothing unusual of such a situation. Of course, I realize now that it wasn’t an easy decision for her. Without the help of her extended family, it would have been impossible for her to handle raising three girls and hold a full time job. While my mother worked, my sisters and I stayed with Aunt Helen.

The benefits to this arrangement were many, least of which is not the fact that Aunt Helen was a fabulous cook. Strong, black coffee perked from dawn to dusk, and the rich scent of roasting chicken or buttery crumb-topped casseroles emitted from her oven any day of the week. Best of all, many afternoons were dedicated to the baking of cookies.

A plate of just-baked cookies or bars always graced the table, ready and waiting for the next visitor. She was a firm believer, as were many pioneers of northern Minnesota, that there was always time to sit and share “a little lunch” and a cup of coffee.

There were tender chocolate chip cookies that broke open to expose plentiful amounts of creamy chips, plump oatmeal raisin cookies (“Are those dead flies you’re stirring up in those cookies?” my uncle would tease when he came upon us measuring out the raisins), spicy gingersnaps, sweet sugar cookies, and even dainty Mexican wedding cakes.

Rolled cookies, refrigerator cookies, pressed cookies and drop cookies all had their day in the sun with Aunt Helen. It seemed her cookie repertoire had no end, much to the delight of the little girls who “helped.”

It’s probably due to her influence that my fondness for cookies has never abated. An empty cookie jar is a lonely cookie jar, I say.

These days, though, I try to “oomph” the nutritional qualities of my cookies by substituting whole grain flours, oats, nuts and honey whenever I can. It does change the character of a cookie a bit, but seems reasonable in these fat-free, carb-free, low-cal days.

And this way, I can in good conscience serve up a plate of sweetness when someone stops by for “a little lunch.”

Cran-Raisin Cookies

½ C raisins

½ C dried cranberries

½ C walnuts, chopped

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

½ C canola oil

¾ C sugar

¾ C packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

¼ C plain lowfat yogurt

1 C white flour

¾ C whole wheat flour

1 ¼ tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp cloves

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp salt

3 C old-fashioned rolled oats

Place raisins and cranberries into a small bowl. Cover with hot water and set aside.

Beat butter and oil until combined. Add sugars and beat until creamy.

Add eggs, vanilla and yogurt and beat.

Combine flours, soda and spices in a medium bowl. Add to wet ingredients and beat.

Drain raisins/cranberries.

Stir oats, raisins, and cranberries into batter and beat briefly.

Using 2 teaspoons to form balls, drop batter onto lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes, rotating pans after 8 minutes. Cookies should be lightly browned on top.

Cool slightly on pan, remove and continue cooling on a wire rack.

Ginger Cookies

2 C whole wheat flour

1/3  C white flour

2¼ tsp dried, ground ginger

¾ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp cloves

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

½ C canola oil

1 C sugar (or use 1/3  C honey and 2/3  C sugar)

¼ C molasses

1 Tbs blackstrap molasses

1 egg

3 Tbs sugar (for rolling cookies)

Stir together flours, spices, soda, baking powder and salt.

Beat butter, oil and sugar until creamy.

Add molasses and egg and beat until well combined.

Beat dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Batter should be stiff, but not dry.

Shape into one inch balls and roll in sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie pan.

Bake at 350° degrees for 9-10 minutes, rotating pans after 6 minutes. Cookies should be light golden in color, and cracked across tops.

Remove from pan and cool on paper bag or paper towel.