My mom made the best Crescent Cookies in the world. While she was generally a very non-creative cook (OK, her food was downright boring most of the time), there were a couple of things she made that were just pure comfort food, the cookies being one of them. When mom passed away in early 2000, I searched her kitchen for her Crescent cookie recipe and never found it. I haven't had those cookies in probably 15 years.
I've been on a mission to downsize things in my life of late, and one of the things I'm doing is to go thru all my "stuff" to organize it. I have a large collection of cookbooks and folders stuffed with recipes. Guess what I found a couple days ago? Not just her cookie recipe, but the entire xeroxed copy of her cookbook. I have no idea how old the cookbook is, but I suspect it's from the early 1950's, and uses ingredients that I've never heard of. Ever hear of "chocolate shot" or "ammonia powder"? Even funnier, cookie is actually spelled "cooky" throughout the book. It lists butter as an ingredient, then tells you to cream the shortening with the sugar in the instructions. And yes, I found recipes that called for lard. What a find!
Monday night I asked DH if he remembered my mom's Crescent cookies. His entire face lit up and he just said "they were to die for". Then I told him that I found the recipe. He started to drool. DH told me that I made those cookies about 20 years ago, but I don't recall ever having that recipe, let alone making them. Who knows, we're both getting old and our memories are whacky at times.
So yesterday, on what would have been my dad's 83rd birthday, I made them. DH just got home from work when I was icing them and grabbed one while they were still very warm. He took a bite, closed his eyes and sighed in delight. OMG I forgot how good they are!!!
And I will share this recipe in case you are interested. I'm doing this from memory.
1/2 pound butter (softened)
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 cups sifted flour (measure after sifting)
1 cup crushed pecans
Confectioners sugar (for icing - recipe didn't give me a quantity and I didn't measure)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter until smooth. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the flour and pecans and mix again. Cover and put in refrigerator for an hour until firm. Pinch off small amounts and roll them in your hands to make a cylinder shape (about 2 inches long and 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick). Fold slightly into a crescent shape and put on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. While still warm, roll each cooky in confectioners sugar to form a glaze over the entire cooky. Let cool on wire rack then sprinkle a little more confectioners sugar on top of them.
Thanks mom (and dad)!
I've been on a mission to downsize things in my life of late, and one of the things I'm doing is to go thru all my "stuff" to organize it. I have a large collection of cookbooks and folders stuffed with recipes. Guess what I found a couple days ago? Not just her cookie recipe, but the entire xeroxed copy of her cookbook. I have no idea how old the cookbook is, but I suspect it's from the early 1950's, and uses ingredients that I've never heard of. Ever hear of "chocolate shot" or "ammonia powder"? Even funnier, cookie is actually spelled "cooky" throughout the book. It lists butter as an ingredient, then tells you to cream the shortening with the sugar in the instructions. And yes, I found recipes that called for lard. What a find!
Monday night I asked DH if he remembered my mom's Crescent cookies. His entire face lit up and he just said "they were to die for". Then I told him that I found the recipe. He started to drool. DH told me that I made those cookies about 20 years ago, but I don't recall ever having that recipe, let alone making them. Who knows, we're both getting old and our memories are whacky at times.
So yesterday, on what would have been my dad's 83rd birthday, I made them. DH just got home from work when I was icing them and grabbed one while they were still very warm. He took a bite, closed his eyes and sighed in delight. OMG I forgot how good they are!!!
And I will share this recipe in case you are interested. I'm doing this from memory.
1/2 pound butter (softened)
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 cups sifted flour (measure after sifting)
1 cup crushed pecans
Confectioners sugar (for icing - recipe didn't give me a quantity and I didn't measure)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter until smooth. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the flour and pecans and mix again. Cover and put in refrigerator for an hour until firm. Pinch off small amounts and roll them in your hands to make a cylinder shape (about 2 inches long and 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick). Fold slightly into a crescent shape and put on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. While still warm, roll each cooky in confectioners sugar to form a glaze over the entire cooky. Let cool on wire rack then sprinkle a little more confectioners sugar on top of them.
Thanks mom (and dad)!