Great Great Grandmas Pioneer Trail Salt Cookies Recipes

GREAT GRANDMA'S PIONEER TRAIL BISCUITS

Steps:

• 1. Place all dry ingredients into a large bowl. Cut in the lard, until mixture looks like meal. Stir in buttermilk. If dough is not pliable, add just enough buttermilk to make a soft, puffy dough that is easy to roll out. Knead dough on lightly floured board about one to two minutes or 25 to 30 times. Roll out dough to about 3/4 inch thick. Cut with floured biscuit cutter, or use a glass of the right size. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
• 2. *** I don't use LARD. I use either Butter Flavored Crisco or Margarine. The Pioneers cooked them a bit differntly as there were no modern ovens on the trail... They made make-shift ovens that were sitting on coals of the campfire and more coals on top to get a hot oven effect. They also spent a lot of time baking as the ovens were small. They also sometimes made them in a skillet or a heavy pot with a lid (Dutch Oven)with coals under and about 12 - 15 on top.

GREAT GREAT GRANDMA'S PIONEER TRAIL - SALT COOKIES

Steps:

• 1. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside
• 2. Cream together the shortening, sugar, then add eggs and vanilla.
• 3. Slowly add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture, in small amounts at a time. Add nuts.
• 4. Form the dough into an oval shaped log. Wrap in wax paper. Refrigerate over night.
• 5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 6. Remove dough log from refrigerator and remove wax paper. Slice very thin. Place slices on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10 -15 minutes.

GRANDMA'S SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift together corn starch, icing sugar and flour.
• With wooden spoon (or by hand as I do it), blend in butter until soft, smooth dough forms.
• Shape into 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls.
• Place 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, flatten with lightly floured fork.
• Alternatively, roll dough to 1/4 inch (6 mm); cut into shapes with cookie cutters.
• Decorate with candied cherries, colored sprinkles or nuts if desired.
• Bake in 300 Fahrenheit oven for 15-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
• Cool on wire rack.
• Tips:.
• Do not substitute anything for the butter otherwise it's not a genuine shortbread cookie. ETA: Sadielady reminded that I forgot to mention the type of butter. Please forgive the D'oh moment. Please use unsalted butter. I never ever add salt. Any added salt in baked goods is not pleasing to my palate and too much salt is unhealthy but you may want to add a bit.
• You can "nuke" aka microwave the butter to soften it rather than letting it sit out. It saves time and won't alter the taste. Just make sure you don't melt it.
• If dough is too soft to handle then cover and chill for 30-60 minutes (15 minutes worked for me).
• To make Crescents:.
• Add 1/2 cup (125 ml) ground almonds or hazelnuts to flour mixture.
• Shape into logs about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick and 3 inches (7 cm) long.
• Twist into crescent shapes.
• When baked and cool, dip ends in melted chocolate.