Close on the heels of Peppermint Dipped Cookies and Picked Jellyfish comes the next installment of Odd Food That I'm Obsessed With:

Some of my most profound childhood memories are trips to my great grandmother's house. She's about ninety now and doesn't do much of anything beyond crochet, but back then she was practically a ninjagirl. What follows is one of her best (or at least my favorite) recipes: Gumdrop Cookies.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup shortening (for that authentic grandma-cookie taste ;-)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 cups spiced gumdrops, chopped
  • 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (easily substituted for pecans, if you prefer)
  • 1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (about 210 C, if my math is to be trusted).
  2. In a medium bowl, mix the brown sugar and shortening. Stir in egg and buttermilk.
  3. Mix together the flour, baking soda and salt, add to the creamed mixture, and mix until well blended.
  4. Add in the chopped gumdrops, walnuts and raisins. Cover the bowl, and throw it in the fridge for about an hour.
  5. Place the cookies onto a VERY lightly greased cookie sheet; each cookie should be about a spoonful of dough, give or take.
  6. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven. These must be allowed to cool, as the gumdrop bits tend to get rather hot in the oven.

These do freeze very well, though that would involve not eating them, an idea quite contrary to my plan of attack when it comes to cookies.

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