Family Cookies

I made some yummy cookies the other day. I haven't had these brown sugar cookies in over a decade. The recipe was handed down to my grandmother from her mother-in-law and who knows it came from before then. The original recipe calls for lard, but I substituted butter. As a kid I was disappointed in these sugar cookies because they were not frosted and had icky nuts in them (or raisins). As a kid I didn't like that slight bitterness of nuts and really liked the super sweetness of frosting. My tastes have matured and I now find these cookies delicious (and frosted cookies too sweet). The brown sugar and the additional maple flavoring gives a nice flavor to this variation on the typical white sugar cookies.

Brown Sugar Cookies

Cream together:

1 c. brown sugar

6 T. butter

Add:

1 egg

1 t. maple flavoring (or vanilla)

Sift together:

1/4 t. salt

1/2 t. soda

1/4 t. cream of tarter

2 c. flour

Mix dry and wet ingredients together. Roll thin. Trim with nuts* + raisins (soak first) in center. Sprinkle w/ sugar before baking. Bake at 350 deg. F for 10 minutes. Cool. Yield: 40 cookies (~ 2" x 2")

* I used pecans, but my grandmother used walnut haves.