Oh my goodness! You need this vintage cream cookie recipe from 1887. This recipe is incredibly quick and easy to throw together. I had a lot of fun researching and baking it. I gotta be honest as well, I also loved eating it.
What I Loved
This vintage cream cookie recipe was so tasty. Think of this recipe as a solid sugar cookie recipe. Add a little frosting and it is perfect. Furthermore, the 6 ingredients are all incredibly common. There is a really good chance that if you are in the mood for a cookie, you won’t have to go to the store.
The dough for this vintage cream cookie recipe mixes up quickly. In addition, you don’t have to refrigerate the dough like a standard sugar cookie recipe. So this really is a quick recipe to scratch that sugar cookie itch.
Original Vintage Cream Cookie Recipe
If one be careful to use no more flour than the rule states, and to have a quick oven for the baking, these cookies will be very delicate. They are made of a cupful of sour cream, two cupfuls of sugar, six of sifted flour, an egg, a teaspoonful of soda, one-third of a teaspoonful of salt, and half a nutmeg, or one table-spoonful of caraway seeds.
Dissolve the soda in a table-spoonful of cold water. Beat the egg till very light. Add the dissolved soda to the sour cream; then stir the sugar, salt, and egg into the cream. Reserve a small part of the flour, and add the rest of the liquid mixture; finally add the nutmeg, grated, or the caraway seeds.
Sprinkle a board with about two table-spoonfuls of flour, and after rolling a small piece of the dough down to the thickness of one-third of an inch, cut it into cakes with a round, plain, or fluted cutter. Continue rolling and cutting the dough until all has been used. Place the cookies on tin sheets or in pans that have been buttered lightly with washed butter, and bake in a quick oven for six to seven minutes. When the cakes get brown they will be cooked sufficiently. Cool on a sieve, and put away in a tin box.
With the quantities of ingredients mentioned between forty and fifty cookies may be made, the number depending, of course, upon the size of the cutter and the thickness of the dough.
Updated Method
- 1 Cup Sour Cream
- 2 Cups Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 6 Cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Mix sugar and sour cream together until well blended. Beat an egg until it is light. Combine with the sugar and sour cream mixture. Add to the flour mixture and mix until a dough forms. Flour a surface with 1-2 tablespoons of flour. Roll out cookie dough to 1/3 inch thick and cut with a cookie cutter. Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350 for 10 minutes.
What I Learned
These were amazingly simple cookies to make. However, because there is no butter or oil in these cookies, the dough will stick to everything like glue. It is incredibly important to grease the cookie sheet. Don’t skip that step. Finally, make sure you flour your surface well when rolling out the cookies. These are sweet and delicious. You will absolutely enjoy them.
Brief History of Sour Cream In Cooking
Sour cream is one of those truly vintage foods. It has many different uses, and it has been around for ages! It is popular through North America, as well as parts of Europe and Russia. The origin of sour cream stretches back to the Mongols.
The Mongols were nomads. They moved from place to place taking all of their belongings with them. One of their characteristic foods was kumis. This was a weak alcoholic drink made from mare’s milk. They didn’t have much in terms of livestock, so they made due with what they had. That meant horses became a source of milk and meat.
Furthermore, it is assumed that the tradition of fermenting mare’s milk stuck with local populations in Europe. However, instead of mare’s milk, they used what they had on hand, cow’s milk.
Today it is used as a dipping sauce for various Eastern European cuisines, as well as a main ingredient. In addition to that, it can be used in baking to provide a more moist texture.
Reference For Vintage Cream Cookie Recipe
Miss Parloa’s Kitchen Companion. A Guide For All Who Would Be Good Housekeepers. Published in 1887
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