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| 32190 Assorted Spritz Cookie Ornament |
As soon as I saw this Assorted Spritz Cookie ornament…..my mouth started watering! It conjured up memories of those melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies my mother used to make…using a cookie press while I hung over the table with anticipation while each little cookie came squeezing out.
Cookie presses were always hard for me to use….the cookie dough has to be just right…..not to soft…..not too stiff. For shortbread cookies I seem to have better luck just pressing them into a pan in one whole sheet, then cutting them in rectangles.
But seeing these ornaments made me want to try the cookie press
again. I love jelly stars…..absolutely love them…who doesn’t?? So….I
pulled my 1950′s Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook out of the cabinet….and
started looking.This isn’t my mother’s cookbook…..after she died several years ago, we just have been unable to find it. No doubt she put it safely away somewhere. So I found this exact replica on eBay….bid on it…bought it! I just pretend that it’s hers)))
I remember how exciting it was to see her reach in the cabinet and pull out the red cookbook…..you just knew something good was going to happen))
Growing up in the 1950′s was very different from today ….and no different than I’m sure my daughter or grandchildren will remember their younger years…..but there wasn’t any running to the cabinet to grab a handful of cookies, Little Debbies, snack bag of chips or granola bars. Well….we did occasionally have a box of Moon Pies or Twinkies.
Desserts were for Sundays, sometimes Saturdays….picnics…church functions and birthdays. Always cake on birthdays))
Cookies…we had them frequently enough I’m sure my mother thought….but we would have loved to have had them everyday)) Teacakes and brownies…..no recipes needed for those…..but when the Betty Crocker came down out of the cabinet….you could look forward to something new and delicious.
After looking at the Assorted Spritz Cookie ornament….I decided to look up the recipe and see what Betty Crocker had to say about the spritz.
How to Make Cookies with a Press
Force dough through a cooky press (or pastry tube). Follow directions accompanying cooky press. Hold the press upright, and force out the dough until it appears at the end of the mold ….then lift the press away. Dough should be pliable. If ery warm, chill dough. (Crumbles if too cold.)
SPRITZ Recipe – Crisp, fragile, buttery-tasting curlicues.
Mix together thoroughly:
- 1 cup soft butter
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tsp. flavoring (almond or vanilla) or 4 tbsp. grated almonds.
(Note – the cookbook did not say self rising, so I imagine this means plain flour)
Force the dough through cooky press onto ungreased baking sheet in letter S’s, rosettes, fluted bars, or other desired shapes. Bake until set….but not brown.
Temperature: 400 degrees (mod. hot oven)
Time: Bake 7 to 10 min
Amount: About 6 doz cookies
Here’s are more images from the Cookie section of the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook. circa 1950s
The memories of my mother and her Betty Crocker Cookbook are very different from the memories that my daughter and grandchildren will have. The days of sitting at the table with mother and turning the pages one by one, drooling over the goodies that we hoped she would choose to make for us, will fast forward to memories of NeNe (that’s what the grands call me) flying into the sunroom in a rush and pulling up a recipe on the internet to fix in a flash…..or the little one might remember sitting in my lap in front of a desktop or iPad…browsing Pinterest for something special.
The youngest grandson…..had me pinning things for him at age 4-5……”hey NeNe….I like that! Pin it!” Who would have ever believed))))
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