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"HOLIDAY COOKIE & BREAD RECIPES"

I found the following old-fashioned recipes handwritten & tucked into a very old cookbook that
I found at a yard sale & wanted to share them with others.  Happy Baking! Dotti 
Date Balls
2 eggs
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup Karo (or corn) Syrup
1 cup dates
1 cup nuts
3/4 cup sifted flour
Mix eggs, salt & almond extract.  Then add Karo syrup, dates and nuts...Mix well.  Fold in flour.
Bake in two 8 inch cake tins at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Cut in squares 1-1/2" and roll into a ball while still hot and roll in the powdered sugar.
Coconut Balls
1/2 lb. butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tablespoon water
2 cups flour
Cream butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until creamy.  Add water.  Mix in flour.  Mix in pecans.
Roll into one-inch balls.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes
or until brown.  Cool on cookie sheet.  
After baking, when Coconut Balls are cool, dip in very thin icing and roll in coconut.
ICING:  Use Powdered sugar and evaporated milk.  Icing has to be quite thin.

Christmas Balls
1 cup sugar 
1/2 cup butter (margarine will not work)
1-1/2 cups chopped dates
1 egg beaten
Put all ingredients listed above in a pan & cook for 6 minutes stirring constantly.
Remove from stove and add:
1 cup chopped nuts, 3 cups Rice Krispies and 1 tsp. vanilla extract.
When cool enough to handle, form into balls and roll in powdered sugar.

Chocolate Cherry Creams
1.	Put one six oz. pkg. (1 cup) Nestles semi-sweet chocolate morsels & 1/2 cup evaporated milk
	into a two-quart sauce pan.  Stir over low heat until chocolate melts.  Remove from heat.
2.	Stir in until well-mixed 2-1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/3 cup chopped nuts and 
	1/3 cut well-drained chopped maraschino cherries.
3.	Chill until mixture is firm enough to handle (about one hour).
4.	Roll teaspoon of mixture in 1-1/4 cup (1 can) cut up coconut.  
	Chill until firm (about 4 hours).  Keep chilled.  Makes about 30. 
	 (You can also freeze for future use.)
Nut Bars
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups brown sugar (not too firmly packed)
2 eggs
1 cup walnuts coarsely chopped
Mix flour, salt & baking soda.  Add sugar and eggs.  Blend with mixer at low speed.
Then beat at higher speed until fluffy.  Add nuts and stir by hand.  
Bake in greased shallow pan 9" x 9" on 350 or 375 degrees.  
(No baking time put on this old recipe....I would try 15 minutes & then check to see if more time is needed)
Christmas Cookies
1/2 cup soft butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup sifted flour
Pinch of salt
Mix ingredients together.  Form into small balls and dip into beaten egg white. 
Roll in nuts and then make an indentation in center of ball with your thumb.
Bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes and then fill the indentation immediately with strawberry jelly or jam.
  
Here's a nice cookie recipe I found in a magazine:
Sand Tarts (Old-Fashioned Recipe by Myrl Aycoc)

2 sticks butter (equivalent to one cup butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups flour
5 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 cup pecans
Cream butter & vanilla.  Sift flour & powdered sugar together & add to mixture.  Then add pecans.  
After mixing all ingredients together, form into a couple of long rolls, wrap in plastic and refrigerate
at least 30 minutes.  Slice into thin cookies and place on cookie sheet.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.  Roll cookies in additional powdered sugar & cool.  Makes 5 dozen.


Here's a wonderful cranberry-nut holiday bread passed along to me from my relative, Becky Troldahl:

Becky received from Miss Wesling at New Ulm High School, Minnesota in 1949

Cranberry Bread

2 cups flour (unbleached white or wheat)

Add:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1 cup sugar (Becky prefers to use only 2/3 cup sugar)

Stir dry ingredients together.

In a measuring cup put juice and grated rind of one orange. Add 2 Tablespoons shortening and enough boiling water to make 3/4 cup liquid.

Combine liquid mixture and one beaten egg to dry ingredients.

Add:  1 cup rut raw cranberries and 1/2 cup nuts

Bake at 325 degrees F. for one hour in a greased and floured loaf pan.

(Becky uses a ring mold for nice sized cut pieces & bakes for only 50 minutes in the ring mold.)