December 11, 2011: Spritz Cookies Recipe

One of my very fondest memories from growing up was making spritz cookies with my mother each year. I absolutely love almond flavor and these buttery cookies are scrumptious without any decoration. Mom and I would tint the batch of dough in shades of green and red and then use our old, aluminum cookie press to make them in shapes of Christmas trees, holly flowers and stars.

I’m not sure if this is the recipe we used or not, but it’s from my favorite old Wisconsin Electric Power Company cookbook and it’s a good one.

Spritz Cookies

1 cup butter

½ cup plus 1 T. sugar

1 egg

¾ t. salt

1 t. vanilla

½ t. almond extract

2 ½ cups flour

Food colors, colored sugar and candy cookie decor (optional)

Cream butter; add sugar. Blend in egg, salt, extracts and flour; knead dough in hands until soft and pliable. If desired, divide dough into separate bowls and add food coloring. Press dough through cookie press onto ungreased cookie sheets; decorate as desired. Bake at 400 degrees about 8 minutes. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

June 30, 2011: Coconut Lime Loaf Recipe

I had a baking disaster recently… I promised Margaret I would make a rhubarb custard pie to take to my women’s Bible study group. I got the pie made before dinner the night before but noticed that it didn’t cook quite like the last one I’d baked. As I was watching TV that night just before bedtime, I thought back over the recipe and realized – to my horror – that I’d forgotten to add the sugar! Needless to say, that pie ended up in the trash.

But I still needed to bring something to the Bible study group. Using what I had on hand, I quickly threw together this sweet bread the next morning and all was saved!

Coconut Lime Loaf

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 ½ cups flour
1 T. baking powder
½ t. salt
¾ cup milk
1 cup flaked or shredded coconut
Zest from 3 key limes
Juice from 3 key limes (about 1/8 cup)
3 drops green food coloring

Topping:
3 T. butter
3 T. milk
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup flaked or shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

In a medium bowl or bowl of stand mixer, beat together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add alternately with milk to butter mixture. Stir in coconut.

Spread 1/3 of the batter in the bottom of the prepared loaf pan. To the remaining batter add the zest, lime juice, and green food coloring. Carefully spread over the top of the batter in the loaf pan.

Prepare topping by melting butter in a small saucepan. Mix in remaining ingredients. Slowly pour over the top of the batter.

Bake in preheated oven 55 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean. Cool completely before serving.