Thursday, April 21, 2011

A little Easter Baking

Yesterday, I baked some Easter cookies and some marshmallow sweets. Today I'm baking hot cross buns. When I was married, in 1964, my mother gave me a brand new Good Housekeeping Cookbook. I have used it for all the basics since then. My husband bought me beautiful cookbooks through the years. I have bought myself what ever was the newest ones. (There must be a couple hundred) But this old friend is still the one I go to for many favorites. When my younger daughter went to live in Switzerland she asked me to bring her a copy of this book. I found one in an antiques shop. She left it with her friend when she moved back to the USA. Now that she is moving to her own apartment, I'm sure we'll begin looking for another copy.
 
















Sugar Cookies (Recipe from the 1963 edition, Good Housekeeping Cookbook)


4 cups all purpose flour
2½ teasp. baking powder
½ teasp. salt
⅔ cup butter
1½ cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teasp. vanilla extract
½ teasp. lemon extract (not in the GH recipe)
4 teasp. mik

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, and extracts, beat until very light and fluffy.
Combine dry ingredients. Mix in alternately with milk.
Refrigerate dough until easy to handle.
Preheat oven to 400℉.
Roll half of the dough at a time keeping the rest in the refrigerator. Cut into desired shapes. arrange cookies ½" apart.
Bake 9 min. or until delicate brown. Cool, decorate with royal icing.
Makes about 6 doz., depending on size.

















And of course there must be Hot Cross Buns for Good Friday.
Much as I like to knead bread dough, this dough is sticky and so I let my bread machine do the hard part and I just sit back and take all the credit! (Shhhh, don't tell)
Using a Bread Machine standard milk roll, or sweet dough recipe that comes with your maker, I like to flavor the dough with cardamom and Fiori di Sicilia. (the flavor associated with panettone) Before the buns go into the oven, they are slashed with a cross. After they cool, pipe an icing cross .



Photobucket

11 comments:

FABBY'S LIVING said...

MY goodness, how gorgeous your Ester cookies are!...and thank you for the recipe from GHK 1963, my grandgirls are going to love making and decrorating them...so much fun! Thank you for the delish other recipes too and may you have a blessed Easter with your family!
FABBY

The Charm of Home said...

Your cookies look like they were made by a bakery. Just wonderful, have a lovely Easter! Thanks for linking it up and please put a link back to the HSH party in your post. Thanks.
Sherry

Lynn said...

You've been busy and everything looks very festive! Happy Easter-enjoy:@)

Yvonne @ StoneGable said...

Oh my gosh! YOur cookies are just the prettiest confection I have ever seen! This is on my "must make" list when I get my new oven next week.
They are little works of ART!
Yvonne

Rettabug said...

I think I have that same cookbook!
Your cookies turned out perfectly & the hot cross buns are amazing. I've done the sugar cookies many times, but not the buns. I have a bread machine so I could easily try them, too. Thanks for showing us how.

fondly,
Rett

Lori said...

The cookies look beautiful and delicious. I know what you mean about having a fav cookbook. Mine is a Baptist church cookbook written by elderly women over 30 years ago.

Sarah said...

Priscilla, these all look as pretty as they must be yummy!
Happy Easter! ~ Sarah

Unknown said...

wow! They are adorable! I'm alwas in search of a great sugar cookie recipe, trying this one net week, Thank you! Happy Easter.Sunny109

Sylvia said...

Adorable Easter cookies ! You are a bit of a baker , aren't you :)
May the Joy of Easter fill up your heart!

Sherry @ No Minimalist Here said...

My cookies never looks like this..yours are beautiful! Thanks for sharing these goodies at my party.
Hugs,
Sherry

Rattlebridge Farm said...

This was a treat for the senses. I remember the GH cookbook--I used to stretch out on the kitchen floor and "read" it (and begging my mother to make those cookies LOL). The hot cross buns are mouth watering.

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