Seeking comfort food

Five comments on this post so far. Add yours!

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  cdt on December 19 at 9:35 a.m.

  Where are you big soft tea cake sugar cookies?

  I’d love to find a recipe for a comfort food of my mother’s when she was a girl. Her grandmother made big, soft, cakey, sugar cookies that stayed soft on a shelf for days. She called them tea cakes. The mommy has warm memories of loving them.

  We’ve tried all sorts of tea cake/sugar cookie recipes over the years, many quite good, but none is the right mix.

  You food writers may have a better chance of coming up with something close.
  Maybe you could put out a call?
  Maybe you have access to someone with some early 20th century recipes?
  Maybe someone sharing holiday cookies with this blog may hit on something that looks possible?
  What would make them stay soft? Molasses? Maybe she used lard? Other ideas?

  Many thanks and best wishes for your happy holidays!

• 

  lorieh on December 20 at 4:45 p.m.

  Cdt:
  I have a couple of ideas… but I have to do some research for you. There are two great books at my desk that may help and I can put the call out for similar recipes in the Cook’s Notebook that I still write occasionally for the print version of the paper.
  I’ll report back with what I find.
  Lorie

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  lorieh on January 25 at 12:01 p.m.

  I know you thought I forgot about this…
  But while I was pawing through cookbooks today, I came across a recipe that might be similar to the one mentioned above.
  This recipe for Iola’s White Sugar Cookies in Cook’s Country’s “America’s Best Lost Recipes” sounds similar to the one you seek.
  I have not made them. Here’s what the Cook’s Illustrated editors wrote about it,
  

  “Although we consider ourselves experts on the best sugar cookies, this recipe was somewhat of a revelation to us. Big, domed and a cross between a cookie and a tender white cake, these cookies proved irresistible. We loved the simplicity of them and the fact that they weren’t too sweet.”

  
  The recipe came from Ann Murphy of St. Joseph, Mich.
  She wrote:
  

  ” My many memories of my grandmother Derby include her endless supply of sugar cookies: big, round, white, generously sugared, and so soft you could almost bend them in half. Grandmother was one of those natural cooks who baked by feel. My mother tried repeatedly to duplicate those wonderful cookies, once even sitting in Grandmother’s kitchen writing down measurements and methods as Grandmother worked. Alas, even that valiant effort was not rewarded with success. I searched for the recipe for years (I am now a grandmother myself) before coming across Iola’s White Sugar Cookies. They’re delicious (and bendable) and extremely versatile.”

  
  Iola’s White Sugar Cookies
  3 cups all-purpose flour
  1 teaspoon baking powder
  1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  8 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
  3/4 cup sugar
  1 large egg
  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1/2 cup buttermilk
  Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
  With an electric mixer at medium-high speed, beat the butter and 1/2 cup sugar together until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in two batches and beat until incorporated. Press the dough into a 4-inch disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
  Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. ON a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to a 1/4-inch thick circle. Cut into rounds with a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, spacing them 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the cookies with some of the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and baking until just golden around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes. Gather the scraps, reroll the dough and repeat with the remaining dough and sugar.
  The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
  Yield: 24 cookies
  Note: We didn’t expect to like a cookie with a scant 1/2 cup sugar in the dough, but this recipe actually became one of our favorites. Because these cookies have a cake-like quality, you don’t want them to be overly large - we liked them best made with a 2-1/2 inch cookie cutter. Bake these cookies one batch at a time and use a fresh or cooled baking sheet for each batch.

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  lorieh on January 25 at 12:06 p.m.

  I forgot to mention that I think it is the buttermilk that would contribute to the soft texture.
  Oh, how I wish I had one to try. Right. Now.
  This is the problem with working in an office and not in a kitchen:)

• 

  cdt on January 25 at 12:20 p.m.

  Really excited! Thank you!

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