Everyone can remember their first cake

September 7, 2011

It seems everyone remembers their first batch of chocolate chip cookies, or the first cake they made all by themselves.
I can’t remember any of that.
I always helped out in the kitchen. I remember standing on a little stool and stirring things, rolling things, mashing things. I have always been the queen of the stuffed eggs.
I do not remember a lot of cooking “firsts,” but, this particular recipe was the first one I discovered in Bell’s Best Cookbook all by my self and found the ingredients in the pantry without anyone’s assistance or approval. I just did it.
I remember my mom was not home from work yet. I started supper and thought we needed a dessert. It was a hit, and my brother decided I needed to cook supper all of the time if it was going to end with a dessert in the middle of the week. We never had desserts on weekdays, just on the occasional weekends.
Since then, I have made Amish Sugar Cookies numerous times. I have decorated them, or left them plain. This recipe has served as the base of my fruit pizza recipe. I have out chocolate chips in this recipe and chunks of caramel. It works well with any flavor combination, or all by them selves with a glass of milk. It’s all good.
This recipe was submitted to Bell’s Best Cookbook by Mary Lou Hoyt.

Amish Sugar Cookies
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup oil
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cream of tarter
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
u Blend sugars, butter and oil. Add eggs and beat well again. Add vanilla. Combine flour, cream of tarter, soda and salt and add to first mixture. Mix well. Drop small balls of dough in granulated sugar. Put on baking sheet and flatten with tines of the fork. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Makes 8 dozen cookies.

Another personal favorite has a little different flavor, but is an excellent cookie recipe for cut out cookies for Christmas and other holidays. This recipe was submitted by Audrey Gray for Bell’s Best Cookbook.

Cut Out Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp. flour
2 tsp. cream of tarter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
u Cream butter, shortening and sugar. Add eggs and other ingredients. Chill after mixed. Roll and cut in desired shapes. Bake 6-8 minutes at 400 degrees. Ice with thin confectioners sugar icing while hot.

These cookies are great and can be used in a variety of ways. This recipe was submitted by Carolyn James by Bell’s Best.

E-Z Cookies
1 box of cake mix with pudding, any flavor
1 o oz. pkg. Cool Whip
1 egg
Confectioners sugar
u Combine cake mix, Cool Whip and egg; mix well. Drop spoonfuls into sugar. Roll into balls. Put on ungreased cookie sheet and bake in 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. For chewier cookies, bake 9-12 minutes.

Gwen Sisson is the Lifestyles Editor at Starkville Daily News. She can be contacted at sdnlife@bellsouth.net.