Cookies - Sugar cookies
Submitted by KitchenBarbaria... on January 13, 2015 at 5:19 pm

"Vanilla rolled cookies" from Woman's Home Companion Cook Book, 1942. These did not work out for me as a rolled cookie, the dough comes out too soft. I suspect changes in commercial flour over the past 70 years are at the root of that.
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However they have worked very well as a sugar cookie. These cookies seem to taste better as they age - this may vary if you live in an area with higher humidity than we have here in the High Sierras desert regions.

Yield: 36 cookies
Source: Woman's Home Companion Cook Book, 1942

3.5 c flour, sifted before measuring
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c shortening - I used butter
1.5 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, well-beaten
1.5 tsp vanilla (I actually used 2 tsp of vanilla)

Instructions in my own words so copyright is not violated:
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Sift flour into measuring cup and level, add baking powder and salt and sift again.
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Cream shortening (shortening is the term used in this cookbook for any of margarine, butter, or Crisco-type vegetable shortening - I used butter). Add sugar gradually and beat until light and fluffy.
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Add well-beaten egg and vanilla and blend well.
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Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Mix well. Chill.
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Roll as thinly as possible on a lightly floured surface and cut with a cookie cutter. You may also form balls of dough, place them on a greased cookie sheet, and flatten with the floured bottom of a glass or measuring cup.
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NOTE - I found the dough to be much too soft to roll out. However now I wonder if I had chilled it enough, or at all, before trying to roll them out. I ended up pressing flat balls of dough as described above. The cookies did spread and came out very thin. Using modern vegetable shortening instead of butter would likely result in significantly less spreading, but the flavor would probably suffer.
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Sprinkle with sugar, chopped nuts, or coconut flakes.
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Bake @ 400F for 6 to 10 mins.
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According to the printed recipe, this should make 6 dozen (72) cookies - I didn't end up with nearly that many, for whatever reason.
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These cookies taste AWFUL the first day. I don't know why. In fact, at first taste, I was ready to toss them, only my thrifty Dutch soul wouldn't let me. I'm glad I resisted that first impulse, because they tasted much better the next day, and even better than that the day after that. By the time I finished off the last of them, they were the best sugar cookies I've ever had. Thin, crispy, and delicious. I think it took me the better part of a week and a half to work my way through them and they just got better and better every day.
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It is very dry here in the High Sierra desert region, so they may age differently in other areas where humidity is higher. It would seem, however, that these are not a fresh-out-of-the-oven sort of a cookie. They need to "age" a few days for better flavor.