Graham Cookies
1/2 cup brown sugar 4 tablespoons crisco 1 egg yolk 1/4 cup milk 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 1/2 cups Graham flour, measured before sifting, using the bran after the flour is sifted Beat together the sugar and crisco, then beat in the egg yolk, salt, and vanilla. Stir in the flour and milk alternately. The dough should be so soft that it is difficult to handle. Sprinkle flour on the bread board. Put the dough on the flour, sift a little flour over the dough, then pat the dough into a ball. With a rolling pin roll it out a little less than one-fourth inch thick, and cut out with a cooky cutter. Place on an oiled pan and bake.
A plain rolled cookie with no leavening, so it bakes flat, crisp and slightly sandy. The original gives no oven temperature or time at all, which is the main gap to fill.
- Oven and timeThe original gives neither. A moderate oven, roughly 350-375F for 8-12 minutes, until the edges are set and just browning, suits a dough of this thickness. Unleavened dough darkens quickly once done, so check at eight minutes.
- Graham flourGraham flour is coarsely milled whole wheat with the bran returned. Modern whole wheat flour works; the instruction to sift and then add the bran back is simply telling you not to discard the coarse fraction.
- CriscoAny solid vegetable shortening substitutes directly. Four tablespoons is a quarter cup; butter can be used for better flavour, though the dough will spread a little more.
- No leaveningThere is no soda or baking powder in the ingredient list. Expect a firm, dense cookie rather than a puffed one; adding leavening will give a different texture.
- Soft doughThe line about the dough being difficult to handle is in the original, and heavy flouring of the board is expected. Chilling it about 30 minutes makes rolling easier, though it may reduce spread slightly.
- ThicknessA little under a quarter inch is thicker than most modern rolled cookies and gives a shortbread-like bite. Roll thinner only if you cut the baking time accordingly.
- Oiled panThe original calls for an oiled pan; parchment on an ungreased sheet is cleaner and keeps the sugary edges from sticking. Watch the undersides on a dark pan.
- YieldRoughly two dozen cookies from a 2-inch cutter, depending on how thin you roll. They firm up as they cool.