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Mince Meat Cookies
1 cup shortening 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 3 eggs 2 cups mince meat 3 to 4 cups flour 1 teaspoon soda Cream shortening and sugar, add eggs and mince meat. Then add sifted soda and 2 cups of flour. Gradually add more flour so as to make the dough quite stiff. Roll thin and cut with cookie cutter and bake in a hot oven (400 degrees F.) 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 6 doz. 2 1/2-in. cookies.
A rolled cookie built on prepared mincemeat, from the era when a jar or a condensed brick of it sat in every December pantry. The variable here is the mincemeat itself, and it drives everything else in the recipe.
- Which mincemeatThe recipe measures mincemeat by the cup, which points to a moist, ready-to-use mincemeat (homemade or jarred) rather than a dry condensed brick. If you use the brick, rehydrate it according to the package first and let it cool, or the dough will be far too stiff at the low end of the flour range.
- Chop the fruitRolling thin and cutting with a cutter only works if the fruit pieces are small. Pulse the mincemeat a few times in a processor, or chop it on a board, so no raisin or peel chunk is wider than a quarter inch.
- The flour range is realThree to four cups is a genuine spread because mincemeats differ in moisture. Add the last cup a half at a time and stop when the dough holds a rolled sheet without tearing or sticking.
- Chill before rollingThe dough is soft and sugary straight from the bowl. An hour in the refrigerator makes it roll thin and cut cleanly, and it will need less added flour that way, which keeps the cookies tender.
- ShorteningVegetable shortening gives the crisp, dry snap intended. Butter works and tastes better but spreads more; if you substitute it, chill the cut cookies on the sheet before baking.
- SaltNone is listed. Prepared mincemeat carries salt of its own, which may account for the omission; a half teaspoon added with the soda is worth it with modern unsalted fats.
- Oven and timing400F is correct as written and the cookies go quickly at that heat. Start checking at 9 minutes; they are done when the edges are set and just browning, and they firm up as they cool.
- YieldSix dozen at 2 1/2 inches is a large batch. The dough halves cleanly, and it keeps wrapped in the refrigerator for two or three days if you want to bake in stages.