| Yetta Reiner's Filled Cookies and Crescents |
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| Contributed by Janet Diamond Mauro |   |
| Ingredients: |
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| Dough: 3 c. flour 1/2 c. sugar 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder pinch salt 2 eggs 1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla 1/4 + 1/8 c. melted shortening 1/4 + 1/8 c. water melted shortening for assembly Filling: About 1/2 lb. raisins, divided 1/2 lb. sugar mixed with 1 Tbsp. cinnamon, divided 1/2 lb. shelled walnuts, chopped fine, divided 1/8 lb. candied orange peel, cut very fine Jam, small dabs (strawberry or your favorite flavor) About 1/2 lb. apples, peeled and grated Dry fine bread crumbs |
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Method:
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| To make dough: Sift dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle. Put in the eggs and vanilla. Gradually add the melted shortening and water, mixing the flour with the fluids using a spatula, until the liquids are mixed with all the flour; knead until the dough is smooth and firm. Divide into two portions – the slightly smaller one reserved for the filled cookies.
To assemble cookies: All filling ingredients are approximate as Great Grandma cooked by feel. Filled cookies should not be runny. Use the sugar/cinnamon mix, nuts and raisins judiciously as they are used for both types of cookies. Filled Cookies: Divide the smaller portion if the reserved dough into 3 parts. Roll out very thin. Brush surface with melted shortening. Sprinkle with sugar mixture, bread crumbs and the remaining filling ingredients (saving some nuts, raisins and sugar for crescents). Roll carefully as for strudel or jellyroll; pat slightly flat and cut diagonally into cookies about an inch wide. Place on greased pan in 350°oven on low shelf. Bake 12 – 15 minutes, then place under broiler for about 3 minutes to brown tops. Yield: approximately 60. Crescents: Divide remaining dough into 4 parts. Roll each into a circle 16 inches in diameter if possible. Cut into 12 pie-shaped portions. Brush with melted shortening. Sprinkle with sugar mixture, shopped nuts and raisins. Roll from wide end. Shape into crescents. Bake on greased sheet as for filled cookies, but for a slightly shorter time. Brown lightly under broiler. Great Grandma Reiner came to America from a small village in Hungary in April 1884. She was 16 years old. She was a wonderful cook who passed her know-how to her daughters and granddaughters. My dear Great Aunt Jean stood by her in the kitchen to catch and measure her “pinch & pour” ingredients in order to preserve Gram’s recipes. When I married, she passed these on to me. |
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