Christmas Cookies
from
Southfacin’ Cook, Patsy Brumfield
For my entire growing-up life, Wilbur and Gladys Pickett were our next-door neighbors on Burke Street in McComb, Miss. In addition to their being key production folks at the Enterprise-Journal, our local newspaper at which I spent much of my early journalism career, the Picketts were known for being good cooks: Wilbur for his outdoor-brewed hot sauce and Gladys for her yeast rolls and oatmeal cookies, for starters.
Every Christmas, I pull out her cookie recipe and think about our nice neighborhood, especially Gladys’ kindness at work and at home.
Here’s her wonderful recipe for Oatmeal Cookies, which I’ve adjusted only slightly for my stand mixer:
GLADYS PICKETT’S
OATMEAL COOKIES
EQUIPMENT: Stand or hand mixer, 2 large baking sheets, rubber spatula, medium mixing bowl, metal spatula, measuring equipment, 1 tablespoon-size scoop, parchment paper, cooling racks.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups flour
2 cups old-fashioned 5-minute oatmeal
1 3/4 cups sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups shortening
5 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 400.
In mixing bowl, combine, flour, oatmeal, salt, cinnamon, baking soda.
In mixer, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating well each egg. Mix in milk and vanilla. Scrape down with rubber spatula.
With mixer on low, slowly add dry ingredients. When thoroughly mixed, add pecans and raisins. Mix again until well distributed within batter. Scrape down again.
Line each baking sheet with parchment paper. Using scoop, drop batter with about 2 inches between. Bake first sheet for 12-14 minutes, checking on how brown your oven bakes the cookies. I like mine a light tan with the bottoms lightly brown. Adjust cooking time to suit your taste.
Makes about 6 dozen.
NOTE: After I move cookies from the oven and onto the cooling rack, I put the baking sheet with its parchment paper into the refrigerator so I can load it up again more rapidly. I set the time for 5 minutes between batches to allow the oven to recover its heat. Then I put the loaded second sheet into the oven and start it all over again.
Packed for gift-giving
Photos: Patsy Brumfield
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