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Maybe we've been watching too much Mad Men, but this year we dipped into the magazine’s recipe archive to taste old-fashioned vintage holiday baking from the 1950s and 1960s: cookies, bars and squares that are as rich, homespun and easy to make as they were five decades ago.
Clockwise from top left:
1 Graham Squares 2 Thumbprint Cookies 3 Chocolate Oatmeal Squares
4 Marshmallow Confections 5 Shortbread 6 Lebkuchen 7 Brown Sugar Shortbread 8 Cinnamon Stars 9 Ginger Cookies |
Graham Squares
(From Western Homes & Living, December 1957)
These chewy, sweet mouthfuls look great dusted with coloured or dazzle sugar, available at specialty baking or gourmet food stores.
 1 cup sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs, well beaten
4 tbsp shredded coconut
4 tbsp vanilla
24 graham wafers, crushed
24 marshmallows, quartered
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup candied cherries
Using a double boiler, combine sugar, butter, eggs, coconut and vanilla until thick. Cool well, then add remaining ingredients. Pack in a buttered 9 x 9-inch pan and chill. Cut into 24 squares and dust with sugar (icing sugar or coloured granulated sugar).
Marshmallow Confections
(August 1962)
1 1/3 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 package (8 oz) semi-sweet chocolate
2 tbsp crushed peppermint candy
Line bottom of an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with wax paper, extending paper in 2-inch tabs at each end. Arrange half the marshmallows in the pan and fill spaces between with nuts.
In a double boiler, heat chocolate until partly melted, then remove and stir rapidly until entirely melted. Pour chocolate evenly over marshmallows and nuts, using fork to distribute chocolate throughout. Tap pan several times to settle chocolate. Decorate top with remaining marshmallows and crushed peppermint candy. Refrigerate until hard. Run a knife around sides of pan and lift out using paper tabs. Cut into squares. Makes 2 dozen.
Cinnamon Stars
(December 1964)
2 cups blanched almonds, finely grated or ground
4 egg whites (at room temperature)
1/3 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Lemon and lime zest
Red or green food colouring (optional)
Beat egg whites with salt until stiff but not dry, then sprinkle with baking powder. Gradually beat in the sugar, beating well after each addition. Continue to beat until mixture is very stiff. Measure 1 cup of this meringue and set aside for topping. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, almonds and zest to the remaining mixture. Cover and chill both mixtures overnight.
Turn out “dough” onto a generously floured board or canvas, adding additional flour as necessary to aid rolling. Using a floured rolling pin, roll dough to 1/3-inch thickness. Cut with a 2- or 3-inch star-shaped cookie cutter and, using a spatula, carefully place stars on greased baking sheets. Decorate with reserved meringue. (Optional: tint meringue with food colouring if desired.) Meringue may be spread over the whole surface of the star, spooned onto centre or piped on as dots with a pastry tube. Bake at 300?F for 12-18 minutes. The cookies should feel soft to the touch. Remove from pans carefully. Cool on cake racks. Store in a tightly closed tin and eat within a few days. Makes about 3 dozen.
Thumbprint Cookies
(November and December 1957)
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp water
1/4 tsp almond extract
Raspberry jam
Sift flour and salt together and add shortening. Cut mixture until it resembles fine meal. Add rolled oats, coconut and sugar, then water and almond extract. Knead slightly. Wrap in foil and chill several hours. Shape into balls about 1 inch in diameter and place on baking sheets. With thumb, make a deep “well” in each. Bake at 400?F for 12-15 minutes. Let stand and cool. Fill wells with jam or marmalade. Makes 2 dozen.
Lebkuchen
(December 1964)
3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup liquid honey
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 cup chopped candied ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cloves
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cold strong coffee
1 egg (optional)
Split blanched almonds
1 1/2 cups sifted icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp lemon juice
In a double boiler, combine butter or margarine, brown sugar and honey, stirring occasionally until butter is melted and sugar dissolved. Pour into a large mixing bowl; set aside to cool.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salts, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Using a hand blender, combine dry ingredients with the cooled honey mixture, alternating with the buttermilk and coffee. Beat in egg (optional). Tightly cover dough and chill several hours.
Divide chilled dough in half and roll out each portion to a 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into rounds with 2 1/2-inch floured cookie cutter. Arrange on greased cookie sheets and decorate each cookie with split blanched almonds. Bake at 350?F for 15-18 minutes.
Combine icing sugar, vanilla and sufficient lemon juice to make a thin icing glaze. Immediately after removing cookies from oven, brush them with the glaze. Cool completely. Store in a tightly closed container for no more than a few days to keep soft. Makes 4 dozen.
Brown Sugar Shortbread
(December 1963)
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 vanilla bean pod, scraped
Chopped nuts (optional)
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Cream butter, then gradually blend in brown sugar. Add vanilla to dough. Beat until sugar is dissolved. Blend in sifted dry ingredients. Chill.
Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Divide dough into 3 portions. Pat or roll each out into an even round about 6 inches wide and 1/2-inch thick. Prick with a fork and score into wedge-shaped pieces. Top with nuts. Place well apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 300?F until browned (about 30 minutes). Cool on racks. Makes 3 dozen.
Chocolate Oatmeal Squares
(December 1957)
1/2 cup pecans and almonds, chopped
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp finely shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup dried chopped cranberries
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 package (4 oz) semi-sweet chocolate
White chocolate, melted (for drizzling)
Toast chopped pecans and almonds in a pan with a teaspoon of butter for approximately 20 minutes at 200?F to make nut topping. Set aside.
Stir together rolled oats, sugar, salt, coconut and cranberries. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter or margarine, corn syrup and vanilla. Add to first mixture and mix well. Pack into a greased 10-inch square pan. Bake at 425?F for 10-12 minutes.
Melt semi-sweet chocolate over low heat and spread over baked mixture. Sprinkle with nuts and drizzle with white chocolate. Makes 2 dozen.
Shortbread
(December 1964)
This recipe produces an authentic melt-in-your-mouth shortbread that is crisp and buttery.
1 2/3 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup fine granulated sugar
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking power and salt. Cream butter or margarine until fluffy, then gradually blend in sugar. Beat until sugar is dissolved. Using a wooden spoon, gradually blend in flour mixture. Knead on floured board or canvas until dough cracks, adding flour as required. Press dough into a 9 x 13 cake pan or cookie sheet, or divide into 2 equal portions and pat out each portion into 7-inch rounds on parchment paper. Prick a pattern on top with a fork and score into bars or wedges. Bake at 300?F for 50–55 minutes. They should have just a delicate tinge of gold. Cut while warm and cool on cake racks. Makes 3 dozen.
Ginger Cookies
(November 1957)
Traditional ginger cookies from the crispy, not soft and chewy, school of holiday baking.
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg, unbeaten
5 tbsp molasses
2 cups flour, sifted
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ginger
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
Cream shortening and gradually add sugar. Add egg, beating well. Stir in molasses. Sift the dry ingredients together and add gradually to first mixture to make stiff dough. Form into small balls, roll in granulated sugar, and place 2 inches apart on buttered baking sheet. Bake at 350?F for 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Makes 2 dozen.
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