Nana's Raisin-Nut or Apple Spice Cookies

My grandma always had homemade cookies made, and in a wonderful cookie tin, waiting for us to snack on every time we visited. I loved the smell of her home- always like something yummy baking or cooking. I love it when I can re-create that smell in my own home by baking good old fashioned recipes. One of the cookies she most often made were her mother's Raisin-Nut Cookies- everyone called my great grandma - Nana.

Nana's Raisin-Nut Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Boil: 2 c. raisins in 1 cup water for 5 minutes, cool.

Cream:: 1 c. shortening, 1 3/4 c. sugar, 3 eggs, 1 t. vanilla

Mix in separate bowl: 4 c. flour, 1 t. baking powder, 1 t. baking soda, 1 t. cinnamon, 1/2 t. nutmeg.

Add dry mix to wet mix, and also add raisin and water mixture and optional 1 c. chopped walnuts. Mix until blended.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto greased baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned. (no time was given- my oven bakes them in 8-12 minutes)


My grandma always liked to experiment with different ingredients, and came up with lots of different combinations. Last week I was cleaning my kitchen, and realized we had a few more apples than we would eat up before they were too soft, so I thought I would incorporate them into a cookie using the recipe above as a guide. Here is my recipe-

Apple Spice Cookies

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

Ingredients:

6 medium apples thinly chopped and peeled
1 cup water

cream: 1 cup shortening, 1 3/4 c. sugar, 3 eggs, 1 t. vanilla
mix in separate bowl:3 cups flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 t.baking powder, 1 t. baking soda, 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon, 1/2 t. allspice

Add dry to wet, plus water and apples. Mix until blended.

Drop by rounded Tablespoons onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until set and lightly browned.

These are wonderful cakey cookies- perfect with a cup of tea- or as an after school snack. The whole family enjoyed them.