1994 - Just the Fax

Here’s the cover page of the fax from 

the Land O’ Lakes Test Kitchen. 

The grease spot came later.

As we promised ourselves last year, we’re determined to use Lisa’s cookie gun this round. But after vainly searching through magazines at her house for the Chocolate Butter Cookies recipe, I decided to just call the Land O’ Lakes Test Kitchen because we knew it was their recipe. 

They very nicely agreed to fax it to my number at the newspaper on Dec. 5 — we had to venture out for more supplies again anyway! We needed (Land O’ Lakes) butter, lemon and powdered sugar for the Lemon Spritz Cookies.

With fax in hand, I mixed up the dough for a double batch and Lisa used her gun to press out 12 dozen Chocolate Butter Cookies. (We preferred not to use the almond extract.) The gun made it easy and it went quite smoothly. Dubbed a “rich, chocolate butter cookie with endless possibilities”, we simply stuck with the basic recipe and used it in the cookie press. The variations look interesting though.

The Lemon Spritz Cookies weren’t very popular for some reason. We used a “Joy” spritz, adding 3 teaspoons of ginger, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and the zest of one lemon. They looked good — Lisa used her gun — but they were dry and not lemon-y enough (probably should’ve scratched the ginger too — that seems like a lot!). We yielded 11 dozen from a double batch.

Spritz Cookies

Sift together:

2 1/4 c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

Cream together:

3/4 c sugar

1 c butter

Add:

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla or almond extract

Stir in the flour. Beat well, then chill. Put dough through cookie press onto an ungreased cookie sheet. The dough should be pliable, but if it becomes too soft, re-chill it slightly. Bake about 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven until lightly browned.