Bringing the books to life!
I've talked before about how Addy's mom is one of my favorite American Girl characters. Ruth Walker is an extraordinarily brave woman who always seems to make the best of a bad situation in a way I - an eternal worrier and pessimist - really admire. Her embarrassment about not knowing how to read and Addy offering to teach her by shaping dough into letters in their small room over Ford's Dress Shop is one of my favorite scenes in the series, and Ruth tucking specially made cookies that spell "love" in Addy's lunch pail as a treat on the day of her spelling bee is a really sweet (literally and figuratively) end to Addy Learns a Lesson.
To recreate this moment, I wanted to find the perfect period recipe, and finally tracked down a good one that's great for leaving creative notes to friends and family. Read on to find out how to make them yourself!
To recreate this moment, I wanted to find the perfect period recipe, and finally tracked down a good one that's great for leaving creative notes to friends and family. Read on to find out how to make them yourself!
Going into this, I was a little worried I would need to try out a few recipes before I found one I really liked and produced a good final product. Shaped cookies can be frustrating to make if you're not using the right dough, and can cause some trouble for beginning bakers. Many rolled cookies require you to chill your dough before rolling it out, cutting it into shapes, and baking them, like the recipe for pepparkakor featured in Kirsten's Cookbook. Skipping this step can mean your cookies just immediately lose their shape in the oven, turning into formless blobs instead of flowers or Christmas trees. Other recipes expand too much in the oven even despite your best efforts.
Since Addy and her mother wouldn't have had a fridge in their first home in Philadelphia - or for many, many years afterwards, considering the first refrigerators for home use weren't available until the 1910's - I wanted to find a cookie dough that was sturdy enough to hold its shape and wouldn't expand too much without needing to be chilled. I finally found a passable recipe in a cookbook that claims to be full of Civil War era recipes, and while it doesn't cite where this recipe came from, it's a simple enough list of ingredients that it does feel period authentic... in that it could work for just about any period after people figured out how to refine sugar and flour.
To make these cookies, you need 5 cups of flour, 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3/4's of a cup of milk, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and a teaspoon or so of nutmeg or another similar spice if you so desire. I halved it to make a more manageable batch of cookies, and as you can probably tell from the simple list of ingredients, it's not complicated to make. Cream your butter and sugar, add your milk, stir in your dry ingredients in batches until everything is incorporated. It's a nice, sturdy dough, perfect for rolling out whatever shapes you want to make. They bake in the oven for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees.
The final result was an extremely, extremely crunchy cookie. I'll admit I might have overbaked mine a little, and they had a texture that reminded me of biscotti more than a traditional sugar cookie or shortbread, but they tasted great. I'd just maybe recommend dunking them in some tea or coffee before going for a full bite of them, or under baking them if you want a softer finished product.
That said, a crunchy cookie like this probably would have been an asset in 1860's America, as they wouldn't go stale as quickly as a softer baked good and it's not like you had an air tight Tupperware to store them in. They'd also be extremely sturdy to pack in a lunch tin, so Ruth wouldn't need to worry about Addy opening her lunch pail to find a bunch of crumbs. I'd definitely make these again, and the dough was fun to work with. This is definitely a good option if you're looking for your own mother-daughter (or parent-child, grandparent-child, etc.) bonding time.
Now, I want to address the ever present complaint in the AG fandom: Addy and her mother are poor. How could they afford to make something extravagant like cookies when they were just starting out in their new home?
Yes, Addy and her mother were definitely financially finding their footing, but that doesn't mean cookies were a completely inaccessible luxury. Ruth Walker had a full time job and seems to be making a decent wage with Mrs. Ford, and as Philadelphia was a major commercial hub in the 1860's, sugar was probably less expensive for the Walkers than say, the Larsons in rural Minnesota.
Also, just in general, it's pretty lousy to think that someone being poor or financially struggling means they're never allowed to enjoy nice things. Addy and her mother enjoyed sweets just as much as the next person, and Ruth making a special treat for Addy after she worked so hard for the spelling bee is perfectly historically correct. These cookies might not have been an every day treat, but they're a simple enough recipe that it would have been a pretty inexpensive option for a special occasion.
Overall, these were a really nice, tasty cookie. Sometimes the simplest desserts can exactly hit the spot, and it's nice to imagine Addy and her mom making these together talking about what Addy learned in school or giggling about funny customers who came into the dress shop.
Since Addy and her mother wouldn't have had a fridge in their first home in Philadelphia - or for many, many years afterwards, considering the first refrigerators for home use weren't available until the 1910's - I wanted to find a cookie dough that was sturdy enough to hold its shape and wouldn't expand too much without needing to be chilled. I finally found a passable recipe in a cookbook that claims to be full of Civil War era recipes, and while it doesn't cite where this recipe came from, it's a simple enough list of ingredients that it does feel period authentic... in that it could work for just about any period after people figured out how to refine sugar and flour.
To make these cookies, you need 5 cups of flour, 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3/4's of a cup of milk, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and a teaspoon or so of nutmeg or another similar spice if you so desire. I halved it to make a more manageable batch of cookies, and as you can probably tell from the simple list of ingredients, it's not complicated to make. Cream your butter and sugar, add your milk, stir in your dry ingredients in batches until everything is incorporated. It's a nice, sturdy dough, perfect for rolling out whatever shapes you want to make. They bake in the oven for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees.
The final result was an extremely, extremely crunchy cookie. I'll admit I might have overbaked mine a little, and they had a texture that reminded me of biscotti more than a traditional sugar cookie or shortbread, but they tasted great. I'd just maybe recommend dunking them in some tea or coffee before going for a full bite of them, or under baking them if you want a softer finished product.
That said, a crunchy cookie like this probably would have been an asset in 1860's America, as they wouldn't go stale as quickly as a softer baked good and it's not like you had an air tight Tupperware to store them in. They'd also be extremely sturdy to pack in a lunch tin, so Ruth wouldn't need to worry about Addy opening her lunch pail to find a bunch of crumbs. I'd definitely make these again, and the dough was fun to work with. This is definitely a good option if you're looking for your own mother-daughter (or parent-child, grandparent-child, etc.) bonding time.
Or best friend bonding time!
Now, I want to address the ever present complaint in the AG fandom: Addy and her mother are poor. How could they afford to make something extravagant like cookies when they were just starting out in their new home?
Yes, Addy and her mother were definitely financially finding their footing, but that doesn't mean cookies were a completely inaccessible luxury. Ruth Walker had a full time job and seems to be making a decent wage with Mrs. Ford, and as Philadelphia was a major commercial hub in the 1860's, sugar was probably less expensive for the Walkers than say, the Larsons in rural Minnesota.
Also, just in general, it's pretty lousy to think that someone being poor or financially struggling means they're never allowed to enjoy nice things. Addy and her mother enjoyed sweets just as much as the next person, and Ruth making a special treat for Addy after she worked so hard for the spelling bee is perfectly historically correct. These cookies might not have been an every day treat, but they're a simple enough recipe that it would have been a pretty inexpensive option for a special occasion.
Overall, these were a really nice, tasty cookie. Sometimes the simplest desserts can exactly hit the spot, and it's nice to imagine Addy and her mom making these together talking about what Addy learned in school or giggling about funny customers who came into the dress shop.
What message would you hide in a loved one's lunchbox?
OMG I can imagine Ruth and Addy even keeping white sugar for company (like many people did then) along with treating themselves.
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