Are we eating from the same cookie jar our great grandparents did? Many
recipes get handed down through families. But like most things in life, recipes, too,
evolve and change.
Foods that suit everybody at one time fall out of favor at some point. Generations
past did not use the highly refined flours and sugars we have today. Many also had
limited access to extracts, spices and special additions like nuts and candied fruit.
Jumbles are a good example of an evolving American cookie. They started out
centuries ago as a flour-sugar-butter-egg recipe rolled and shaped into knots and
rings. As time went on, cream was added to the mix which made the cookies softer.
Instead of being rolled and shaped, the cream-mixed cookies were flattened and cut
into circles.
The first flavors added to jumbles were rose water and essence of bitter almond.
Some were even whipped up with a glassful of sweet wine (in the batter…that is.)
One recipe dated over a hundred years ago left the flavoring up to the baker, with
instructions saying, “…add any kind of spice you like.”
Look for a jumble cookie recipe today and you will find a jumble of versions. The
only ingredients consistent in all of them are the original four - flour, butter, sugar and
eggs. The rest is left up to the recipe’s creator.
Some add cinnamon and nutmeg. Some produce tender cookies made with
buttermilk or sour cream. Some hold tradition by rolling and cutting the cookies into
perfect circles. And on occasion you will find a very old recipe calling for shaping the
cookies by hand.
No matter which recipe you choose, your cookie jar will still produce the same
results they did long ago – smiles!
Jumble Drops
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1. In a mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar for 1 minute. Beat in the egg, vanilla and
buttermilk.
2. Add 1 cup of the flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg, soda and salt and beat again until
batter is smooth. Add the remaining flour and beat on low speed until the flour
disappears. Chill dough for at least 2 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place about 3
inches apart on a cookie sheet. Smear butter onto the bottom of a flat bottomed
glass. Press the glass into a small dish of sugar and flatten each ball to one-quarter
inch thickness. Dip glass into the sugar before flattening each cookie. Bake 8-10
minutes or until cookies begin to brown around the edges.