Scotch Cakes (a.k.a. Shortbread)

Another of my grandmother's recipes.  These are prefect melt in your mouth shortbreads, but the recipe is a bit finickety like pastry, be warned.

1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 cups butter (cool, but not too hard to cut with a knife)
4 cups flour

1. Combine flour and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Cut in the butter and work with a pastry blender.
3. When it the chunks are on average the size of peas combine with your hands.
4. Cool for 30 minutes in the fridge if possible.
5. After cooling, preheat oven to 350, roll and cut into cookies.
6. Bake until light brown ~ 10 minutes

Yum!

Nibble Bait (aka bits and bites)

Another of my grandmother's recipes.

1/2 a normal sized box of Cheerios
1/2 a normal sized bag of straight pretzels
1/2 a normal sized box of Shreddies
2 cups peanuts

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp celery salt
2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 lb butter

1. Melt the butter and add the seasonings.
2. Pour into a clean plastic bag, or very large container and coat
3. Add other ingredients and shake gently.
4. Bake at about 250 F for 30 minutes or so, stirring every once and a while.
5. Once cooled can be stored for a couple of weeks at room temperature in a sealed container...but it won't last that long!

Coconut Cones

A family Christmas favorite.  These are a no bake, easy to make cookie.

1/4 cup butter
2.5 cups sifted icing sugar
1 bag (normal sized) unsweetened desiccated coconut
1 can sweetened evaporated milk

3 squares (ozs) unsweetened chocolate
2 squares semi-sweet
paraffin wax for shine (optional)

1. prepare a cookie sheet by covering it with a sheet of waxed paper.
2. Combine the butter, coconut and sugar.
3. With clean hands mix in slowly about 1/3 of the can of milk, until the mixture holds together nicely. 
4. Shape into small cones and stand on the cookie sheet.
5. Put the the fridge for at least 2 hours, up to 24 hours, to harden
6. After removing from the fridge melt the chocolate and optional wax. Dip the bottoms of the cones in the wax and place back on the wax paper.
7. Return to the fridge.  When the chocolate has fully hardened it will easily come off of the waxed paper.
8. Can be stored in a cool place for several weeks and the in freezer longer.

Yum!

Nana's Brownies

I need a way to have my recipes everywhere I go...so this is it.

My Nana's Brownies

It took a couple of decades (literally -- no joke) to figure out how to make these from the recipe that my grandmother left.  It actually is not that hard to decipher, in that it always included measurements, the problem was that it is very finickety about the order and method for mixing ingredients together.  Finally with the aid of another recipe from a lady of my grandmother's generation I was able to figure it out.  They are chewy, delicious and easy to make, as long as you follow the instructions.

1/2 cup butter
2 oz (squares) unsweetened bakers chocolate
1 cup dark brown sugar (not packed)
1/2 cup all purpose flour (you can easily substitute sorgum or quinoa flours with1/2 tsp of xanthem gum)
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2-3/4 cup chopped walnuts (or any other kind that you like in baked goods)

1. Turn the oven on to 350 F to warm up. Grease an 8" x 8" or a 9" x 9" pan.
2. Melt the chocolate and the butter together in a medium sized bowl over warm water.  The bowl should be big enough to hold the whole recipe.
3. In another bowl combine the sugar, flour, and salt and combine them together.
4. Beat the eggs with the vanilla and add to the dry ingredients, and combine.
5. When the butter and chocolate have melted stir in the nuts and remove from the heat.  
6. Add the other ingredients to the chocolate. (It works best if you add to the bowl with the chocolate, I have no idea why.  Mix all together and pour into the pan.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
8. Allow to cool before serving or they will fall apart.

Enjoy!