Old Cookie and Other Recipes from boxes & cans

[Disastercat]

Hi,

Awhile ago now, I mentioned finding that the Toll House cookies recipe I made from a bag of Nestles chips seemed small and didn't taste the same (people bring these to me for my husband, from the American PX).

Then, I went and found a larger bag in the freezer and presto, mystery solved! The bags are now to small for the original recipe, so they shrunk it but it did not shrink very well. Hershey bags are even smaller, I used part of a second bag today to make the full recipe.

Anyway, I know its been months, but here is the original, Toll House Cookie recipe from the back of a bag. I'll also do one for Oatmeal Cookies that I copied in the 1980's from the Quaker Oats box (and into my 1956 Joy of Cooking) and the Pumpkin Pie recipe I had my mother-in-law send me from the can of pumpkin puree.

I'll split these up so they are easier to copy out and read, other people please add to the thread. Anything from boxes, cans or even traditional Americana, treats like they used to be made before companies started messing with their ingredients or getting two cheap for full sized boxes. If its a savory dish, we can post that too. So get out your old cookbooks, the ones that might have a newspaper article from 1975, hidden in there with your favorite dish...

Here we go..

[psychgirl]

How helpful! I had no idea that the recipes had changed, probably becuase I didn't bake last year (too many reasons why to go into).....thank you! I'll keep my eyes open.

[Disastercat]

[Instructions are shorter, because I just did the cliff notes version, but the ingredient lists are correct, since I know how to make cookies; I often skip most of the details - DC]

Nestle Toll House Cookies (from the side of the bag-pre shrinkage)

2 1/4 cups flour
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter (soft)
3/4 cup w sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (or 1 1/2 cups either sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 lg eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
(if you use newer bags, you need to buy 2 bags or a super sized bag)
1 cup nuts (optional, my husband hates them so we don't)

Cook at 375 for about 12 minutes, or you can spread out on a one sheet as bar cookies and cook for 20 to 25 minutes.

I usually mix together all dry ingredients and put to the side. Now cream butter and sugar together (electric mixer, food processor or with a spoon).

Add eggs and vanilla and mix some more

Slowly add dry ingredients (keep stirring if possible), when mixed, gently stir in chips and nuts.

These do better if you break the rules and let them sit at least five minutes before removing from the cookie sheet, they also do better on no-stick sheets and I've tried it both ways.

If using a food processor these turn out lovely but different as even pulsing will chop the chips some, my husband likes them that way; but today I used my new kitchen aid mixer and got more traditional results. If you are low on butter, you can use 1/2 lard or shortening but they taste a bit different.

[Disastercat]

Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 cut shortening
(I usually use butter, but recipe is forgiving, you can lard or even cooking oil in a pinch)
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup White Sugar (or 1 1/2 cups either sugar)
1 Egg
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla Extract
3 cups uncooked oats
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt (original is 1 tsp but it tastes salty)
1/2 tsp baking soda

1 to 2 cups your choice: raisins, nuts, flavored chips etc.

Temp 350 to 375 for 12 to 15 minutes

Beat shortening/butter with sugar, add egg and vanilla extract and add 1/4 cup of water at the end.

Shift flour with soda and salt

Mix with 3 cups of oats

Mix together then add optional fruits, nuts etc.

Drop cookies, cook also do better when they sit in the pan but not for as long as the Toll House cookies.

My variation, I always add spices, about 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cloves, a pinch of nutmeg and about 1/4 tsp of ginger (I vary this but always use the cinnamon).

This recipe is very forgiving and is perfect if you have people on special diets. I just made some with 1/3 real sugar and 2/3'rds Xylobrit sweetener (it needs some sugar to work), and I added a tsp of molasses for color and flavor. I've also made it with spelt for the flour, whole wheat flour and rice flour (its a bit crumbly but it works). You can even use light olive oil for the butter, its a bit dry but it is still a decent cookie.

So many things taste terrible if you do too many substitutions, but this is one recipe that can handle them. The less common flours work better when combined with fruit, then with just the oats.

Also this is very good with chopped apples, mashed bananas, mince meat etc. You have to play with the liquid a bit, but it works and you can make bar cookies with it too.

One of my favorite recipes

[Disastercat]

Pumpkin pie is in another book, will add later...stay tuned, meanwhile please add more stuff..

[Disastercat]

[This recipe is probably from no later than the 1990's and may be a lot older, I can no longer read the name of the can that I wrote in my book, but it tastes just like the one I made as a child. We often lower the sugar because my husband does not like really sweet pumpkin pies, normally I used 1/2 cup instead of the 3/4 cup in the recipe- DC]

1 Can Pumpkin (15 oz/425 grams) (use two cups for home made)

1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)

2 Eggs slightly beaten

3/4 cup sugar (I use 1/2 cup)

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 tsp salt

spices - either tsp pumpkin pie spice or

1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp-ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp cloves
(I double these for my family)

1 9 inch UNBAKED pie shell (or deep dish American Pie pan)

Preheat oven to 450 F, blend all ingredients well and pour into pie dish (do not forget flour, it helps it set and you can use corn starch or spelt).

Bake 20 minutes at high heat (this is why you DON'T pre bake the crust)

Lower temperature to 350 F

Bake 40 more minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Cool on rack before cutting (if you can stand to wait, otherwise you have a fantastic tasting but runny custard with a crust.

Notes I made: This high-low temperature cooking technique can be used with any custard type pie, be sure to put any custard pie in the fridge after it cools. (Though in my kitchen most of the year, we leave it out overnight because it seldom lasts any longer than that, but we live in a cool climate pretty much year round).

Second Note: this is a one crust pie, so 1/2 recipe works for most pies

Final note: works great with hot water dough as well as the more usual dough recipe. Comes out more like a butter tart, but very good.

[Disastercat]

[I think my Mom got this from a home economics class, anyway she lurks here so she can correct me, for years I used this crust for the pie above. I don't use it as often in Ireland because the hot water crust in the "New Fanny Farmer Baking Book" works better in this climate. But when it works, this crust is perfect and it is the cold water that does it - DC]

Mom's Pie Crust
2 cups shifted flour
1 tsp Salt
2/3 cup Crisco (Mom said original was lard & it works perfectly)
1/4 cup ice water

Sift flour & salt into bowl and remove 1/3 cup of flour and mix with the cold/ice water until smooth (set aside)

Mix shortening (or lard) with flour until lumps are all the size of peas (two forks or a pastry cutter, do not use your hands).

Add flour and water mixture

Mix until you have one ball of pastry (try not to use your hands until the very last bit).

This makes a 2 crust pie and I often make two balls instead of one.

It works best if you put it in the fridge for at least one hour before rolling out.

Water amounts will vary slightly (up to 1/2 up in Denver) if it is very dry.

Crust is amazingly flaky and light, the tricks are the cold or ice water; plus very little touching with the hands.

Note* does not seem to work well in a very humid, damp climate like Ireland, not sure why but anyone in Washington State or Oregon may want to experiment and see if they can get it to work and tell me what they do.

[Summerthyme]

Try making the pie crust with 1/2 cup plus a tablespoon of butter... I never use shortening in my crusts anymore, and we'd never go back. The texture is just fine, and the flavor is so much better! (if using salted butter, reduce the salt to 3/4 tsp)

If your climate is humid, your flour is heavier per cup because it's absorbing moisture from the air. Try cutting back your flour by a tablespoon or two and see if it makes a difference.

If using butter, it's easier to "Cut it in" to the flour mixture by first cutting the sticks of butter into cubes... slice it into 1/4" slices and then slice down the sticks lengthwise, turning them over once until you have (approximately) 1/4" cubes. Those will cut into the flour much quicker, staying chilly and hence leaving little pockets of flour coated butter which is what gives you the flakiness.

It's probably heresy, but I reduce the amount of chocolate chips in most CC cookie recipes, and we like them just fine. Except for real chocoholics, you get a more balanced flavor if the cookies aren't saturated with the chips. I started doing it when the chips flavor changed... and even when I discovered Ghiradelli and Aldis chocolate chips (which are WONDERFUL), we found we still like the somewhat smaller amount.

What that means is you can follow the old recipe and just add 1 (smaller) package of chips if you don't buy them by the ton like we do and store them in gallon jars in the pantry.


Thanks for the recipes. If I can find the time, I'll try to dig up our favorite cheesecake recipe. I made it once when some good internet friends were visiting from Florida, and their 9 year old daughter exclaimed "REAL cheesecake! This is SO good"! A gourmet at 9... LOL!

Summerthyme

[Disastercat]

Love to see the cheese cake and thanks for the advice, it explains why, even though the climate is damp, I had to add more water (and tended to just get a mess). I've used butter in this recipe and it turns out a bit more tart like (less flaky) but very good; similar to the hot water crust that a friend in Scotland showed me (her grandmother used it) though I don't have her recipe so I use the one from the book. I think it may be why so many recipes here use hot water or heavy butter-egg crusts as the flour is heavier and would have been worse 60 or 100 years ago.

The pie crust above works best with lard and when I told my Mom that, she said that was the original version, but they told them not to use lard because "it wasn't good for you" (my how times change).

I did consider just using the smaller package of chips, but since it was a special treat for my husband and he likes as many chips as I can stuff into a cookie; I used one pack plus a little. I also have a mega pack that someone got at the PX (or maybe brought over from a US Sam's club) and I'll just measure 2 cups from that one.

If I were making these all the time, I would limit the chips; but since the local chips are made with sweet milk, rather than sour; they don't taste right to husband. Since he's the one eating 99 percent of the cookies, I'll do it the way he likes.

Someone did just bring over a bunch of Hersey bars, when I get down to the dregs; I'll just break them up in the food processor.

Kitchen Aid used for first time today and these cookies were so easy that way.

[Summerthyme]

Oh, yeah... there's NOTHING that beats a KitchenAid mixer for making cookies or any heavy doughs/batters. I don't get as much baking done as I'd like (hubby can use every calorie I can put in front of him), but I'd do even less if I had to mix heavy doughs by hand...

And yes, lard is still probably THE best thing going for crusts, and when I have it, I use it. If it's "bad" for us, it sure isn't showing up anywhere! LOL!

Summerthyme