Once upon a time, I was a little girl, and I loved to eat cookies.

Some things never change.

Over the years, I’ve craved my Mom’s soft, crispy, crumbly and rich Chocolate Crinkles, her mom’s chewy-addictive chocolate chip-banana cookies, and the reindeer sugar cookies (secret ingredient: almond extract) the sweet neighbor across the street used to bake for us every year. Thin, crispy, and perfect. But the cookies I have craved the most are my grandma’s butter cookies. My dad’s mom was from North Dakota, no-nonsense, and knew just how to keep me happy: Books to read, apricots to nibble on, a Kentucky Fried Chicken picnic in the park with the entire family, and a Tupperware container full of the best cookies in the world.

And I had no recipe for them.

I’ve searched through my mom’s files, my own files, my grandma’s cookbooks (inherited *all* of the cookbooks from both grandmas #blessed) and no luck. Tears. Sadness. And a yearning for “how did she make those, exactly?” I’ve guessed, experimented, no luck. Was thumbing through her copy (which looks like it was her mommy’s copy, it’s vintage and gorgeous and about 100+ years old) of “Pantry Secrets,” compiled by St. Aldolphus Altar Society, Langdon, North Dakota (produced in the plant of the Cavalier County Republican, Langdon, N.D.).

Yes, that’s right. Suddenly, there it was. The clouds parted, the sun came out, and there was much rejoicing.

They’re that good. Hallelujah and Merry Christmas from our house to yours.

My Grandma’s Delicious Cookies

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 well-beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in one tablespoon hot water
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
4 1/2 cups flour

(notes say: roll with date filling — no recipe for that — and “make in roll in icebox or add chocolate drops)

We made drop cookies with one batch of dough, and used the second batch as cut-out cookies. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

We did a basic powdered sugar frosting, dyed green and red, to ice them. (I also have a great recipe for “10 Minute Justrite Fudge” and some quite fantastic recipes to share from the Jiffy Cookbook, but those will have to wait for another time.)

Bon appetit!

— wm