Nostalgic Cookies Part 1-Raisin Filled Cookies

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This Christmas season I have been trying to stay very focused on the true meaning of Christmas--which has meant less shopping, less decorating and more reflections on the birth of the Savior. I also have been reflecting on what a great family I have. As a kid, I have fond memories of celebrations with my grandparents. Today's post is in honor of my Grandma--an Idaho farm wife who was great at making jams, jellies...and raisin filled cookies. I am sad to say that I couldn't find my grandmother's recipe (although I'm still working on it), so I did some searching online and found this one from Brown Eyed Baker, which I tweaked a bit.


The recipe turned out great.  I can imagine sitting in Grandma's kitchen eating cookies, so I think that is a success.  Stay tuned for Nostalgic Cookies Part 2-Rosettes. 

Dough
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine (don't substitute, look for Gold n Soft)
1 tsp salt
1 egg
3 cups flour
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbs sour cream
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

In a stand mixer, cream the sugar and butter.  Add the salt, egg, milk, sour cream, baking powder, baking soda and vanilla-mix until combined. Turn off the mixer and add all 3 cups of flour.  Turn mixer on low to avoid a cloud of flour, and mix until a soft, sticky dough ball is formed.  The dough reminds me of a very soft sugar cookie dough.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes while you make the raisin filling.
 
Filling
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbs cornstarch
3/4 cup water
1/2 Tbs lemon juice
8 oz of raisins (that is about 1 1/2 cups, but I use a kitchen scale)

In a small saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch and water and whisk until smooth.  Add the lemon juice and raisins and bring to a boil on medium heat.  Simmer while stirring for about 5 minutes (the raisins need to get super soft and plump).
 
Dust your counter top with flour and roll out about 1/3 of the dough to 1/8 inch thick.  Use a round cookie cutter (mine was about 2" circle) to cut the cookies.  I used a well floured spatula to get them off the counter and placed them on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Use a couple of spoons to get the filling out of the pan and smoothed onto the cookie (as the filling cools, its a bit sticky and hard to get off the spoon and I didn't want to use my finger).  Top the cookie and filling with another cookie.  I lightly pressed the edges of the cookies together, but I wasn't careful about it--the dough is soft and it just bakes together.
 


I baked mine at 375 for about 12 minutes (I rotated the sheet about half way through the process)--its important to only let the bottoms get a bit golden because you want the cookie to be soft, not crunchy.
This recipe made about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.  I've already eaten 3.  I had to put them in the freezer so there will be some left for the family Christmas celebration.