Cookies Through the Decades | 18 Recipes from the 1930s to 2010s
Here at Yankee, we’ve been making Christmas cookies for more than 75 years. We’ve picked our favorite bar, cutout, ball, sandwich, and drop cookies from each decade to bring you an edible history of American holiday baking. The 1930s Gingerbread Puffs The original recipe for “Potato Drop Cookies—Molasses” reflects the economy that home cooks practiced […]
By Amy Traverso|Dec 11 2013|
Chocolate-Peppermint Sandwich Cookies and Cornmeal Thumbprint Cookies
Credit: Michael PiazzaThe 1930s
Gingerbread Puffs and Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies
Credit: Michael PiazzaCredit: Michael Piazza Gingerbread Puffs The original recipe for “Potato Drop Cookies—Molasses” reflects the economy that home cooks practiced during the Great Depression, and we found the actual results to be a little too cakey and dry. With a few changes, however, these gingerbread puffs now have a soft, moist texture, with the added pleasure of making good use of leftover mashed potatoes. Get the recipe for Gingerbread Puffs. Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies These old-fashioned sugar cookies are based on a 1939 recipe that ran in December. “No old-time Christmas was complete without a fat stone crock packed tight with filled cookies,” it read. “This is an old New Hampshire recipe.” Get the recipe for Old-Fashioned Sugar Cookies.
The 1940s
Cranberry-Honey Walnut Drops and
Credit: Michael PiazzaCredit: Michael Piazza Cranberry-Honey Walnut Drops We updated this recipe with a combination of honey and maple syrup (for flavor) and added lots of chopped cranberries and walnuts for both flavor and texture. Get the recipe for Cranberry-Walnut Drops. Chocolate-Date Brownie Bars These delicious chocolate-date brownie bars won $3—a second-place finish—in Yankee’s June 1949 reader recipe contest. At the time, dates were still a novel and exotic ingredient, having first been grown commercially in the 1920s. Get the recipe for Chocolate-Date Brownie Bars.
The 1950s
Greek Nut Crescents and Split-Second Jam Cookies
Credit: Michael PiazzaCredit: Michael Piazza Greek Nut Crescents (Kourabiedes) This recipe for Greek Nut Crescents (kourabiedes) appeared in February 1958 in an article by Duncan MacDonald, then Yankee’s food editor and lifestyle maven. Essentially shortbread with nuts, they’re similar to Russian tea cakes and Mexican wedding cookies. You can make them with any nuts you like: hazelnuts, pecans, almonds, or walnuts. These cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 10 days, and they also freeze well. Get the recipe for Greek Nut Crescents. Split-Second Jam Cookies These jam cookies take less than 20 minutes to put together and another 20 minutes to bake. They’re tender and buttery, with great contrast from the tart jam. The recipe first appeared in Yankee about 10 years ago, a submission from reader Johanna Hurwitz, but they date back several decades before that. Get the recipe for Split-Second Jam Cookies.
The 1960s
Lemon-Glazed Caraway Cookies
Credit: Michael Piazza
Hi,
I’m looking for a recipe for a cookie called Nutmeg Logs. The recipe was published in Yankee Magazine a long time ago. I can’t find my recipe. I can’t tell my family. They would ask me to move out. Can you please help me ?
Thanks,
Peg
Hi Peg! Oh dear, we don’t want that! It looks like you’re in search of Rum Nutmeg Logs from 1997. We’ve added the recipe to our database for your enjoyment. You can find it here: http://www.yankeemagazine.com/recipe/rum-nutmeg-logs Thanks!
Hi,
I’m looking for a recipe for a bar called Hermit. They were made by the Viking Bakery in West Hartford, CT along with many other fabulous things including Swedish Limpa Bread. There heyday was in the 50’s and they delivered to the doorstep. Sadly now they are gone. Can you please help me ? Thanks.
landmarkdmi@earthlink.net
In one of your Christmas issues, in the lates 80’s maybe, you had a wonderful sugar cookie that had coconut and I think lemon extract. I believe the recipe was Nana Chadburnes Santa sugar cookie. The cookies was decorated to look like Santas face using a mitten pattern. I’ve moved a couple of times and have lost the recipe. I’ve tried to duplicate but I would love the original if you could find it. Thanks!
Hi Norah! We tracked the recipe you described back to 1994, and were pleased to add it to our permanent database so you’ll never have to be without it again! Here’s the link to the coconut santa cookies https://newengland.com/today/food/special-occasions/christmas/santa-cookies/. Happy holidays – and happy baking!
I am looking for a recipe for the al-time best ginger cookie. It was in the magazine in the 90’s. One of it’s features was having both powdered ginger and fresh ginger (and NOT candied ginger). It was a recipe from a person who owned an inn or B & B, and served many hundreds of these cookies in her town during the Christmas season. Believe it or not, I think my dog ate this recipe.
I, too, am looking for a cookie recipe from the ’90s. It is a Swedish butter cookie in the same article with the best ginger cookies. I have that page, but cannot find the butter cookies. Thank you!
I am looking for a recipe for a chocolate sand tart my mom used to make in the 60s.
Hi,
I am looking for a Chocolate Crackle Cookie from the Yankee Magazine around 1979 early 80’s. It was with a recipe called Jewel’s Thumb Print Cookie, and I lost the page with the Chocolate Crackle Cookie recipe. Maybe you could find trace it down for me. Much appreciated!!
Hi Jane. We are always so pleased with a reader has a longstanding love for a Yankee recipe! I tracked down the Chocolate Crackle Cookies in our December, 1987 issue and have added it to our permanent recipe database. You can find it here: https://newengland.com/today/food/desserts/cookies-bars/chocolate-crackle-cookies/
I am looking for a recipe that used to be offered at a local bakery called “Merri Mac Bakery”. I believe the cookies were called fruit bars. They were very delicious and our family loved them however, the Bakery has long closed and I am not sure if the lady that owned it is even still living. Can you offer any assistance?
Hey, can anyone tell me where you can find Commodores Cookies from, they were popular in in the 60 t late 70’s. please let me know I want to buy some to let my kids taste them. They were so delicious.
I am looking for a recipe for Aunt Maria’s (Aunt Mariah’s) Sugar Cookies. They came in a tin and we’re sold for sure in the 1950’s and 1960’s. I believe the company was from New Hampshire and I think the advertised in Yankee. My Grandma had them mailed to college students and campers and out of state grandchildren.
Any thoughts?
I am looking for a cookie recipe my mother used to make. It had raisins and chocolate chips in it and had a spice taste.
My FIL has talked about his grandmother making the best lemon cookies. I have found a lot of lemon cookie recipes but they are sugar cookies. I wish I could find the recipie his grandmother had in the 20s-40s!!