Meet Nanny and Daddoo, my great-grandparents.
Daddoo had a mind like a steel trap, could tell stories like you wouldn’t believe, and was always up for a good laugh.
Nanny had a soft, gentle voice and skin like velvet. She always smelled like dusting powder and hugged like nobody’s business.
(Man, I wish that photo weren’t so damaged.)
I have a cookbook with a few of her recipes in it. It’s one of those small town, fundraising cookbooks. If you know them, you love them.
When I saw her recipe for Brown Sugar Cookies, I asked my dad about them. He has memories of eating them when he was a kid. I just had to try them.
These aren’t your fancy cookies of today. They’re no-nonsense, good ol’ fashioned, plain, delicious cookies that go perfectly with a cup of kona coffee, tea, or ice-cold milk.
With only six ingredients and one line of instructions, they’re pretty darn easy!
I confess to adding a seventh ingredient after about half the batch was baked: cinnamon. I like cinnamon in just about everything. It really brings these already-delicious cookies even more life.
Give them a try!
Here’s how I did mine:
Nanny’s Brown Sugar Cookies
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups of brown sugar
- 1 cup melted Crisco
- 2 tbsp boiling water
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 1/2 cups flour
Melt Crisco in glass bowl in microwave for around a minute, keeping an eye on it so you don’t make a mess. Cream together your sugar and melted Crisco. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add in flour about a cup at a time.
Roll into 1.5″ balls. Place on parchment and press criss-cross with a fork dipped in sugar or cinnamon sugar.
Bake 10 minutes at 375.
Take a bite, channel your inner Nanny, and say, “Well, I’ll swan!”
Man, what I’d give to hear her say that again. She was magical!
