Nutty Nuggets - Gramma Hoover's Recipes

These cookies were one of Gramma's favorites. I remember her talking about them and making them. They are tasty, little, melt-in-your mouth type cookies, and they were a part of our family gatherings from time to time.

This recipe came from another missionary lady that was a friend of Gramma's when they were serving in Tanzania years ago. :-) I don't remember if Mrs. Dilworth's first name was Faith or something else.

Nutty Nuggets

1 C. butter
4 Tbs. sugar
pinch of salt|
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 C. all purpose flour
3/4 C. finely chopped peanuts 
   (1 C. if other nuts used - also good with pecans)

Put together in order given.
Form into small balls - about 1 to 3/4 of an inch in size.
Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake at 350F until they are set and a little golden around the edges. (This is purely by memory on my part, as the recipe doesn't have instructions, as you can see in the picture!)

Roll in powdered (icing) sugar after they are baked. (I think while they are still a little warm, because that makes the sugar stick a little better? Not sure.)

----------

Note:  I've changed it to finely chopped peanuts because you don't want peanut butter - which is what finely ground peanuts would basically be in our current thinking.

I have to kind of love the fact that recipes were often trimmed down to the bare essentials back in the day because they all knew how long you baked cookies on average, etc. Among women who did their own cooking and baking it was just expected that you would know. :-) 

Randomness On An Escaped Day

 

Peanuts.com

So, I’m late with this post today.  Well, it’s a long story, but also short.  The day got away from me.  I didn’t feel well part of it, and I diddled part of it, and I did other things part of it, and then I looked out the window this afternoon and saw my brother and brother-in-law arriving home from work and thought, “Wow, they’re early,” and wondered if one of them wasn’t feeling well.  Then I looked at the clock.  Oops!  Where did this day go?? :-(  Time to get dinner!

Here are just some random things then.

Mail Call

One day last week our cat got 2/3 of the mail!  Ok, there were only three pieces of mail that day, but two of them were “for” her.  One was a reminder to come get her rabies shot (something we do faithfully since we live in a rural environment and she’s an indoor-outdoor cat).  The other was a sample of cat food.  (I would like a sample of chocolate in the mail, personally.)  She liked the free cat food really well, but she will hate going to get the shot. :-)  The shot is actually the least of her worries.  She hates riding in the car.

Yours Truly

My favorite color: Pink
My favorite time of day: Sunset to dark or early morning when it’s still cool out.
My favorite place to eat: Home
My favorite pass time: Reading
My favorite cookie: Peanut butter chocolate chip
My favorite food: Chicken fried chicken, Buffalo chicken wings
My favorite pet: The cat we have now
My favorite fiction author: That’s hard. Jane Austin and Grace S. Richmond
My favorite hobby: Um…it’s kind of moody. I go through phases.
My favorite blog: Stop….Have A Chat
My favorite fabric store: Fabric.com

Random Links

A Recipe for Orange Julius (orange milk shake)

Homemade Fudge Making Tips

Watching the News

What Did I Say?

What Grownups Can Do

Chocolate Quotes

“I have this theory that chocolate slows down the aging process…. It may not be true, but do I dare take the chance?”  - unknown

“Carob is a brown powder made from the pulverized fruit of a Mediterranean evergreen. Some consider carob an adequate substitute for chocolate because it has some similar nutrients (calcium, phosphorus), and because it can, when combined with vegetable fat and sugar, be made to approximate the color and consistency of chocolate. Of course, the same arguments can as persuasively be made in favor of dirt.”  (Pretty much my sentiments too.)

Put “eat chocolate” at the top of your list of things to do in the morning. That way, at least you’ll get one thing done.

Nuts just take up space where chocolate ought to be.  (My brother would’ve said this if he’d thought of it.) :-)

My youngest brother.  I thought you might like to see a picture of him. ;-)
(Taken some years ago, but you’d hardly notice.)

Cookie Dough Fudge

 

I got the original recipe for this online, but it had way too much sweetening in it.  It was very sweet as I made it, so for our family it would have been pretty much inedible with extra sugar!  I so often change recipes anyway, so I made some other changes as well, and then renamed it since it seemed more like candy to us, than “cookie bars”.
Enjoy!  :-)

Layer One

Mix together well in medium mixing bowl:

1/2 C. butter
2 tsp. vanilla
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp. molasses
1/2 C. shredded coconut
1 C. all-purpose flour
1 C. oat flour (you may use another preferred flour here)

Mix in:

1 C. chocolate chips
1/2 C. chopped peanuts (optional)

Spread in a 11x7x2 cake pan fully lined with waxed paper.  (It may not completely fill the pan.)

Layer Two

Melt together in a sauce pan over medium heat, stirring well:

1 C. chocolate chips
1/2 C. peanut butter
1/4 C. coconut oil

Spread evenly over dough.  Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.  Cut into smallish squares.  Do not remove from the fridge till ready to serve or the fudge may become soft.

Freezes well.

I did not put in the chopped peanuts on my first go of this, but I think it will be a good addition, so I’m adding it. :-)

For this, I really do recommend fully lining the pan.  I think it would have been nearly impossible to remove it intact without the waxed paper.

Chocolate No Bake Cookies

 

This is an old family recipe.  My family has eaten a lot of these over the years – for more than one generation.  I love the simple way old recipes are sometimes written.  They get straight to the point and don’t bother with all the “expanded” directions.  Obviously they were written in a day when women were expected to know the basics. :-)

Someone told me that these are also called “Haystacks” or something like that.  Some alterations that have been made in our family over the years include using coconut instead of nuts and using extra dark cocoa powder (pictured above) instead of regular.

-----------------------------------

No Bake Cookies

In a heavy sauce pan mix:

2 C. sugar
6 Tbl. cocoa powder
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. milk

Bring to a rolling boil, stirring often, and remove from heat.

Stir in:

3 C. quick oats
2/3 C. chunky peanut butter OR chopped nuts
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix thoroughly and drop by spoonsful on waxed paper to cool.

Curried Cheese Ball

I invented this recipe for my dad’s birthday and he enjoyed it thoroughly. :-)  It was a combination of one or two other recipes and my own ideas.  It can be served with crackers and celery.  I didn’t actually roll it into a ball because it was rather soft.  If you wish to actually roll it into a ball, I suggest you chill it well first.
Curried Cheese Ball
14 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 C. feta cheese crumbles
2 Tbl. butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder (or to taste)
1/4 C. coconut cream concentrate
3 baby carrots, minced
1/3 C. dried cranberries
Scant 1/4 C. green onion tops, finely chopped
Chopped peanuts
Orange juice
Garnishes – dried cranberries and celery leaves (or parsley)
Place cranberries in a small dish and add just enough orange juice to cover.
In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese, butter, feta, coconut cream and curry powder till creamed.  Add carrots, green onions and cranberries with orange juice to the mixture and mix well.  Scoop into a bowl and form a rounded top.  Pat on chopped peanuts.  Cover and refrigerate till ready to serve.  Add garnishes if desired.