Crispy Thin Historic Farmer’s Market Bestseller Cookies

Jump to Recipe

 

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cup of sifted flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon rind
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg (or whatever you fancy – almond extract, extra lemon, vanilla, etc.)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs well beaten
• 1 tablespoon of cream

Cookware:

• 2 mixing bowls
• measuring spoons
• whisk
• mixing spoon
• spatula
• cookie sheet
• parchment paper
• rolling pin

Instructions:

1. Mix the flour and baking powder and set the bowl aside.

2. In a new bowl, mix the lemon rind, sugar, butter. Add 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg (or preferred flavor).

3. Add the well beaten eggs and the cream.

4. Finish mixing and slowly add the flour and baking powder.

5. Once everything is mixed well, wrap it in some parchment paper and put in the fridge overnight. This is an important step as you won’t be able to get the dough thin enough if it’s not cold.

6. The next day, roll out small sections and cut cookies out. You want the cookies to be as thin as you can make them without them breaking. I found it helpful to use the top of a glass cup to make the shape of the cookie. While the cup was still on top of the dough, I scooped underneath it with a spatula to easily lift to the baking sheet. You will need a lot of flour for the rolling pin and dough as it will stick being cold.

7. Bake for 12-15 mins at 400 degrees. (You do not need to grease the cookie sheet.)

About This Recipe:

My Great Great Grandma, George Edna Burns Gue, was a farmer’s wife in Montgomery county near Damascus, MD during the 1930s. Times, of course, were very rough so she and 19 other farmer’s wives created the Montgomery Farm Women’s Co-op market in Bethesda, MD. After a successful start, these women bought the building when no man wanted to give them a loan.

They eventually got a loan after someone challenged the President of the Baltimore Bank of Cooperatives to come on a Saturday and see how busy it was for himself. He did not believe a group of women could make that much money but he stopped by one Saturday unannounced and gave them the loan almost immediately thereafter. They paid the loan off in 10 years because they did so well.

My Nanny would go twice a week to sell her cookies and other baked goods. (She even sold a cake to the White House once!) She sold these particular cookies for 10 cents each. The recipe has been passed down from there.

I have some amazing women in my family. Nanny’s daughter, Helen, worked in a bank when it was unheard of for a woman to work outside the home. And her granddaughter, Audrey (my Grandmother), had a career in accounting after graduating from the University of Maryland. She was told to major in something more “female-friendly” but she ignored that and continued even though she was the only woman in her class.

I first made these cookies about 7 years back for my Uncle Al (my Gram’s brother). With a gleam in his eye, he said they were “a good first try.” He said they needed to be thinner and more crispy. But I have finally gotten the recipe right – I think.

The Montgomery Farm Women’s Co-op market still stands in Bethesda Maryland. In the same building that those original 19 women bought. The market is just a few blocks down from the new Marriott Headquarters which I am a remote employee of. It makes me proud to be part of her lineage.

She raised 6 children and lived independently on the farm until she was 95. She was a survivor and an entrepreneur. I only hope I can pass some of that to my 5-year-old twin girls.

Sure these cookies are delicious, but that’s not why I make them. They remind me of three things: 1) I have some badass women in my family. 2) There isn’t much a mom won’t do to carry her family during hard times. And 3) Never, ever tell a woman she can’t do something because she’s a woman.

This story was submitted to Love What Matters  by Kristen Eddy. Join the Love What Matters family and subscribe to our newsletter.

Explore more delicious recipes from the heart:

Delicious Root Beer Float Cookies With Buttercream Frosting

Late Mother’s Easy Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Bar Dessert