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For an updated version of this recipe – including a handy printable version – please Click Here or on the image below to view it at my new website, The Wild Olive.
Sorry I’ve been AWOL so long! I’ve been doing lots of cooking and have plenty to share, so I’d better get right to it. I am still cooking my way thru the original Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook (1950 edition), with much success. Tonight I’m bringing dessert to our little wine club, and I decided to make my new favorite pie – a gussied up pecan pie with Bourbon and bittersweet chocolate (I’ll share that recipe later!). After I made the pie I realized not everyone is down with pecan pie (probably people who’ve never had a good one!), so I grabbed my BCPC for a quickie cookie recipe. Sugar Jumbles fit the bill.
I tweaked them just a bit by doubling the vanilla, using some Nielsen Massey vanilla bean paste, adding a few drops of Fiori di Sicilia, and rolling the cookies in decorative sugars & sprinkles before baking. Fiori di Sicilia (Flowers of Sicily) is a fragrant oil that adds a mixed citrus, vanilla, and slightly floral flavor – I highly recommend it! These Sugar Jumbles are easy-peasy and incredibly delicious with a texture that is a bit cakey and a bit chewy. My husband just came home and pronounced them “mmmm…nom…nom…nom!” I think that means “delicious” in John-speak! Here’s the recipe, with my additions marked by an asterisk (*)
- ½ cup shortening (I used ½ butter, ½ shortening)
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ tsp. vanilla*
- ½ tsp. Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste*
- 7 drops Fiori di Sicilia*
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour
- various colored sugars and sprinkles*
Preheat oven to 375. Cream the shortening, butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg and beat till thoroughly incorporated. Add the flavorings, salt and soda and combine. Add the flour and beat on lowest setting until just combined. Place sugars/sprinkles into small bowls. Using a teaspoon or small scoop (I used a #70 disher) portion dough into small balls, and dip the top of each one into sugars. Place cookies 2″ apart on silpat or parchment lined cookie sheets, and press lightly to flatten them to about ½” tall. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are just set and edges are lightly browned. Let cool on sheets a minute or two and then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely. Using the #70 disher yielded 2 dozen 2″ cookies. Enjoy!
Note: To mimic the flavor of Fiori di Sicilia in this recipe try using ⅛ tsp. lemon extract, ¼ tsp. orange extract, and if you have it a few drops of Orange Blossom water. However, if you make a lot of sugar cookies, pound cakes or sweet breads, treat yourself to a bottle of the real deal!
The Wild Olive 