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Cornelius Cooks

Margaret’s Peppernut recipe

  • 2 Cups Sugar
  • ½ cup Butter
  • ½ cup Lard
    • Combine three parts above, or ‘cream’ these.  Don’t let this ‘dough’ get cold on the board.
  • ¼ tsp white pepper
  • 1/8 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tbsp anise seed
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • Add all seven parts listed above to the creamed mixture.

Blend:

  • 1 ½ cups of high grade cooking molasses
  • 1 ½ cups 0r a little more, of white Karo syrup
  • 1 cup of light brown sugar

Combine these three in a big kettle.  Heat slowly to a boil and remove from heat. Quickly add 2 tsp of soda, and then stir in.  This will rise very high.  Cool slightly.  

Stir first mixture into the warm one and add 8 to 12 cups of flour to make this combination very stiff.

Knead like bread until it is firm.  Roll this mixture in flour on a bread board.

Take small pieces of this dough and roll, on the board, each into a long tube about ¾ inch to 1 inch in diameter.  Chill and then cut each bar into ½ inch slices and arrange all these ‘cookies’ on large, greased cookie sheets.  

Bake at 325 degrees for 10 or 15 minutes.  These cookies will rise, change color, then fall slightly.  They will burn on the bottom, if not watched.  They will be slightly soft and harden after being removed from the cookie sheet.  Put them on paper (I like to use paper) to cool.  Break the cookie bars into pieces and store in tightly covered cans.  These will be very hard cookies.  This recipe will make about 5 pounds of small cookies.