If meeting a Krehbiel in Kansas were not almost as easy as running into a Johnson in Wisconsin, you could assume that “Mother Krehbiel” must refer to Jerri’s grandmother. However, when I called Jerri’s Aunt Hilda, who keeps track of such things, she said she couldn’t say for certain if that Mother Krehbiel was “unserich” (ours).
Therefore, I can only say that these apple cookies might have been one of Jerri’s grandmother’s favorites. Almost certainly the recipe found its way into The Centennial Treasury of Recipes of the Swiss (Volyhynian) Mennonites via some distant relative of my wife. (They’re all related.) And I think it’s safe to say that Jerri’s grandmother would have rated these cookies as one of her favorites.
What I can say without any weasel words like “may” or “might” is that these apple cookies are wonderful, easy to make and the kind of cookie that my mother baked when she had only a few minutes to make a dessert. She was a fast cook who would have the apples peeled and chopped, the batter finished and the first pan of cookies ready to go into the oven by the time it was hot. I wish that I were so efficient.
Set your timer and see how fast you can make apple cookies.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup lard or oleo
4 large eggs
2 cups chopped apples
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup raisins
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
PROCEDURE:
Peel, core and chop the apples and set them aside. Grease one or two cookie sheets. Preheat the oven to 350º.
Cream the lard with the sugar. Beat the eggs in one at a time. Sift the flour mixed with the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda into a bowl. Blend the oatmeal with the flour mixture. Stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.
Stir in the apples and raisins and mix well. Drop heaping tablespoons of batter on a cookie sheet and bake for 11 or 12 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on waxed paper.
NOTES: Jerri wrote “Good!” next to the recipe in our copy of the cookbook. Later, when I first made these cookies, I wrote “apple cookies p. 131 v. good” inside the front cover. We agree, but my note makes it easier to find this great recipe.
Jerri noted that this recipe makes five or six dozen cookies.
Courage in the Kitchen 