Remembrance of sugar cookies past
Q: I was born in Chicago and moved away when I was 14. The biggest treat we had was when my mother brought home Davidson’s Bakeries sugar cookies. To this day, it’s all my sisters and brother talk about. I know they’re out of business, but do you think you can help us find the recipe?
—Paula Campos, Cantonsville, Md.
A: I have bad news for you, Paula. The recipes were sold along with the business in 1982, says Robert A. Sideman of Glencoe, grandson of the bakery’s founder, Sam Davidson, and former company vice president.
Sideman, a retired preservationist and author of the 2009 book, “African Americans in Glencoe: The Little Migration,” says he hasn’t found a sugar cookie since that comes close to what the family made.
“We had a superb product,” he says.
Davidson’s Bakeries was founded in the 1920s. The family business grew to 15 stores, Sideman says, and was even featured in the famous Dixie Mall chase scene from 1980′s “Blues Brothers” movie.
I’m sure nothing can compare to the Davidson’s sugar cookies of your memory, Paula, but I bet this recipe from Dorie Greenspan, one of my favorite bakers, will make you happy. She calls them “Grandma’s All-Occasion Sugar Cookies.” The recipe comes from her book, “Baking From My Home to Yours,” and makes about 50 cookies, depending on diameter.
1.Whisk 2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon each salt, double-acting baking powder together; keep close by.
2.Working in a mixer with the paddle attachment, if you have one, beat 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons of butter, at room temperature, at medium speed for a minute or so, until it is smooth. Still beating, add 1 cup sugar; continue to beat for about 2 minutes, until the butter is light and pale. Add 1 egg and 1 egg yolk; beat another minute or two. Reduce the mixer speed to low and steadily add the flour mixture, mixing only until it has been incorporated.
3.Turn the dough out onto a counter and divide it in half. If you want to make roll-out cookies, shape each half into a disk and wrap in plastic. If you want to make slice-and-bake cookies, shape each half into a chubby sausage and wrap in plastic. Whether you’re going to roll or slice the dough, the packets must be chilled for at least 2 hours. (Well wrapped, the dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.)
4.Getting ready to bake the cookies: Center a rack in the oven. Have two lined baking sheets at the ready.
5.If you are making slice-and-bake cookies, use a ruler to mark off 1/4-inch intervals on each roll of dough. With a sharp thin-bladed knife, slice the dough into rounds. Place the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie. If you are making roll-out cookies, work with one packet of dough at a time. Roll the dough between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper to a thickness of 1/4 inch, lifting the plastic or paper and turning the dough over often so that it rolls evenly. Lift off the top sheet of plastic or paper; cut the cookies using a round cookie cutter. Pull away the excess dough, saving the scraps for re-rolling, and carefully lift the rounds onto the baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie. After you’ve rolled and cut the second packet of dough, you can form the scraps into a disk, chill, roll, cut and bake them.
6.Bake the cookies in a 350-degree oven, one sheet at a time, for 9 to 11 minutes, rotating the sheet at the mid-point. The cookies should feel firm, but they should not color much if at all. Remove the pan from the oven and dust the cookies with sugar or cinnamon-sugar, if you’d like. Let them rest 1 minute before carefully lifting them onto a rack to cool to room temperature.
Storing: The cookies will keep at room temperature in a tin for up to 1 week. Wrapped well, they can be frozen for up to 2 months.
Do you have a question about food or drink? E-mail Bill Daley at: [email protected]. Snail mail inquiries should be sent to: Bill Daley, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 60611. Twitter @billdaley.
baking with Bill & Sheila
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