Here are the recipes from, An Amish Christmas Kitchen, by Leslie Gould; Jan Drexler; Kate Lloyd
From, An Amish Family Christmas, by Leslie Gould
Baked Creamsticks
Creamsticks
1 cup shortening
1 ¼ cups mashed potatoes
1-quart milk, scalded
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
½ cup warm water
3 packages yeast
6 beaten eggs
11 – 12 cups of flour
Put shortening, potatoes, milk, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Stir until shortening and sugar are dissolved. Put warm water, yeast, and 1 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl. Add eggs and yeast to first mixture. Stir in enough flour until dough is not sticky. Cover and let rise until double. Roll out dough. Cut in 1” x 3” strips. Let rise until double. Bake at 350° oven for 15 – 20 minutes. Let set until they are cold. Cut a slit on top and put in filling. Then top with favorite icing.
Filling
2 cups milk
6 Tablespoons clear-jel*
Pinch salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sugar
1 ½ cups Crisco
Combine milk, clear-jel and salt in a saucepan. Cook until thick. Add vanilla and cool. Cream together sugar and Crisco. Mix with cold cooked mixture and mix well.
*Clear-jel is a thickener that can be found in most bulk food stores. If you don’t have access to clear-jel, cornstarch is an appropriate substitute.
Caramel Icing
½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar
Melt butter, add brown sugar and cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring. Add milk and stir until it boils. Cool. Add powdered sugar.
From, An Amish Christmas Recipe Box, by Jan Drexler
Jam Thumbprint Cookies
(My Ben’s Favorite)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup ground almonds, or commercial almond meal
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter, softened, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
Mix flour, ground almonds/almond meal, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat the egg into the butter/sugar mixture until fluffy. Add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and mix well.
Form the dough into 1” balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies are no longer shiny.
Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, then quickly and gently press your thumb into each cookie to make a depression. Put a scant ½ teaspoon of raspberry jam into depression.
Return the cookie sheet to the oven for another 3-5 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 5-10 minutes, then remove them to a cooling rack. Makes 2 dozen.
From, An Unexpected Christmas Gift, by Kate Lloyd
Caramel Christmas Cake
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 Cup sugar
3 Eggs
2 ¼ cups sifted cake flour
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cream butter; gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in vanilla.
Pour batter into two greased and floured 9” round cake pans. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.
Caramel Frosting
½ cup butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 T milk
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add brown sugar and cook one minute over low heat. Stir in remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. Add more milk if necessary, for proper spreading consistency. After frosting the cake, sprinkle chopped nuts on top.
