Moldy Mice (Sand Tarts)

Sometimes it's all in the name! I was randomly flipping through the Charleston Receipts, the 1963 edition, and found this gem. To be honest I never looked really looked closely at this cookbook because it did not interested me. It's not that old and I am not into collected recipes.

Apparently these are also called "Sand Tarts" but what is the fun in that?!

 Easy looking recipe with easy ingedrients! It does not look like there is enough sugar though...

 Mix it seperately...

And then together!

 The dough was very dry and made it difficult to roll into small bars. This was definately not going to make 3 dozen cookies!

 Smells so delicious! Every kitchen should smell like pecans cookies!

 Everything is better rolled in powdered sugar!

 Ta Da!

They taste pretty similar to Russian Tea Cakes but a little dryer. All in all not bad but nothing special, except for the name. I still don't know how I was suppose to get 36 cookies out of this and I had to lower the baking time a couple of minutes.

My Rating: Good but not enough to make again.

Friends and Family Rating: "Yum!" "These taste like something you have made before."

Mondchens

Despite all appearances I have not been a slacker lately. I promise! I actually have done quite a bit of cooking but it is taking a while to actually type it up. And I have too many craft projects that I am working on. Working on some sewing. Taking care of some plants. Baking and thinking about posting it. This recipe is from the Wisconsin Gas & Electric Company's Christmas Cookies pamphlet. I was looking for a way to use some of my huge, expensive bag of ground almonds. I have never heard of these cookies and a quick search online showed nothing. If anyone else has heard of them, let me know!

Another easy to follow recipe. I love this pamphlet!

 Yes, I used dried lemon rind. I had it on hand and needed to use it.

 The dough was very, very soft. Not certain if I can roll this out...

 Looks so pretty! But I still have my doubts.

 As I thought, the dough was way too soft. I decided to chill it for an hour, which helped but not a whole lot. I gave up trying to roll it out and just create my own circles.

They are round-ish...

 I don't know if I made them too thin but 12 minutes was way too long. Half the cookies ended up burnt. I kept a close eye on the next batch and it looks like 9 minutes was the longest before burning. Yes, the pan is missing one. Yes, I ate it.

 I decided to ice only half of the cookies because they tasted pretty good on their own even the burnt ones. But icing the burnt ones helped to salvage them. This recipes did not make as many cookies as I though it would.

 I also iced some non-burnt ones!

These cookies had an almost gritty texture but not in a bad way. It's difficult to explain. They were very light and practically fell apart in your mouth. They were delicious both without the icing and with the icing. I would chose to ice them as that seemed to put the finishing touch on them. I was disappointed in how soft the dough was. I would make them again for the flavor if the dough was easier to handle. I attempted to look mondchens up online to see what I could do differently but I couldn't find anything on them. If anyone knows anything, I'd love to hear about it.

My Rating: Delicious but a pain to make.

Friends and Family Rating: "Yum!" "I like the iced ones better."

Crunchy Peanut Bars

I love chocolate but sometimes you need a change. I can't tell you why I chose this recipe except that it seemed easy and I haven't done many from this particular cookbook, The New Antoinette Pope School Cookbook from 1961. I'm still trying to get back into the baking habit and was just looking for something easy to make. Yep, I was not particularly excited. Just gotta bake.

Lots and lots of peanuts! The instructions look long but are actually very simple. One of the great things about this cookbook since it is a 'school' cookbook, the instructions are very detailed and easy to follow.

More peanuts than anything else. I think I need more colorful bowls especially when most of my ingredients are brown.

This creates a very stiff dough. I got a nice arm workout though!

I talked a little about my new and much smaller kitchen. Here's a glimpse at my limited counter space. It makes cooking a bit more interesting and forces me to get creative with my use of space.

 Dough in the pan! Not exactly the correct sized pan but it still works.

 Topped with a healthy layer of peanuts.

I wasn't certain if the peanuts on top would actually stick but most of them did! You must cut this when it is still slightly warm or you will end up with peanut crumbles and not peanut bars. 

 Very crunchy bars. My apartment smells like peanut butter....yum...

These are amazing! So much better than I even expected. I love the crunch and the simple peanut flavor. These also kept very well and stayed nice and crisp for several days.

My Rating: Keeper! These may make a return around the holidays.

Friends & Family Rating: "I love these!" Lots of people loved how crunchy they were and how simple.