Date I made this recipe: February 22, 2010
Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens by Marie Nightingale
Published by: Nimbus Publishing Limited
ISBN: 0-920852-10-6
Recipe: Maple Syrup Cookies – p. 158
And now, another salute to the Winter Olympics…
Oh Canada, Canada, Canada. I really wanted to like these recipes I made from your cookbooks but…no. Just say “no.” (As opposed to the Canadian “eh” that usually means “yes”).
This recipe sounded deceptively easy; I mean, how hard is it to melt shortening, maple syrup and sugar and then add dry ingredients? But sometimes, kids, the easiest recipes are the most problematic.
Take this for example: the recipe called for 2 cups all purpose flour but then in the directions it said to add “flour enough to roll out.” So…this could mean that you need more than 2 cups of flour (which I did) or it could mean only add enough so you can roll it…or it could mean that I over-thought the recipe. Either way, deciphering this took more work than it was worth.
In the end, I added the two cups of flour and then kept adding more to get the mixture to bulk up, and then because it was no where near being able to be rolled out and because time was speeding by and because I had actual Olympic events to watch, damn it, I mixed and plopped and threw it in the oven and voila – cookies! My husband laughed at my oven antics but I mean really!
The result of this whole mess was that the cookies came out okay (despite me making drop cookies instead of nicely-cut cookies) but the flour I added (which I’m telling you, you will need to add as well) overshadowed the taste of the maple syrup and that was a darned shame.
Overall, the night was fraught with peril—the cookies were a pain, I developed a splitting headache and my eyes, my eyes—can we TALK about the ice dancing “outfits?” I could just picture Michael Kors from Project Runway sighing deeply and saying “Where to begin?” (The phrases “train wreck” and “hot mess” came to mind—you chose.) And call me crazy, but isn’t ice dancing supposed to be uh, dancing? And to a song I can recognize? Because excuse me, when the one American couple came out and “danced” (ahem) to a religious piece, I about died. And that outfit – oy!
So, overall, a big hands down on my Canadian food fest. Let’s hope the rest of the games pick up after this—although what am I saying? The ladies ice skating competition starts tonight!
Maple Syrup Cookies – serving amount not listed (but probably makes about 2 dozen)
1 ½ cups maple syrup
½ cup white sugar
½ cup shortening
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup rolled oats
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
Heat the maple syrup, sugar and shortening to boiling point. Remove from stove and add the soda which has been dissolved in a little warm water. Let cool. When cold, add the rolled oats, salt and flour enough to roll out. (See above—this is a little confusing). Roll not too thin and cut with a cookie cutter. Bake in a 375 oven until light brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.
As noted above: I made drop cookies out of these and baked them for 9 minutes and they were perfect.
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