Mennonite Girls Can Cook is a collection of recipes which were posted daily for a period of ten years from 2008 to 2018. We have over 3,000 delicious recipes that we invite you to try. The recipes can be accessed in our recipe file by category or you can use the search engine.

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Red Sugar Cookies


Another favorite Christmas cookie! I love the festive look of these cookies. This recipe calls for red sugar for dipping but I think the green adds such a nice touch too. And this is another recipe handed down from my mother in law. These cookies are soft and have a bit of a chewy texture. And of course the little 'donut holes' are a perfect snack for a little munchkin! Stack them in a plastic bag, tie with a pretty ribbon and you have a perfect gift for someone special!
  • 1 cup lard
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 5 1/2 to 6 cups of flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ginger (add a little more if you like ginger)
  1. Cream lard, sugars and lemon juice. Add eggs and blend well.
  2. Combine dry ingredients and stir in with lard, sugars, juice, and eggs, alternately with milk. 
  3. The dough is a little sticky at this point but that's good. Cover bowl and refrigerate at least 1 hour or more.
  4. Roll out dough to approx 1/8" using as little flour as possible and cut with a donut cutter. Dip in red or green sugar.
  5. Bake at 350ยบ for 10 minutes.
  6. Cool on rack before storing. They freeze well.

17 comments:

  1. I smiled when I saw your Red Sugar Cookies because I was thinking that the cookie dough for my Gluten-free Cranberry Cookies could very easily be used for decorated sugar cookies !!
    I love the old-goldy recipes.. and these bring back childhood memories! Thank you !!

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  2. joie de vivre...I have never used butter for this recipe so not sure how it would work. If you do try please let me know, okay?

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  3. Betty you are inspiring me to get planning my list of Christmas baking. These look so nice in the bag. i like the red/green version too. Kathy

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  4. oh Betty...you have posted another beautiful Christmas cookie. This one will be a favorite too. What is nice for all of us and the readers is that we know these are 'tried and true' recipes so they will turn out again and again and again. Beautiful and it brings back so many memories...me as a child and helping decorate...and then of my son....do your grandkids come over too to help...or just to gobble them up?!

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  5. My Grandmother always had these cookies sitting on her kitchen table all year round....amazing memories!

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  6. Betty, oh these are just packing perfect. I smiled at the recipe calling for Lard, a sure sign that it has been around a long time. I bet they taste wonderful .. .I'll give them a whirl.

    I was thinking about the question about using butter instead of lard, . . that would be my inclination as well. I would use unsalted butter if I was going to use butter, it has less moisture and it the best butter sold, since it doesn't rely on salt to keep it fresh. . .(my mil taught me this)

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  7. Those cookies look great, hope they might be tasty.

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  8. I am so excited to find your site! All of the recipes are wonderful! I would like to link your site on my blog! Hope that's OK! THANKS!

    http://lavenderdreamstoo.blogspot.com/

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  9. These almost look to pretty to eat! (But with that said - i would love to take a big bite!)

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  10. Betty, have you begun your Christmas baking already??
    We used to bake these cookies all the time, my Mom's friend, our neighbor, used to make them all the time. Man, I'd love some of these right now...perfect with a cuppa tea. :)

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  11. i love these...and teh packaging!
    i think i might just make these for our annual church cookie exchange! :)

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  12. betty you surely are an inspriration for getting started on the baking!!!! they look scrumptious and i love the way you package them.

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  13. I think I am going to give these cookies a try as well. The one thing I know nothing about is lard is it the same as crisco? They look so soft and delicious.
    I love the site as well! I was lucky the day I happened on it!
    Jerri

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  14. Jerri..I think you can use shortening. I wonder if sometimes those old recipes called for lard because that's what was available to them.

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  15. I found the dough quit hard, and the sugar did not stick, so I put butter on, and then put the sugar on.

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