Adding to the Holiday Cookie Jar....

Time to add to our retro cookie jar! 

Hello Lovelies!! So how is the holiday season going for you thus far? Do you have the spirit or are you already ready for it to be over and done with? I am kind of on the fence this year...I definitely am having a case of the holiday blues! Most years I love Christmas, I can not wait to put the tree up and decorate the house, go see all the holiday lights, listen to old holiday tunes sung by Frank, Dean and Eartha...and especially Elvis. This year for a reason I can not entirely pin point, I did not want a tree, thought I could get away with the mantle being decorated (my horizontal tree) , but hubby looked like a sad puppy, so I relented and bought a new little tree, which meant new ornaments and then that meant I had to spruce up the rest of the living room and of course the dining room that adjoins. I happen to be very OCD when it comes to such things and so I am still not 100 percent happy with how it all looks, but it will have to do. What I have been enjoying is going through my 1950's cookie recipes, trying new to me recipes AND making it healthy enough aka lowering the fat, so hubby can enjoy my efforts....even if my kitchen is still a construction zone! 

This week, the recipe hubby and I picked out was one called "Pineapple Drops" . It is another drop cookie, so of course if you read last weeks you know I am not great with consistency  as far as the cookie size, apparently my OCD does not extend to cookie size and shape, but unlike last weeks cookie, I did get 4 dozen out of the recipe and that was what it said it would make, so felt pretty good about that...I seriously need a cookie scooper!! I once again skipped the real butter, hubby just can not have the saturated fat, so that means my cookies would be like mini cakes again. Now on a side note, a reader made last weeks cookie and made it with real butter and she said tho she still did not make them small enough to get 8 dozen out of the recipe, the cookie was very good and was an easy bake, which she liked; her cookie due to using real butter, as the recipe calls for, was VERY flat and thin, which was what I knew they would be, one day I will try them that way. She said that she can not even imagine how small those cookies are really supposed to be! Back to this weeks cookie recipe. It is another VERY easy one, and once again as expected, more like little cakes because of the low fat margarine that I used, this time in stick form using a very retro brand Blue Bonnet, it was a bit better for creaming than spreadable, but still affected the dough. That is the next thing about this recipe, and I am not sure using butter would have changed anything, the dough was VERY stiff, more like a biscuit dough or a scone dough, not at all like a cookie dough....nearly burned out my hand mixer motor! Alrighty, let's get started...I will discus texture, taste and upgrades I think can be made once I share the steps with you. 

Margarine and butter can be used in place of shortening....butter would be the closest result wise

Have to share this, isn't this cool? So much better
than the box variety of Baking Soda! It will stay fresh
for such a much longer time...save the box for the fridge.

So here is everything that goes in this cookie. Tip...always allow your egg to come to room temp to have it react better in the batter. ALSO, you see salt here, though I would NEVER add salt if using a margarine that already has salt in it, I did add just a tiny dash of this lite salt as it added just enough to enhance things. Feel free to leave it out. 

You know the drill, this is what a creamed mixture looks
like.

Be sure you use the juice as well. 

This is the final dough...was not joking at how thick it is! 

I did my best to make each one the same size and shape...but I
so very much wish I had a cookie scoop! OH! Use parchment
paper, saves the bottom of your cookies, and makes clean up a breeze! 

Pre-heat that oven and I found
12 minutes was the perfect timing.

So you can see these did not spread,
not even a little bit! That is most likely the
use of low fat margarine. Yours will
most likely spread and crisp up a bit. 

You can see the texture...like mini drop biscuits!

Cookie love ! See the heart?

The inside also has a biscuit/ scone texture, only not
as dry as the latter. 

SO let's talk taste and improvements....

Alright, so taste. The taste was a very mild sweet, with only one cup of brown sugar for four dozen cookies, it is only a faint taste. Sugar was on ration in the 1940's and it lasted really until the early 1950's in many places, so depending when the recipe was written it could explain why last weeks and this weeks cookies are only mildly sweet. The next note is there is very little pineapple for that many cookies, and I honestly could not taste it within the cookie. I think adding more crushed pineapple and juice could be added and not affect the dough. I like the pecans, and their taste stands out more than the pineapple. I did not mind the biscuit like texture, it once again was like having little tea cakes and stood up to dunking in my tea. IMPROVEMENTS.... Like I said if I could I think I would not use a low fat margarine, but even if I did, there is some other improvements I will make next time. I would use a bit more pineapple, and maybe even add a little pineapple flavoring or candied pineapple to enhance the flavor. I could see adding some toasted coconut, and if you don't care about fat go one step further and change out the pecans and use macadamia nuts all chopped up....see where I am going...they go from Pineapple drops to Tropical Pineapple Dreams!  I would LOVE to hear from you if you make the original, and what the results were and if you make the imagined version, I want to hear about that as well!! Next week an Orange Marmalade cookie on Tuesday and possibly one more bonus cookie on Friday, just depends how my week goes...will do my best to get two blog posts out. 

Now on to a little shout out! I entered a Vintage Secret Santa match up through Chronically Vintage , and my secret Santa gift to me arrived today. A new follower to my blog, by the name of Shauna Rowley from Portland Oregon was my match and she did a brilliant job of picking out goodies for me, and honestly went far over my expectations...it was like Christmas day came early! Thank you Shauna! 

So many goodies!

If I had gotten nothing more...

Perfect for tea and cookies

Look at the detail on these cookie cutters!

Great for a blogger! 

Circa 1915! 

Till next week! See you soon! xx
*skirt by White Rabbitt Clothing on Instagram