Maggie's Favorite Cranberry Cookies

This recipe comes from a beloved children's book, Cranberry Christmas by Wende and Harry Devlin. When we were growing up, we had both Cranberry Thanksgiving (with a delightful Cranberry Bread recipe) and Cranberry Christmas, both books bright and artful. Lovely pictures, good stories, and...recipes in the back! I loved these books, and I love these cookies!

I really need to track down our old copies of these books, I know my boys will love them. And I can just see H-Bomb wanting to decorate a Christmas tree with seashells, the way I always wanted to...

The cookies are tangy and not as sweet as you'd expect them to be. Just right, and an interesting addition to the traditional Christmas cookie spread.

also pictured, Butter Cookies

Maggie's Favorite Cranberry Cookies
From “Cranberry Christmas,” by Wende and Harry Devlin, 1976

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
2 Tblsp lemon juice
3 cups fresh (or frozen) cranberries, stemmed and chopped
1 cup chopped walnuts
raw sugar crystals, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375. Measure flour, baking powder, soda and salt into a bowl; stir with a fork to mix.

Cream butter and sugars in a large bowl till fluffy; beat in egg, milk and lemon juice. Stir in flour a little at a time, until well blended; stir in cranberries and walnuts. Drop dough by teaspoons full, about one inch apart onto greased cookie sheets. (or parchment paper) Sprinkle each with some raw sugar.

Bake 15 minutes, or till firm and golden. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Makes about 8 dozen cookies.