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Mother’s Raisin Cookies

This cookie recipe comes from Old South Comfort Food.

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Mother’s Raisin Cookies

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
  • 3 eggs
  • 2½ cups plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon soda, dissolved in 1/3 cup hot water
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 3 cups raisins, chopped fine
  • 2 cups nut meats

Whip butter and sugar together, add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the flour a little at a time, beating after each addition. Add soda dissolved in water and spices. Beat until smooth. Add raisins and nut meats, mixing by hand. Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, and bake at 425° for 8 to 10 minutes. Note: Chopping the raisins is optional.

This cookie still soothes my soul and warms my heart. Mother called these cookies “Mrs. Brown’s Cookies” because she got the recipe in the 1940s from the wife of a Dr. Brown who used to practice medicine in Rowan County. She used to make these cookies every year after Thanksgiving, stack them in a large metal tin with wax paper placed between the layers, and we would eat them all during the holiday season.

Additional recipes from Old South Comfort Food that appeared originally with this one:
Kraut Dumplings
Bar-B-Q’s
Chocolate Layer Potato Cake

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