Whole Wheat Bread

It's fall in New York!  I love everything about this time of the year, except for the shorter days.  One of the benefits of autumn are all the fresh fruits and vegetables to take advantage of.  So...with a crisp, wet Saturday afternoon ahead of me, it was the perfect day to spend making something wonderful out of my crop of green tomatoes, and pears we received from a friend's tree.  Since I'm on a canning binge, I opted for green tomato jam, and gingered pear preserves.  Of course...you know what is needed when making homemade jams or jellies...bread!
This recipe is a definite keeper; I wouldn't change a thing.  Rich, dense, sweet.  It was the prefect delivery vehicle for my jam and preserves.  As a matter of fact, our dinner ended up being a sampler of bread, preserves, Grandma's bread and butter pickles, hard-boiled eggs, and slices tomatoes. Why not?

French Cookies

I can't give an exact reason as to why I selected this as my next project.  Perhaps only because I had all of the ingredients on hand.  It certainly wasn’t for the detailed instructions that promise a no-fail baking experience!  It was just a “cookie day” at our house (i.e. a day that required slight elevation above the routine).  What could be more elevated than a cookie from France?

Why are these labeled “French” cookies?  I googled both “French Cookies” and “French Cookies with Coffee,” and found an assortment of brown sugar and butter cookie recipes that popped up.  One required an iron to press the cookie dough into a pizzelle, many others called them “sables.”  However, none included coffee as an ingredient.  As a matter of fact, I couldn’t find any cookie recipes that called for cold coffee.  Most used instant coffee, and one even called for French Roast coffee grounds – hmmm…I think I’ll pass.

Butter and Brown Sugar seem to be the most frequent ingredients listed in French Cookies

I had to guess on the measurements and relied on Betty Crocker for help.    

French Cookies

1 ½ cup Brown Sugar (hard to tell if the recipe card says ½ cup or 1 ½ cup.  I opted for more sugar based off Betty Crocker’s guidance).

¾ cup shortening

2 Eggs

1 cup cold coffee

1 tsp soda

Cinnamon

Baking Powder

Flour