Esther Green's White Cookies to Frost

In our house, these cookies have become known as Esther Greens, but the full name is Esther Green's White Cookies to Frost. Every year I ask Mom who Esther Green was, and every year I seem to forget. Today I asked Mom again and learned (again) that two of Esther Green's daughters married two of my grandpa's brothers. I suppose that means she was Mom's great-aunt-in-law. Mom never met Esther Green, but we know her through these cookies. So her memory lives on.

Usually these are the last cookies we make. Mom doesn't like to make them earlier because they're so fragile. In the early part of December, the cookies we make go in cookie tins to be shipped, so it's not practical to make Esther Greens early--there are other cookies we have to make first. Sometimes they don't even get made until after Christmas! But they're one of my favorite cookies, so I decided to make them earlier this year because I can. I mixed up the dough while at a friend's house baking, and I baked them in my landlady's oven. (Thank you!!)

This recipe is charming because it's so sparse. It's typed on a 3" x 5" index card, and the word "chill" is misspelled as "shill." I suppose whoever typed it didn't want to throw out the card and start over. Even now that I have it typed up correctly on a computer, I still can't help thinking "make in roll, shill, and slice."

The recipe assumes quite a lot of cooking knowledge, so I'll do my best to spell out the things that everyone knew years ago when the recipe was first typed up. I haven't made much frosting, so a few years ago I got Mom to give me approximate quantities for the frosting recipe. It didn't help, at least not this year, but I'll definitely know how to do it in the future. (Which means there's a story coming. Mom laughed so hard when I told her. Keep reading.)

The frosting recipe doesn't give you much to go on. It only says:
Grate in orange rind, add orange juice, 10x sugar, and a lump of butter. Frost.

I also have a note written on there that says "add sugar until thick enough."

So I decided to do some logical thinking. Since it says orange rind and juice, it probably meant one orange, right? That means for my double batch of cookies, I'd need two oranges. So I got the zest from two oranges (using a handheld not-sharp-enough cheese grater, because I didn't want to wash a full size grater and cutting board after doing dishes all day) and juiced the oranges using my hands (because I don't have any sort of juicer). I decided that a lump of butter was probably 2 T., because if you get much bigger than that, it's not a lump anymore. I put zest, juice, and butter in my pan over low heat. Then I started adding confectioners' sugar until it was thick enough

By the time I had added a pound of confectioners' sugar, I started to think that I had probably used too much orange juice, but I kept adding sugar because it didn't seem thick enough. In all, I used a pound and a half of confectioners' sugar, which was all I had. Then I started frosting the cookies, and I realized I had made the frosting too thick. For it to be spreadable at all, I had to keep it hot, and since it was hot, it was burning my fingers and I kept yelping and running my fingers under cold water. Finally it occurred to me that I could add some more liquid and make it thinner. Since I didn't want to cut open another orange, I got some milk and stirred about 1 T. milk into the frosting. Then I could turn down the heat and frost the cookies without yelping.

When I finished frosting, I still had quite a lot of frosting left, so I took my landlady a sample of Esther Greens, and she really liked them, so I begged her to take the rest of the frosting off my hands. Then I asked to borrow some powdered sugar.

Anyway, without further ado, here are...

Esther Green's White Cookies to Frost

Cream:
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. oleo (margarine)

Add:
1/2 c. 10x sugar (confectioners' sugar)
1 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
1/4 c. pecans, chopped (there are a zillion ways to chop nuts, but since I don't have a nut-chopper, I like to chop nuts by putting them in a plastic bag and whacking them with a meat mallet)

Make in roll, chill, and slice. Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

Expanded directions:
Cream together butter and margarine. You may want to soften them first (a minute or two at power level 1 on the microwave will soften butter quickly). Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat at high speed until light and fluffy. (I always have trouble imagining that a mix of butter, margarine, and sugar could ever be "light," but that's what the recipes usually say. I try to imagine it being fluffy like clouds.) Using a lower speed on the mixer, beat in flour a cup at a time until well mixed. Add pecans and beat until just mixed. On wax paper or plastic wrap, form dough into a rectangular log about 2-3 inches wide and an inch high. Chill. Slice cookies, put on a cookie sheet, and bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes, until almost browned or lightly browned, depending on how you like them. I think the lightly browned ones will be less fragile. Cool cookies completely before frosting.

Frosting:
Get the zest from a medium-sized orange (i.e., wash it and then grate the peel using the small holes on the grater, but only the orange part of the peel--you don't want the white stuff, because that's bitter). Juice half the orange and put the juice and zest in a small pot over low heat. Add 2 T. butter. Start with 2-3 T. of powdered sugar and add powdered sugar GRADUALLY until thick enough. It will also thicken as you cook it. You still want it to be pretty thin but not watery. Frost cookies and let cool. The frosting will harden on the cookies.