Grub Americana

Modernized Butter Drop Do Cookie

Whatcha Need:

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
About 18 whole nuts

Whatcha Do:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 F; grease a cookie sheet.
  2. Cream butter and sugar.
  3. Beat in egg, then beat in flour, then add vanilla.
  4. Drop by spoonfuls on to cookie sheet, and top each cookie with a nut.
  5. Bake 10 minutes.

Please Note: This recipe was furnished courtesy of Mary Gage, New England Recipes. org. She writes: "The only reference to this recipe (Butter Drop Do Cookies) I know of is Amelia Simmons’ American Cookery, published in 1796, page 36: Butter Drop Do No. 3 Rub one quarter pound of butter, one pound sugar, sprinkle with mace, into one pound and a quarter flour, add four eggs, one glass rose water, bake as No. 1. [Bake 15 Minutes]

Apparently, there are several versions of this recipe, this being number three… I wonder whether recipe number one or number two included chocolate? Or if, like the recipe below, it used nuts instead."