Yesterday I spent seven hours making Christmas cookies. With a little help from my daughter and her friend, we created dozens of Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, Michigan Rocks and cutout Sugar cookies. My favorite is the Michigan Rocks. You have to love raisins, dates and walnuts to appreciate this cookie, which for me has just as much sentimental value as it does taste. My grandmother passed down this recipe and it just doesn't seem like Christmas until I bite into a Michigan Rock.
Nana, my grandma, never used a mixer to create these sweet fruity gems. She always got into the bowl with her hands to mix the dough. I can still see her fingers in that bowl, all full of sticky brown cookie dough. When the dough was mixed, she'd again use her hands to scrape the excess from her palms and each finger. Nana had a grinder that she attached to her counter top for grinding the raisins and dates. I loved turning the handle and watching the gooey clump of fruit come out in one continuous thick strand.
Nana threw walnuts straight from the tree into the driveway so people would drive over them and crack the shells. I didn't have a nutcracker either this year, so I used a hammer. What a mess! This cookie is a lot of work, but I think it's worth it. It's a treat that holds many memories for me. Both my grandma and my mom made these cookies every Christmas. The smell and taste of them brings back my childhood.
Not everyone in our family appreciates Michigan Rocks. My sister in law doesn't understand what's so great about them. Every year she shakes her head when we fuss over our special family cookie. Recently, I discovered that my son is not a fan of Michigan Rocks either. On his last visit, I told him that I was planning to make our traditional family-loved cookie. Kody is known for his clever comebacks. Without cracking a smile he said, "Those cookies should have stayed in Michigan."
Love em or hate em, here's the recipe:
MICHIGAN ROCKS
Please note that my Grandma's original recipe calls for 1 Cup of Butter and Lard (1/2 Cup of each). I'm not a fan of Lard or Crisco, so I use all butter. Also, her original recipe says to put the baking soda in a little hot water, which is the 2-4 Tablespoons of water I add last. Also, I use 1 Cup of packed brown sugar instead of the 2 Cups called for in her original recipe.
2 Cups Brown Sugar
1 Cup Butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Cup walnuts chopped
1 Cup Ground Raisins (measure raisins and dates
after they've been ground in a grinder)
1 Cup Ground Dates
2 eggs
2-4 Tablespoons Warm Water
Combine Flour with baking soda and cinnamon and mix well. In separate bowl, Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Add a cup of the flour and then add the ground raisins and dates. Add the rest of the flour and then add water (a Tablespoon at a time) until the dough is moist but very stiff. (2-4 Tablespoons). Bake at 350 for 10-13 minutes. Do not under bake. Bottom should be brown.
