Traditional peppermint cookies, a family tradition

Growing up every year, there was talk of the pepper nuts. Who is making them? Is anyone getting together to make them and will they making enough to share? This recipe came from my father's side of the family. Back then, they would make these traditional pepper nuts that with no electric mixers and over 9 cups of flour. The stirring was passed to a different family member when their arm was tired, to the next person the bowl went to continue mixing.

Fast forward to me as a young adult. I can still remember the shock on my family’s face when I brought pepper nuts to a family Christmas gathering as a young married couple. “How did you make these by yourself?" "Well, I have a KitchenAid."

Yes, having a KitchenAid makes this labor of love a whole lot easier. I am able to whip up these cookies in no time and have the taste of the family tradition out on the counter each year.

These cookies are not your traditional chocolate chip or lots of sweet and sugary treat. Instead, they are a spiced packed little tea cookie. They are just the right amount of a little bit of sweet and a whole lot of spice.

Here is the recipe:

Now you’ll notice on the recipe that there is lard. I know some that sounds totally gross. If you want to substitute Crisco, you can, but I will say many old-fashioned recipes do contain this ingredient. You can find it in the baking section in a box typically by Farmer John. If you do not have it at your grocery store, you can ask the butcher.

When it comes to the spices, rather than spending a bunch of money on all these jars of spices that you only need a tablespoon for, I like to go to my local Sprouts Market and purchase the items from the area where you can buy the spice by the ounce. This makes it much more inexpensive and I’m able to get fresh spices at just the amount that I need.

The recipe is pretty straightforward as you really just mix it all together, and you can either use a cookie scooper or roll them out yourselves. Back when I did this as a child, we would all sit there and roll and it’s kind of fun to do with your kids or family members. If you’re in a bind for time the cookie scoop works as well.

Simply mix it all up, place it on your cookie sheet and bake them and to golden brown. These cookies last for so long as they do not have egg, butter or milk. You can leave them out without worrying that they will go bad quickly. It’s quite nice that the recipe makes so many, as I typically have a bowl on the counter that we can just go by to grab for a quick treat. 

And there you have it, another holiday tradition that isn’t very hard, but does add that nostalgic old-fashioned taste that has been passed down from family members who have passed. Being able to have a ose whoseason where we can still remember them that are no longer here, celebrating with us. Keeping their memories alive is important to do and it stirs up stories to share with the next generation. I might’ve been there, and I do know this.

Xo, 

Mama