Grandma Gray's Sugar Cakes

When I was a kid my Grandma Gray (my Mom's Mom) and my Aunt Mary (my Mom's sister) had a stand at the local farmer's market. My aunt sold vegetables and my grandmother baked pies and cookies to sell. I loved going to my grandmother's house. I was the youngest grandchild and was a bit spoiled because of it. I can remember my grandma mixing up great batches of cookies using a big old white coffee mug to measure out the flour and sugar. She didn't call these sugar cookies, they were sugar cakes. My grandmother made them with a raisin in the middle. I always took the raisin out before I age them. My mother was smart enough to copy down my grandmother's recipes but had to figure out just how much fit into that large coffee mug. My grandmother's idea of a cup was NOT the same as a measuring cup. I half this recipe when I make it because I'm not going to market. you can do whatever you think best....

5 cups sugar
8 eggs
2 cups Crisco, melted
2 cups buttermilk
10 cups flour
2 heaping tsp baking soda
8 Tbsp vanilla or lemon extract

Blend sugar, eggs, and Crisco. Alternate adding buttermilk and flour/baking soda. Once batter is smooth, add extract. Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Sprinkle each cookie with granulated sugar. Add a raisin to the center if you like (but not if you used lemon extract). At Christmas I use colored sugar or other decorations instead of granulated sugar.

It helps to make a sample cookie to determine if you need to add more flour to the batter. These cookies should be nice and fluffy.

10 dozen.

You should note that my grandma mixed these by hand.....no fancy electric mixer for her!