Old-Fashioned Raisin-Filled Cookies

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This recipe for Old-Fashioned Raisin-Filled Cookies is an old Brethren recipe. The German Baptist Brethren are a sect very much like the Amish, but a bit more progressive, allowing for electricity and motorized vehicles.  Cooking and baking styles, however, are quite similar to the Amish, perhaps a bit more elegant.

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• 🍪 Old-Fashioned Raisin-Filled Cookies
• 📋 Instructions
• 👨‍🍳 More Amish Raisin Recipes
• 🖨️ Full Recipe

The German Baptist Brethren dress plainly, so they are often mistaken for Amish.  But most German Baptists drive cars and have electricity with the exception of the Old Order German Baptists.  Most German Baptists live in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Kansas.  A few churches are in California. Thank you to Patricia P for testing this recipe for us.

This cookie looks labor-intensive, but it's really not, you're essentially putting two circles of dough together, putting filling, a tablespoon of raisin filling, in the center of one of them, sealing it, and putting a hole in top. The raisin-filled filling is where this cookie really shines, even if you arent' a raisin fan (like me), these are still delicious. The walnut pieces add some nice crunch to the cookie. If you are not a walnut fan you could probably use slivered almonds. Maybe. I'm not sure peanuts would be good. You could leave the nuts out altogether (I might), but you'd lose the "crunch" you get. A hint of oats might give you some of that, oh wait a minute, here's an idea: Rice Krispies. Yes, if you don't want nuts, maybe add some Rice Krispies to the filling.

True to Amish and Plain cooking and baking, this recipe is very basic: sugar, flour, water, eggs, raisins,and walnuts to name a few. A rolling pin is also handy for this recipe. I always find it amazing how some of the handcrafted rolling pins in Amish and Mennonite settlements get passed down through many generations.

Same can be said for cookie cutters as for rolling pins, some stay in the family for generations. This is a 3-inch wide biscuit cutter or cookie cutter and is perfect for making these Old-Fashioned Raisin-Filled Cookies!

You wouldn't have to just use raisins for this, you could experiment with prunes, currants, or some other fruits. Strawberries, I'm thinking, would be good. But raisin-filled cookies is the Brethren tradition so if you want to stay true to form, stick with the recipe as is. But you could also add some molasses to the filling or a teaspoon or two of cinnamon. Ground cinnamon is often a beautiful complement to raisins.

Use a thimble, or a thumb, to make a small indent in each cookie and that is where you'll put the raisin filling. So, to recap, what you are doing is laying one circle of dough flat, spoon filling in the center, and then covering with another circle of dough, sealing the edges with your fingers and then making a hole in the top to expose the filling. While Amish, Mennonites, or Brethren would likely leave the cookies just as they are, these cookies could probably be "decorated" for Christmas, with maybe some Christmas-colored sprinkles. Although I like the way they look just as they are.

Bake them on parchment paper for easier clean up.

When the cookies are out of the oven, let them cool on a wire rack. Make sure you don't crowd them on the racks. Give them room to "breathe."

Patricia said these cookies go well with a cup of tea and that the dough is sugar cookie-like and the raisin filling is sweet. Patricia said that she had an old thimble, but if you don't just cut a small hole or slit. Or use your thumb.

In the filling, instead of using white sugar, you could use brown sugar or a blend of white and brown. Just adds a hint of a molasses to the flavor. A hint or maybe a half teaspoon of salt could be added to the filling mixture if you like the taste. Just be sure to stir it in well, make sure you scrape the side of the bowl and just get the filling really mixed. And with two eggs in this recipe, large eggs work the best.

🍪 Old-Fashioned Raisin-Filled Cookies

Dough:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup shortening (lard or butter)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• Approx 6 cups of flour

Filling:

• 2 cups ground raisins
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 1 /2 cups chopped walnuts

📋 Instructions

1. Cook filling ingredients in a medium saucepan until it thickens, perhaps a slow boil. Add walnuts.
2. Roll dough out very thin.
3. Using a 3-inch wide biscuit or doughnut cutter, cut enough to fill a cookie sheet.
4. Put a tablespoon full or a nice big blob of filling in the center of each cookie.
5. Now, using the same cookie cutter cut tops of each cookie. Using a thimble, cut a hole in the center of each of the “top” cookies on each of the raisin blobs, sealing all around with fingertips.
6. Bake at 375 until done, usually not being brown at all.

👨‍🍳 More Amish Raisin Recipes

Amish Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Canadian Butter Tart Pie

Sour Cream Raisin Pie

🖨️ Full Recipe