Posted on 12/05/2017 5:06:11 PM PST by mairdie
Rich, buttery and just 5 cents each, Chicago Public Schools' iconic butter cookies made lunchtime all the merrier from the 1960s and through the ’80s. These classic shortbread cookies, pressed with three fingers for good measure and baked to toasty perfection, once graced cafeteria trays across the city. ...
Made from scratch, with lots of butter and lots of sugar, they're not on the menu anymore, since their fat and sugar content wouldn't meet today's nutrition standards.
"But we still make them every once in a while, to share among the cafeteria staff," Streak says.
Their origins are murky, and Chicago Public Schools has no record of where or when the cookies made their debut, but according to alumni lore, they popped up in the 1960s at both elementary and high schools throughout Chicago. The original recipe calls for just four ingredients — butter, sugar, vanilla extract and flour — but at some point, a peanut butter version appeared on the cafeteria scene.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
CPS (Chicago Public School) peanut butter cookies
Prep: 20 minutes
Chill: 4 hours
Bake: 12-15 minutes
Makes: about 30 cookies
Developed by Amy Bizzarri from traditional recipes.The CPS cookie’s peanut butter cousin sometimes made an appearance in cafeterias across the city, much to the delight of students.
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, 5 minutes. Mix in salt and vanilla. Mix in the egg. Reduce to low speed; add flour and baking soda. Mix until well combined.
2 Roll dough into a 12-inch log; wrap with plastic wrap. Chill, at least 4 hours.
3 Cut log into 1/4-inch slices; use 3 fingers to gently press the cookies down onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake, 12-15 minutes.
You couldn’t get cookies at my elementary school in Springfield MO. But they did serve this sloppy joe like stuff that they dumped on mashed potatoes. It was hella good!
Oh, yes! I LOVED sloppy joes. All I see these days is the canned glop that wasn’t ANYWHERE as good. Have a recipe for it???
The college cafeteria was scrambled eggs with peas for dinner.
Grammar school was better.
I don’t, or I’d be happy to share. I believe this stuff had brown gravy mix as an ingredient. It wasn’t like anything else.
I love Sloppy Joe. All I can find though are the canned sauce or the McCormick seasoning packet. Does anyone have a good from scratch recipe? I’d like to replicate that hearty flavor without the high fructose corn syrup, dextrose and other industrial ingredients.
Basic Sloppy Joe school recipe was
Gr Beef
Onions
catsup
Chili powder
Worchestershire sauce
Brown sugar
Some times a squirt of mustard
My recipe for sloppy joe
1 1/2-2# gr chuck
1/2 diced onion (I grate mine)
1 tablespoon br sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Chili powder, salt, pepper to taste
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 cup tomato purée
Catsup
This tends to be pretty sloppy and I thicken with oatmeal that has been put in blender/food processor and ground into a flour consistency. A couple of tablespoonfuls is all it takes, then simmer until thick.
This is definitely a taste as you make recipe.
I’m not sure about that, but if you want to have a tasty time, try this: cook up some loose ground beef and stir in some of your favorite salsa and simmer it down.
Squish the results into patties, put it on a bun and top with a slice of sharp cheddar.
I like to call it a ‘sloppy Tex’...
:)
Both recipes MUCH appreciated. That’s a childhood comfort food!
They are very good and buttery.
city chicken....
Excellent!
Hubby remembers some slop they served in the Navy, which was called S. On a Shingle. Say’s it’s not roast beef and milk gravy that I learned to make. Different color.
The secret to any good cookie is REAL BUTTER! And close attention to cooking temp and time.
Remember the end of the Julie/Julia movie when she slips a package of butter into the Smithsonian exhibit of Julia Child’s kitchen? Butter. Sigh.
S.O.S. Is made with dried beef & white gravy. We had it once a week as kids.
Forgot to say, cocoa powder optional. Gives it a subtle richer flavor. I add it to chili too.
I don't know the measurements as I just kind of wing it. Super good and easy!
He said it was red...maybe he confused it with a type of sloppy joe with dried beef instead of hamburger. We are after all talking 60-80 Navy.
I make it with sliced roast beef and standard milk gravy, but use bacon greese in my rue. Same as if I were making breakfast gravy for biscuits.
Still taste good, still make it, and he still eats it. LOL
Given that it’s just the 2 of us I don’t cook but about 3 if that, times a week, so we eat a lot of left overs.
Eating out is not easy when diet has to be controlled for cholesterol, salt, spicey and calories. We usually split a meal when we eat out.
That reminds me I haven’t gotten my annual tin of Royal Dansk, the rancid butter cookies of choice.
Make your favorite spaghetti sauce. If it’s thick put it on a bun. If it’s not thick add cornstarch. that’s the sloppy joe recipe I was raised with anyway.
I’ve tried them, but they’re not the dreams of childhood.
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