LeAnne’s Christmas Casserole Cookies and Apricot-Nut Salad

A 1960s cookie with a technique we use today.

I had originally intended to publish this on the same day as Yesterdish’s cake pops because the basic concept is the same (mash cake, cover in something), but in rushing around to get that post done, I forgot about this one. This recipe sometimes appears under the name “date casserole cookies” or just casserole cookies. But before we go any further…

Check out Dinner is Served 1972‘s resurrection of a recipe from Yesterdish!

Dinnerisserved1972.com

First, if you don’t already read Dinner is Served 1972, you should. It’s an exercise in culinary fearlessness. When someone suggests I make applesauce in gelatin, I view it as a threat. Yinzerella views it as an opportunity. And while I’ve prepared brains a few times in my life, I have never once seen, let alone addressed, an intact cow tongue (at least, one that wasn’t attached to a cow). So Yinzerella went where others fear to tread and made Yi’s green bean casserole, originally from here in the Martinez, California box! Head over there and see the results!

Back to cookie casseroles–this recipe was mentioned in the Chicago Tribune around 1962, but it’s more likely LeAnne was a subscriber to the Mexico (Missouri) Evening Ledger, which printed the following version in its February 24, 1968 edition:

Christmas Casserole Cookies Mrs. Wendell Bishop Montgomery City, Mo. 2 eggs 1 cup sugar 1 cup nuts, chopped 1 cup snipped dates 1 cup flaked coconut 1 tsp. vanilla 1/4 tsp. almond extract Beat eggs well. Add sugar gradually, heating till fluffy. Stir in remaining ingredients. Turn into an ungreased 2-quart casserole. Bake in moderate oven (350) for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and while hot stir well with a wooden spoon. Cool. Form into small balls; roll in granulated sugar.

From the box of F.J. from Sun City, Arizona. Some cards suggest a family history in Missouri and Kansas.

---