Cold Doughs

These are Patty's signature cookie. Each holiday season she bakes up a storm and sends off batches of these cookies to friends and relatives.


Dough

1 pound butter or margarine, melted
1 12 ounce can evaporated milk
6 eggs, beaten
1 package active dry yeast
½ teaspoon salt
8 to 9 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Combine first five ingredients. Add flour to make a firm dough. Chill overnight.

Nut Filling

2 cups finely ground walnuts
1 cup hot milk
¼ cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/3 cup honey

Bring above ingredients to a boil and add 2 beaten eggs. Add a small amount of hot mixture to beaten eggs, then add eggs all at once and cook until thickened, about two minutes. Add ¼ teaspoons of salt and mix well. Cool thoroughly. Keep refrigerated.

Apricot Filling

1 cup California dried apricots
Water to cover

Cook apricots and water until apricots are soft and easily mashed. Mash apricots and add sugar to taste (about 1 cup) and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Mix well, cool, then refrigerate. Do not use Mediterranean apricots as they do not mash well.

Baking

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll walnut sized ball of dough in a small amount of granulated sugar. Sprinkle sugar on counter. Roll dough paper thin. Spread thin layer of filling on dough. Roll up and form into crescent shape. Pinch edges well. Place on well greased baking sheet and bake 20minutes or until light brown. Remove from sheet immediately and cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Makes about 100 cookies.

Helpful Hints

Cookies can be frozen for later use. Dough will keep for about a week in the refrigerator, so you don't have to bake them all in one day. If dough is too sticky to work with, place in refrigerator until chilled. Cookie sheets need to be washed after each pan is baked, as they get quite messy. I usually make equal amounts of each filling and always have some left over. They can be used in other yeast rolls or cookies.