I have been spending some time reading through the Harvey County Fair’s entry guidelines book, looking at all the food categories.
The one that intrigues me, which I need to pay more attention to when I go look at the exhibits this year, is for cookie jars.
For the entry, the cookies have to be placed in a wide-mouth jar, and it has to consist of six to nine different cookies, each individually wrapped, with at least 18 cookies in the jar.
I am absolutely baffled about how someone can get 18 cookies into a wide-mouth jar. I have to see this for myself.
Of course, I’m guessing the answer is I have a tendency to make my cookies too large. These exhibitors must have a lot more patience and restraint than I generally do. Normally, my cookies get larger and larger with every batch, since I’m normally ready to be done after about three.
Despite that, I did manage to keep my cookies for this week’s recipe at a consistent, smaller size, and they turned out really well—in flavor and presentation.
This comes from the blog Cooktop Cove from a post by Georgia Lynn. You can find the original post at https://cooktopcove.com/2025/02/10/cant-stop-baking-these-cookies—third-night-in-a-row/. I added extra vanilla, along with cinnamon, to my version below. I also inadvertently left out the milk it called for, and since it had absolutely no effect on the end result, I just left it out in my version, too.
Washboard Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar plus more for rolling cookies
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a couple baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper, and set them aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar for a couple of minutes until the mixture is light yellow and airy.
- Beat in the vanilla.
- Next, beat in the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon until everything is well combined.
- Using your hands, roll the dough into one-inch balls. Put some sugar in a small bowl, and roll the balls in the sugar. Place them about two inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Use a fork and make a crosshatch pattern on each ball, pressing down gently.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Let them cool for about five minutes, and then transfer the cookies into an airtight container.
These were like lightly spiced sugar cookies. They were crispy out of the oven, but then they softened up in the container. So if you’re into crunchy cookies, let them cool completely before you put them in the container.
And if you follow the directions and roll these into one-inch balls, you could easily fit quite a few of them into a wide-mouth jar. After all, I was able to fit a good number into my wide mouth, too.
This piece first appeared in print July 17, 2025.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.