Trying Out the Mirro Aluminum Cookie Press

Introduction

We’ve been cleaning out the garage and the shed and finding all sorts of treasures. Yesterday, I pulled out a mint looking Mirro Aluminum Cookie Press which must have belonged to my mother. One blogger wrote that her mother had one of these gadgets, then added that of course, everyone’s mother had one of them. Mine certainly did, and while I don’t remember her using them, I know that she used to make “Spritz” cookies when I was little. Being a member of the Kitchen Gadget of the Month Club, I had to try it out. Here, therefore, are the results of my morning’s work.

As with so many family treasures, this cookie press did not have its owner’s manual. In fact, while just a day ago I saw its box in the garage, Kevin assures me that the box was ruined and has been taken to the dump. Drat. Now I can’t show you a picture of the original packaging. No doubt I could find a picture online showing the original packaging, but for now, I’ll leave it to your imagination. What I did find online was a recipe from the original owner’s manual for a gingersnap type cookie, Molasses Spice Cookies.

The Recipe

For the Mirro Cookie Press – Molasses Spice Cookies

Time: 10-12 min. Temp: 375 F
1/2 Cup shortening
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
1/4 Teaspoon baking soda
1/4 Cup Molasses
2 Cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 Teaspoon salt
One quarter Teaspoon Allspice
1/4 Teaspoon cloves
1/4Teaspoon mace
1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon ginger

1. Cream the shortening and add sugar gradually and cream thoroughly
2. Add beaten egg, mix soda with molasses and add to creamed mixture.
3. Gradually add flour sifted with salt and spices.
4. Fill the cookie press and bake.

Putting the recipe to use

The recipe is simple enough, and I had all the ingredients in the cupboard, so why not? After all, I love ginger snaps and molasses spice cookies are just another type of ginger snap, right? To make the cookies, I chose the pattern disk that looks like a large furry “Y”. I understand that cookies pressed through this disk end up looking like a heart. Seems like a no brainer.

As I said above, I had all the necessary ingredients in the cupboard–didn’t even need to go into the pantry. Started the oven heating to 375, stuck the cookie sheet in the fridge (to cool it down, don’t ya know), then assembled the ingredients.

Let’s see–1/2 cup shortening (butter flavored Crisco, to be exact); 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 egg beaten, 1/4 cup molasses, 2 cups flour. All there and ready to mix together. I even had all the spices–and all in the same part of the spice rack. Oops-not whole allspice. I need the ground stuff. Fortunately, I have that too. Have I mentioned that my spice rack fills one drawer and two cabinet shelves?

Now it’s just a matter of mixing the stuff together in the right order. Cream the shortening, cream in the sugar. Add the beaten egg, mix the baking soda with the molasses, then add that into the mixture. Mix the flour and the spices, and add that in gradually. Get it all together and voilà

What actually happened

Now the video I watched suggested the dough should approximate bread dough. This is more pie crust dough Wonder if that will make a difference? Guess we’ll find out. Just as Kathie did in the video, I pulled some handfuls of dough to put inside the press. I saw that you should only fill the cylinder 1/4 full, so that’s what I did.

With everything in place, I turned the black knob, and sure enough, dough started coming out through the fuzzy Y disk. It did not stick to the pan. What did happen was the top of the press separated from the cylinder. Just like that. Screw everything back together and try again, after pulling off the dough from the bottom and placing it, by hand, on the cookie sheet. Turn black knob. Dough starts extruding. Top comes off the cylinder. Apparently my dough is too stiff for the Mirro Aluminum Cookie Press.

Drat.

When it’s all said and done

Still, I want my cookies, so what’s a mother to do? Grab the rolling pin and pastry cloth to roll out the dough. Take a cookie cutter and pretend I wanted refrigerator cookies all along. The dough rolled and cut beautifully. I cut out 2 baker’s dozen cookies (26 in all) and put them on two separate cookie sheets. Baked at 375 for 11 minutes and there you have it. Molasses Spice Cookies–just not from the Mirro Aluminum Cookie Press.

The Betty Crocker Cookie Book has two pages devoted to Spritz cookies. I’ll try that recipe and see if the dough is any more pliable–but not today!

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By the way, in the photo above, you see the two fuzzy Ys? Yep, that’s what came out of the Mirro Aluminum Cookie Press. Don’t look like hearts at all to me. Just like fuzzy Ys! But along with the rest of the cookies, they’re delicious, especially with a cup of Darjeeling tea! And for more recipes, check out my Recipe of the Day page.

TTFN

If you buy the Betty Crocker Cooky Book from the link below, I get a cut of the proceeds, full disclosure.