‘Tis the cookie season! And, oh my, but we have some fun cookies if you’re looking for inspiration for your holiday baking. I mean, Bec’s Apple Butter Rugelach look AMAZING (I am SO making those next week), and we have S’mores Cookies, Not Your Mama’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, and even Chocolate Chip Biscotti if you’re feeling kinda fancy (if you’re feeling Super Fancy, you could even drizzle them with or dip them in chocolate). And if, by chance, you’re feeling like you might get over-cookied (I know, like that even seems POSSIBLE), did you see Becky’s Savory Oatmeal Cookies last week? I cannot WAIT to make those. I may even have to do that this weekend. *adds to list of things To-Do*
In the spirit of All Things Cookie, today I’m sharing a secret family cookie recipe: Ebingers.
These are my dad’s all-time FAVORITE cookies. I mean, he LOVES my chocolate chip cookies, raves about them, practically begs for a bag to take home whenever he comes to visit (well, he WOULD beg if I didn’t always fill a gallon ziplock for him automatically). But THESE—these Ebingers—these are his Most Favorite Cookie of all time. Probably because he grew up on them, something his mother made, something that was made for his mom when she was a kid in the 1920s.
There’s a history here, my friends. As far as I know, this recipe has never been shared publicly before. I spoke with my Aunt Linda to get the backstory on where this recipe came from, and she was fairly certain cousin Susie was going to be a little aghast that I was sharing it. (Sorry, Susie—I can’t help it. It’s just too good to keep to ourselves!)
You see, this recipe goes back to my grandmother’s childhood in Edison Park, Chicago. (A Chicago cookie, Bec!!) In all reality, it likely goes back further than that, but what I know about this recipe starts there.
My grandmother grew up in Edison Park, one of five children in the Sweazy family. They had these two sweet ladies for neighbors—the Ebinger sisters. (Side note: I did a little digging about the Ebinger family and discovered that the area that became known as Edison Park was first settled in 1834 by John and Katherine Ebinger, who peopled the place with quite a number of descendants. No clue whether these Ebinger sisters were amongst their descendants, but it’s very likely they were either granddaughters or great granddaughters.)
But back to the Ebinger sisters. Unfortunately, I don’t know their first names. What I do know is that they never married, and from what my Aunt told me, it sounds as if they kind of adopted the Sweazy family. In fact, whenever any of the kids got sick, injured, or the family experienced some sort of hardship, the Ebinger sisters would bring these cookies over. Apparently my great uncle John even faked illness at least once just to get the cookies.
Clearly, these cookies had the power to make things better.
So my grandmother grew up on these cookies, and she brought up her children—my dad, aunt, and uncle—on them, too. This recipe has been passed down from generation to generation, something I absolutely LOVE.
And these cookies are delightful. There’s nothing fancy-pants about them. They’re a soft, slightly cakey vanilla cookie with a smear of frosting on top. They’re perfect when you’re in the mood for a simple sweet treat (and in the mood for a LOT of them because—Holy Cookies, Batman—this recipe makes about 9 dozen…which may be just the thing for an upcoming holiday cookie exchange, I’m just saying).
But beware—they’re the kind of cookie where you eat one, and then another, and another, and maaaaaybe just one more because they’re just sooooo delicious. Kinda like eating chips—you can’t eat just one (maybe that’s why the recipe makes so much? Or maybe it’s because of my great uncle John).
A tablespoon of the sticky dough spreads out into almost a perfectly round mound in only about five minutes, and then you frost them while they’re still warm so the frosting melts. It’s a perfect thing to bake with kids, too. Mine were busily frosting the hot cookies as one tray baked and another was being prepared for baking. The cookies do stick just a *little* to the greased pan, so perhaps one of those nifty silicone mats* like Becky uses or parchment paper might be just the thing if a little stickiness bothers you. They’re not difficult to get off the pan, mind you, and I don’t mind the little bit of stickiness, but they don’t pop right off the pan like some cookies do.
The original recipe calls for a frosting made from just powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, and you’re more than welcome to go that route, but I find that frosting too sweet. So I’ve included my go-to vanilla cream cheese frosting (which makes more than what you’ll need even though I’ve cut it in half, but this way you’ll have frosting to decorate your cut sugar cookies, too!).
Happy cookie-ing, y’all!
Ingredients
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 teaspoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Cookie Dough
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup sour milk (1/2 cup milk + 1 tsp baking soda + 1 tsp vinegar)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F/218 C. Prepare baking sheets by greasing, or covering with parchment or a silicone mat.
- Make the frosting: Combine butter, cream cheese, vanilla, milk, and salt. Mix in powdered sugar one cup at a time, until fluffy and smooth. Set aside.
- Make the sour milk and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar very well. Add in the eggs, and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in sour cream, sour milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix in one cup of flour at a time. Dough will be sticky and thick, similar to brownie batter.
- Drop tablespoons of dough onto prepared cookie sheet, and bake for 5-7 minutes until just done. Cookies will puff up and spread quite a bit. They do not get brown on top.
- Remove immediately from pan and frost while warm.
*The silicone mat is an Amazon affiliate link. Thanks! Please see the right sidebar for more info.