The Best Amish Cookies Ever

This recipe for Amish cookies was given to me by a neighbor many years ago and is the best one I've ever found, bar none. They're made with buttermilk, so they turn out light and melt-in-your mouth delicious. You'll want to make a mixture of sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on top before they go into the oven.

Be sure to follow the instructions to the letter, otherwise they'll be a disaster. I found that out a while back when I tried the usual method of combining the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately, and then adding the dry into the wet. DON'T DO THAT! 

These turn out large, so I use a 1/4 c. measure for dipping the batter onto the cookie sheets in order to keep them at a reasonable size. They yield a thinner cookie than most sugar cookie recipes and a lot of them! You can easily halve the recipe if desired.

The original instructions said to use ungreased cookie sheets, and I've always done that, assuming that the cookies won't rise properly if you grease them. You'll have to gently scrape them off the sheet with a spatula while they're hot, being careful not to scrunch them up. 

After the cookies are all off, I lay the sheets across the sink and scrape off all the residue that I easily can before using them for the next batch. It's fine. Doesn't hurt a thing. Because of the suger in the cookies, the residue that's left scrubs off easily under hot water when you're finished baking.

Give these a try and enjoy!

Amish Cookies

Preheat oven to 400°

Make a cinnamon-sugar mixture and set aside.

Cream together:

2 c. oil

3 c. sugar

4 eggs

Add and mix:

2 c. buttermilk

2 tsp. soda

2 tbsp. baking powder

Add and mix:

1 ½ tbsp. vanilla

1 ½ tsp. salt 

6 c. flour

Let sit for 5 minutes.

Drop by ¼ c. batter on ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle liberally with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake 7-8 minutes at 400° or until set and slightly brown around the edges. Don’t allow to brown very much, but make sure they’re cooked through. The tops will spring back when you touch them lightly. 

Carefully remove the cookies from the sheet with a spatula while they’re still hot and set on a wire rack to cool. The bottoms do stick to the sheet, so you’ll need to scrape off the stuck bits while the sheet is still warm, before reusing the sheet. When you’re finished, the sheets clean off easily under hot water.

Store the cookies in an air-tight container. They are fragile, so keep stacking to a minimum and place a sheet of wax paper between the layers.