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CPS butter cookies: You can still find the classics years after they disappeared
Chicago Tribune ^ | 5 December 2017 | Amy Bizzarri

Posted on 12/05/2017 5:06:11 PM PST by mairdie

Rich, buttery and just 5 cents each, Chicago Public Schools' iconic butter cookies made lunchtime all the merrier from the 1960s and through the ’80s. These classic shortbread cookies, pressed with three fingers for good measure and baked to toasty perfection, once graced cafeteria trays across the city. ...

Made from scratch, with lots of butter and lots of sugar, they're not on the menu anymore, since their fat and sugar content wouldn't meet today's nutrition standards.

"But we still make them every once in a while, to share among the cafeteria staff," Streak says.

Their origins are murky, and Chicago Public Schools has no record of where or when the cookies made their debut, but according to alumni lore, they popped up in the 1960s at both elementary and high schools throughout Chicago. The original recipe calls for just four ingredients — butter, sugar, vanilla extract and flour — but at some point, a peanut butter version appeared on the cafeteria scene.

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...


TOPICS: Food
KEYWORDS: chicago; cookies; peanutbutter; publicschool
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I must have tried 5 recipes last year trying to replicate this memory. One difference with article. When I was in the Joseph Warren Elementary School, the cookies were 3 cents, not 5.

CPS (Chicago Public School) peanut butter cookies

Prep: 20 minutes

Chill: 4 hours

Bake: 12-15 minutes

Makes: about 30 cookies

Developed by Amy Bizzarri from traditional recipes.The CPS cookie’s peanut butter cousin sometimes made an appearance in cafeterias across the city, much to the delight of students.

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter, peanut butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, 5 minutes. Mix in salt and vanilla. Mix in the egg. Reduce to low speed; add flour and baking soda. Mix until well combined.

2 Roll dough into a 12-inch log; wrap with plastic wrap. Chill, at least 4 hours.

3 Cut log into 1/4-inch slices; use 3 fingers to gently press the cookies down onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake, 12-15 minutes.

1 posted on 12/05/2017 5:06:11 PM PST by mairdie
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To: mairdie

You couldn’t get cookies at my elementary school in Springfield MO. But they did serve this sloppy joe like stuff that they dumped on mashed potatoes. It was hella good!


2 posted on 12/05/2017 5:09:53 PM PST by Artemis Webb (Maxine Waters for House Minority Leader!!)
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To: Artemis Webb

Oh, yes! I LOVED sloppy joes. All I see these days is the canned glop that wasn’t ANYWHERE as good. Have a recipe for it???

The college cafeteria was scrambled eggs with peas for dinner.

Grammar school was better.


3 posted on 12/05/2017 5:13:22 PM PST by mairdie
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To: mairdie

I don’t, or I’d be happy to share. I believe this stuff had brown gravy mix as an ingredient. It wasn’t like anything else.


4 posted on 12/05/2017 5:24:27 PM PST by Artemis Webb (Maxine Waters for House Minority Leader!!)
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To: Artemis Webb

I love Sloppy Joe. All I can find though are the canned sauce or the McCormick seasoning packet. Does anyone have a good from scratch recipe? I’d like to replicate that hearty flavor without the high fructose corn syrup, dextrose and other industrial ingredients.


5 posted on 12/05/2017 6:29:24 PM PST by Crolis ("To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it." -GKC)
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To: mairdie

Basic Sloppy Joe school recipe was
Gr Beef
Onions
catsup
Chili powder
Worchestershire sauce
Brown sugar
Some times a squirt of mustard

My recipe for sloppy joe
1 1/2-2# gr chuck
1/2 diced onion (I grate mine)
1 tablespoon br sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Chili powder, salt, pepper to taste
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 cup tomato purée
Catsup
This tends to be pretty sloppy and I thicken with oatmeal that has been put in blender/food processor and ground into a flour consistency. A couple of tablespoonfuls is all it takes, then simmer until thick.

This is definitely a taste as you make recipe.


6 posted on 12/05/2017 6:38:37 PM PST by grame (May you know more of the love of God Almighty this day!)
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To: mairdie

I’m not sure about that, but if you want to have a tasty time, try this: cook up some loose ground beef and stir in some of your favorite salsa and simmer it down.

Squish the results into patties, put it on a bun and top with a slice of sharp cheddar.

I like to call it a ‘sloppy Tex’...

:)


7 posted on 12/05/2017 6:42:12 PM PST by Kommodor (Terrorist, Journalist or Democrat? I can't tell the difference.)
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To: Kommodor; grame

Both recipes MUCH appreciated. That’s a childhood comfort food!


8 posted on 12/05/2017 7:13:33 PM PST by mairdie
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To: mairdie

They are very good and buttery.


9 posted on 12/06/2017 1:03:26 AM PST by Trillian
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To: Artemis Webb

city chicken....


10 posted on 12/06/2017 1:09:36 AM PST by cherry
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To: grame

Excellent!


11 posted on 12/06/2017 1:14:59 AM PST by Freedom56v2 (#KATE'SWALL Build it Now)
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To: Artemis Webb

Hubby remembers some slop they served in the Navy, which was called S. On a Shingle. Say’s it’s not roast beef and milk gravy that I learned to make. Different color.

The secret to any good cookie is REAL BUTTER! And close attention to cooking temp and time.


12 posted on 12/06/2017 5:40:18 AM PST by GailA (Ret. SCPO wife: suck it up buttercups it's President Donald Trump!)
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To: Trillian

Remember the end of the Julie/Julia movie when she slips a package of butter into the Smithsonian exhibit of Julia Child’s kitchen? Butter. Sigh.


13 posted on 12/06/2017 6:57:54 AM PST by mairdie
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To: GailA

S.O.S. Is made with dried beef & white gravy. We had it once a week as kids.


14 posted on 12/06/2017 11:06:29 AM PST by grame (May you know more of the love of God Almighty this day!)
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To: grame

Forgot to say, cocoa powder optional. Gives it a subtle richer flavor. I add it to chili too.


15 posted on 12/06/2017 11:08:20 AM PST by grame (May you know more of the love of God Almighty this day!)
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To: Crolis
1 lb of ground beef
can of tomato sauce
diced onions
sliced hot peppers
chili powder
glob of pickle relish

I don't know the measurements as I just kind of wing it. Super good and easy!

16 posted on 12/06/2017 11:14:37 AM PST by meowmeow (In Loving Memory of Our Dear Viking Kitty (1987-2006))
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To: grame

He said it was red...maybe he confused it with a type of sloppy joe with dried beef instead of hamburger. We are after all talking 60-80 Navy.

I make it with sliced roast beef and standard milk gravy, but use bacon greese in my rue. Same as if I were making breakfast gravy for biscuits.

Still taste good, still make it, and he still eats it. LOL

Given that it’s just the 2 of us I don’t cook but about 3 if that, times a week, so we eat a lot of left overs.

Eating out is not easy when diet has to be controlled for cholesterol, salt, spicey and calories. We usually split a meal when we eat out.


17 posted on 12/06/2017 11:53:44 AM PST by GailA (Ret. SCPO wife: suck it up buttercups it's President Donald Trump!)
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To: mairdie

That reminds me I haven’t gotten my annual tin of Royal Dansk, the rancid butter cookies of choice.


18 posted on 12/06/2017 11:54:49 AM PST by discostu (let's do another bad one, cause I like it when the blood drains from Dave's face.)
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To: Crolis

Make your favorite spaghetti sauce. If it’s thick put it on a bun. If it’s not thick add cornstarch. that’s the sloppy joe recipe I was raised with anyway.


19 posted on 12/06/2017 11:56:26 AM PST by discostu (let's do another bad one, cause I like it when the blood drains from Dave's face.)
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To: discostu

I’ve tried them, but they’re not the dreams of childhood.


20 posted on 12/06/2017 12:03:18 PM PST by mairdie
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