Seems fitting to find this recipe in a 1962 cookbook. I wonder how many cookbooks circa 2012 feature a mincemeat cookie? ok, MinceMEAT. My first thought? I’m gonna have to make cookies with chopped up brisket. Ick. Now I’ve heard of mincemeat, just like I’ve heard of figgy pudding, but I have no real idea with it is. Yet I immediately assume it’s as gross as it sounds.
I have to do some research on this cookie because I don’t even know where to buy mincemeat. At the butcher counter? Turns out, to my huge relief, mincemeat is a mixture of chopped dried fruit, distilled spirits and spices, and sometimes beef suet (raw beef or mutton fat), beef, or venison. Originally, mincemeat always contained meat and it was usually served as a main course. However over time, more fruits and nuts and less meats were used, redesigning it as more of a dessert. Mincemeat pie can be served with ice cream even. And this mixture known as mincemeat can be found packaged in the baking aisle near the spices. Whew.
So after searching the grocery aisle for awhile, I find the only jar of mincemeat. It looks like a brown chunky jelly that boasts raisins and apples. Doesn’t look terrible. Then I read the ingredients: water, corn syrup, raisins, dried apples, molasses, corn starch, vinegar, dried citrus peel, salt, spices, BEEF, bitters, fruit pectin. Wait a minute. Back this trolley up. It has actual beef in it. There probably isn’t much in it (how do I know? read my following tip*), but that is besides the point! My previous wariness of this cookie returns. 
*TIP: Ingredients are always listed from most prevalent to least prevalent. I’m always checking labels to be sure that some synthetic ingredient isn’t listed first.
The mincemeat I buy is considered prepared, so I use one cup of that in the recipe and omit the milk like instructed. That only puts a dent in the 27oz jar I bought, so now I have a partially used jar of mincemeat in my fridge. Though I have no clue what else I’ll use it for, I just can’t bring myself to throw it away yet.
I get the cookies in the oven and anticipate the smell of pot roast cooking, but luckily that wasn’t the case. The cookies turn out to look and smell a lot like the Hermits I made earlier, with the spicy profile, raisins, and nuts. My husband eats the first cookie – and he likes it! He was disappointed that they don’t taste like steak, but is pleasantly surprised. I take a taste as well, and he’s right. No meaty flavor at all. They tastes like spices and molasses, and are actually the moistest cookies I’ve made yet. They’re actually the best cookies I’ve made yet! I’m learning very quickly that you can’t judge a cookie by its cover. I doubt that the mincemeat cookie will make a comeback anytime soon, but I wouldn’t complain. Perhaps Wendy’s could add them as a new item for their “Where’s the beef?” sologan?
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| Before |
Cookie Grade: B+ = yummy recipe, but still struggling with the meat part
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| After |
What I was jammin’ to: the Annalie and Daddy band, featuring many pots and pans
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