Jum Jills « Oklahoma Pastry Cloth

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Christmas Cookies

Sunday, December 12th, 2010

Are – Jum-Jills!

Everyone has some traditional and tasty treat that is made year after year at Christmas. The internet is full of blog posts describing a favorite candy or cookie that is included in decorative tins, mason jars or pastry boxes for friends and neighbors. All of them are good and all of them make wonderful gifts.

My family is no different and I decided that I might as well join the flood of internet recipes with a family delicacy of our own. However, I will venture a bet that few other traditions are QUITE like ours. Ours is more than a cookie that has been part of our family world since I was a little girl. Our tradition is also a story about the cookie, with a happy ending, and, I’m quite sure, a moral which I have yet to figure out even over these past 5 decades!

Captain Kangaroo used to include a book on his show about a little old man and a little old woman who just wanted a little cat. They wound up with “hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats”. (That was before ‘quadrillion’ and ‘google’ were invented) It is a predicament we rural folk seem to find ourselves in all the time. Children all over the country were glued to the television as strains of an oboe and flute accompanied the pictures from the book one could swear were moving. A deep, pleasant voice intoned the story line. The book was written in 1928 by a German author, Wanda G’ag, and was a favorite in many households. A second book she had written in 1929 , however, does not seem to be as well-known. That is the one my family absolutely loved and it has now been read to grandchildren with an eye on great-grandchildren. The title? The Funny Thing.

The Funny Thing “looked something like a dog and also a little like a giraffe, and from the top of its head to the tip of its curled tail, there was a row of beautiful blue points.” He called himself an “aminal”. He ate good little children’s dolls. “And very good they are, good little children’s dolls.”

There is a little old man of the mountains named “Bobo” who is the hero and Bobo makes some little round balls from nut cakes and other items. He calls them “Jum-Jills”. Bobo tells the Funny Thing that the “Jum-Jills” will make his blue points bluer and his long tail longer. The vain Funny Thing gobbles them up and pretty soon his tail is so long that he has to sit on the top of a mountain, curling his tail around it, while the birds fly by and drop “Jum-Jills” into his mouth. The day is saved and no more good children have to suffer the loss of their precious dolls!

And so, when my mother was making the cookies in the recipe below, they immediately became “Jum-Jills” in our household and have been ever since. It is fun to take a batch to a group of young children, read the story and then hand out the cookies. It thrills them every time. So here is the easy recipe for “Jum Jills” so that you too can include them in your traditions! The recipe is also in our family cookbook along with other traditional recipes.

Ingredients for Jum-Jills

1 cup flour
1 stick real butter salted
3 tbsps powdered sugar
1 cup finely chopped nuts
powdered sugar for covering

I am using home ground, soft, white pastry, whole-wheat flour here, but you can use all purpose flour. I sift my flour because it is freshly ground. Also, I am doubling the recipe here because I was making a large batch. Here I am adding 2 cups of flour instead of one.

Next, add the powdered sugar. Because I am doubling, I am adding 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup instead of the 3 tbsps.

Have butter at room temperature and cut into chunks to make mixing easier and more uniform.

Mix until the butter is cut into the flour and powdered sugar mix, much like cutting shortening into flour for biscuits. The result should be a mixture of course crumbs.

Chop nuts in the blender or food processor or by hand. We use pecans, but almonds and English walnuts can be used as well. If using almonds, add 1/2 tsp. of almond extract per recipe to make almond “Jum-Jills”. Add the nuts to the mix and mix until the nuts are thoroughly incorporated.

Because I use the whole wheat flour, I have found that I need to add 1 tbsp of water per recipe. I am adding two tbsps here because I have doubled the recipe. If using regular, all-purpose flour, you can add a tsp of water if you find that your dough is not coming together.

The dough is ready when it forms a shaggy clump. The dough will seem dry, but that is ok because the butter is what makes the cookies soft and crunchy.

With a spoon, dip out a little bit of dough and roll it in the palms of your hands and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. You do not have to space them very far apart. Bake for 20 minutes in an oven that has been preheated to 350º.

It is great to make a lot of dough at once because it freezes well or keeps in the frig well for a quick bake. Just bring to room temperature and form your cookies.

When the cookies are done, let them cool slightly and then place several in a container with a tight lid that has been filled with powdered sugar. Shake carefully so not to break the cookies and coat the cookies with the sugar.

A plate of Jum-Jills will not last long around your house. And you might check to see whose points are bluer and whose tail is longest. You’ll know your culprits immediately!

A wide mouth canning jar makes a wonderful vessel in which to put cookies for a gift. The cookies will last even longer if you have a vacuum seal system that vacuums jars. Put a lid and ring in place and cover with brown paper or cloth. Attach a rubber band to hold the cloth or paper in place and cover it with a decorative ribbon. You can add a tag to wish your friend, neighbor or family member a Merry Christmas!