Mock mincemeat for pies, cookies

LITTLE ROCK — Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

We’re reprinting the following recipes at the request of Jo Hawley.

“If you would pull this [green tomato mincemeat] recipe from your archives a lot of people would be very happy,” Hawley writes.

Here’s to keeping the Alley Kats purring.

Rosemary Johnson gets credit for the recipes, which ran in December 2006.

Mock Mincemeat

2 cups chopped apples 2 cups green tomatoes 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup raisins 1 tablespoon butter 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon salt 11/2 tablespoons cornstarch

OR all-purpose flour,

optional

Peel and chop apples and tomatoes. Place in a large pan with sugar, raisins, butter, spices, salt and cornstarch; mix well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook about 5 minutes, stirring to keep it from sticking. (No other liquid is needed other than that which will cook from the apples and tomatoes. The mixture will be somewhat thick.)

To use in a pie: Arrange 1 unbaked pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate. Pour in mincemeat and cover with a second crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake 30 minutes more or until crust is brown.

Note: When green tomatoes are in season, you can double this recipe several times and freeze the mixture to use in pies and cookies later. Leave out the butter until ready to make the pie.

Mock Mincemeat Cookies

1 cup shortening 2 cups brown sugar 2 eggs, beaten 31/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 11/4 cups Mock Mincemeat

(see preceding recipe) 1 cup chopped nuts

In a large bowl, beat shortening and sugar together until fluffy. Blend in eggs. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to shortening and sugar mixture; mix well. Stir in mincemeat and nuts. Drop batter by teaspoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes “a lot” of cookies.

Debbie Likert and Sue Lopez responded to Donna Thompson’s request for cherry pie with crumb topping. “A good friend gave me this recipe several years ago,” Likert writes.

Cherry Crumb Pie

2 (21-ounce) cans cherry pie filling 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 frozen deep dish pie crust 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar 2 tablespoons margarine or butter

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place cookie sheet in oven as it heats.

In a medium bowl, combine cherry pie filling and cornstarch. Spoon into frozen crust.

In a small bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and margarine until crumbly. Sprinkle over filling.

Place pie on heated cookie sheet. Bake at 425 for 35 to 45 minutes, or until filling is bubbly.

Makes 1 pie.

Lopez’s version combines two recipes from her Sue’s Pie Shop cookbook. If you have the book “use the cherry pie recipe, [and] the topping for the French Apple instead of a top crust.”

Cherry Pie With Crumb Topping

Filling: 1 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons all-purpose

flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 can tart pitted cherries 1/4 teaspoon red food coloring 1 9-inch unbaked pie shell Topping: 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup butter or margarine

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients for filling in a saucepan. Add cherries and coloring. Cook until thickened. Allow to cool a bit.

In a bowl, blend ingredients for topping until it’s a coarse meal texture.

Pour filling into pie crust. Cover with topping. Bake 45 minutes.

Send recipe requests, contributions and culinary questions to Kelly Brant, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; e-mail:

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