Thomas Jefferson's Bachelor Button Cookies (1801)

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tspns baking powder
• 1/2 tspn salt
• Maraschino cherry halves, well-drained

 Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Add to creamed mixture, Drop dough by teaspoonfuls 3 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets. Press a cherry half in center of each cookie. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets, and cool on wire racks. Yield: 4 1/2 dozen

More Presidential Recipes

Thomas Jefferson's Macaroni and Cheese (1802)

Martha Washington's Nutmeg Custard Pie (1770)

(Origin - "The Southern Heritage Cookie Jar Cookbook" by Southern Living, part of Oxmoor House. Inc, 1985.)