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.)

Thomas Jefferson's Macaroni and Cheese (1802)

• 2-1/2 cups macaroni
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2-1/4 cups milk
• 1 tspn salt
• Dash pepper
• 2 cups grated cheese

Cook macaroni according to package directions until tender, then drain thoroughly.  While macaroni cooks, melt butter in a saucepan, stir in flour until smooth, and cook a minute or two.  Add milk, a little at a time, and cook, stirring constantly until sauce bubbles.  Add salt and pepper.

Arrange alternate layers of macaroni and grated cheese in a medium-sized baking dish or casserole, reserving some of the cheese (about 1/4 cup) to sprinkle over the top.  

Pour hot sauce over all, sprinkle with the remaining cheese, and dot with bits of butter.

Bake 35 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven. Serves 4 to 6. 

(Origin - "The American Heritage Cookbook and Illustrated History of American Eating and Drinking" by the editors of American Heritage magazine, 1964.)

More "Lost" Early American Recipes
Abe Lincoln's Butter-Browned Steak with Coffee-Mustard Sauce (1837)

Sponge Bread with Olive Oil (1720)

Parsnips Stewed in Dark Beer (1627)

Southern Beaten Biscuits (1857)

More "Lost" Macaroni and Cheese Recipes

Classic Macaroni Loaf with Cream, Gruyere (1967)

Macaroni Cheese Souffle De Luxe (1936)

Macaroni and Cheese with Wine (1963)