Dough
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 egg 1 cup buttermilk
about 5 cups flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla extract

Raisin Filling
1 1/2 cups seedless raisins
1 tsp. flour

Filling Put ingredients in a sauce pan. Add just enough water to be able to see it through the raisins. Cook on medium heat, stirring almost constantly until water is clear. Be careful not to scorch or burn. If you do, throw it out and start over.
Dough Cream sugar and shortening. Mix in egg, buttermilk, and vanilla. Mix 4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sift. Combine flour and shortening mixtures. Dough will be sticky. Let stand in refrigerator several hours or overnight. Take a baseball sized lump of dough and roll it out thin on a well floured surface. Cut out round cookies and place them on a greased sheet. Put about a tsp. of raising filling in the center of each and fold dough in half. Crimp edges slightly. Bake for 10 minutes at 325F for 10 minutes or until the edges turn a faint brown. Don’t over-bake, it makes them hard and dry.

Many
60 minutes, plus a couple of hours to refrigerate dough.
12 minutes
Moderate

This recipe uses the same dough as the Dearing Christmas Cookies.