Mom's Raisin Filled Cookies

                                                                                                                                                 
    Growing up, my Mom did a whole lot of cooking and baking. Breads were almost always homemade, so were cookies and pies by the dozens. We were quite poor, so it wasn't fancy, but it was always tasty. Maine has a lot of regional dishes, and I am pretty sure raisin filled cookies are one of them. My mother got the recipe from her mother in law after she married my Dad. They have always been a favorite in our family. Sometimes I have come across these same cookies, only with date filling instead, and I suppose you could even used dried figs or prunes. But Mom always made them with raisins, and that's the way I make them, since I am a stickler for tradition :) Now this recipe didnt have a whole lot of instructions, so I will write it as is, then I will tell you how I made them. These are nice big and thick cookies, with the doughy part quite similar to your standard sugar cookie in flavor. They are scrumptious! Especially while still warm, and served with a cold glass of milk.

           Raisin Filled Cookies
 
for the dough;
     1c sugar
     1/2c shortening
     1/2c sour milk (I put 1/2t of lemon juice into a 1/2c measuring cup, then fill with milk)
     2 & 1/2c flour
     1 egg, lightly beaten
     1t baking powder
     1/4t baking soda
     1t vanilla
for the filling;
     1c raisins
     1/2c sugar
     1/2c water
     1T flour
     pinch of salt

     Boil filling until smooth. Roll out cookies, put spoonful of filling on 1/2 of the cookies and top with the other 1/2 of the cookies, press together and bake in 350' oven for 10-12 min

  OK, here are my tips,
      It didnt say how long to cook filling, so I boiled/ simmered it for about 5 min, until it thickened up, then let it cool while I made the dough.
     Cream fat and sugar together, add egg and vanilla, then add flour and milk. Knead and work dough until well combined. This makes quite a soft dough, but I found it was very workable. 
     Roll out on floured work surface, sprinkling dough with more flour if needed.
     Cut with a round cutter, I used a drinking glass and place rounds well spaced on a lightly greased cookie sheet. I didnt grease my sheet, but I made sure that the bottoms of my cookies were floured dry. They stuck a tiny bit, but not so much that it did any damage to the cookies.
     I brushed a little water around the edges of both mu cover, and bottom cookies, to make sure of a good seal, and I sealed by pressing them with my finger tips.
     Bake until ever so lightly golden at the edges, about 12 min, and remove immediately from the pans to cool n a rack.
 Yum!