Route 66 Sugar Cookies: On The Road To Good Taste

Guaranteed way to sweeten your disposition this weekend: Bake a batch of Funk's Grove Route 66 Sugar Cookies.

The recipe is from "The Route 66 Cookbook" by Marian Clark (Council Oak Books, $24.95), a collection of favorite foods from restaurants, diners, cafes and businesses stretching alongside and near the historic highway from Chicago through eight states to Santa Monica, Calif.

Funk's Grove is in Illinois, south of Bloomington. It's one of the few sites in the state where maple syrup is still produced, and this ingredient is what gives these cookies their special flavor.

Isaac Funk homesteaded the grove seven generations ago, and today the family hangs about 4,000 buckets a year to gather sap used to produce the syrup.

The syrup and corn oil in the cookies make a soft dough, so you refrigerate it for at least an hour to firm it before baking.

In her cookbook, Clark also includes memories and recipes from eateries that no longer exist. "For travelers, food is a source of comfort, a revelation of new experiences, and a mirror of the lifestyle in each succeeding community," she wrote. "A simple bowl of chili takes on entirely different characteristics along the 2,400-mile span of the highway." -----------------------------------------------------------------

Funk's Grove Route 66 Sugar Cookies

7 dozen cookies

1 cup margarine

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup corn oil

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 eggs

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups flour

1. In a large bowl, cream margarine, granulated sugar and powdered sugar until smooth, using an electric mixer. Add corn oil, maple syrup and eggs, beating until well combined.

2. In a medium bowl combine soda, cream of tartar, salt and flour, mixing well. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and blend thoroughly. Cover bowl and chill dough in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

3. Drop dough by teaspoonsful on cookie sheet and press gently with glass dipped in sugar to flatten. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 12 minutes or until the cookies begin to brown. Transfer to racks to cool.

Weekend Eats by Larry Brown appears the second and fourth Saturday of each month.