Coast Packing Company Celebrates 'National Cookie Month,' With Call to Break Out the Baking Pans - and the Lard

VERNON, Calif., Oct. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Halloween isn't the only sweet occasion this month.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151013/276636

October is officially National Cookie Month, and to mark the observance, Coast Packing Company (www.coastpacking.com), a leading supplier of animal fat shortenings throughout the Western U.S., is calling on cookie bakers and cookie consumers everywhere to indulge – and don't forget the lard.  

"Animal fat shortenings are all about making food taste better, but the really good news is that animal fats need to be part of the diet of every health-conscious individual," said Eric Gustafson, CEO of the 93-year-old company. "The fact is, the health benefits of natural animal fats are now beyond dispute, and we're proud to say that none of our products contains potentially toxic artificial trans fats or artificial anything. Consumers are wise to avoid industrially-produced partially hydrogenated fats in favor of animal fat shortenings, which have the added benefit of being consistently delicious."

"[National Cookie Month] is for honoring and enjoying the sweet flavor of cookies and sharing them with friends and family," noted the holiday directory website http://www.gone-ta-pott.com/. "Let today be the day you learn to bake new cookie recipes and learn to decorate a cookie in a new way. Let today be the day you sit down with a tall cold glass of milk or hot coffee, a large plate of fresh cookies, and have no guilt at eating them all up."

With appreciation to recipe authors for all their creativity, Coast Packing is pleased to offer a few sample recipes for National Cookie Month:

My Grandma's Lard Cookies
http://clumbsycookie.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-grandmas-lard-cookies.html

• 125 gr (4.5 oz) lard
• 125 gr (4.5 oz) sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 lemon (rind)
• flour: more or less 400 gr (14.3 oz)
• cinnamon (to sprinkle)

Melt the lard and add the sugar. Use a spoon to mix it, add the eggs and lemon. Add the flour little by little until the dough is playable and you can mold balls without getting it sticking to your hands. Roll small balls and if you want sprinkle with cinnamon before putting in the oven. Bake at 180º C (350º F) for about 7-8 minutes. Cookies will be white and soft, but they will get harder when cold.

Biscochos De Vino (Mexican Wedding Cookies)

• 1 lb. lard
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon crushed whole cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon crushed anise seed
• 2 eggs
• 6 1/2 cup flour
• 1 jigger of wine (any kind)
• Cinnamon-sugar mixture

Preheat oven at 400°F. Crush whole cinnamon and anise seed. Cream lard and sugar; add cinnamon, anise, eggs, flour, and wine. At this point, mix with your hands. Place on board and roll out 1/2 inch thick. Cut into triangle shapes, hearts, etc. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Bake until set, but not brown. Watch closely so as not to burn. Remove from cookie sheet and immediately drench in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Let cool and drench again if desired.

Basic Lard Sugar Cookies (Deb Smith family recipe, from LardLovers.com) 

• 3/4 cup lard
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1 lg. egg
• 1 tsp vanilla or almond flavoring
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups flour

Beat the lard, sugar and egg together until creamy and well blended. Stir in the vanilla, and add the baking powder and flour until a dough is formed. (At this point, you could stir in some nuts and chocolate chips to make this into toll house dough) Form dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter, and place on a cookie sheet. (Leave plenty of room between the cookies, as they will spread considerably when baking). Flatten the balls slightly with your fingers to make a round cookie. (For sugar cookies, sprinkle the top with a bit of sugar.) Bake in a preheated 350 oven until the edges are nicely brown. Remove and let cool. Makes about 18 cookies.

For more information about Coast Packing Company, visit: www.coastpacking.com. Follow us via social media on Facebook at www.facebook.com/coastpackingco, Twitter @coastpackingco and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/coastpackingco.

About Coast Packing Company
Coast Packing Company (www.coastpacking.com), a closely held corporation, is the number one supplier of animal fat shortenings – particularly lard and beef tallow -- in the Western United States. The company sells to major manufacturers, distributors, retailers, smaller food service operations, leading bakeries and lesser concerns. The company participates actively in various ethnic markets – from Hispanic retail chains, with its VIVA brand, to various Asian specialty markets. Based in Vernon, Calif., Coast Packing Company is regional, national and, increasingly, global. In some cases, supplier relationships are multigenerational, extending back 50 years and more.

Media contact:
Ken Greenberg 
Edge Communications, Inc. 
ken@edgecommunicationsinc.com 
323/469-3397 

SOURCE Coast Packing Company