Buttons and Bowknots.

When life gets you down, make Buttons and Bowknots.  When you need a hug, and there's no one to hug you, make Buttons and Bowknots.  When you are awake at 3:00AM because you're depressed, or your brain won't stop yelling at you, make some Buttons and Bowknots...  And eat them all!

My mom always had this red Betty Crocker cookbook, when I was a kid.  She used it weekly, and some of my favorite childhood memories are on those sacred pages. (Strangely, when Sam and I started dating I realized his mom had the same one, and he grew up with completely different recipes from the same book.  He had never tried the ones that my mom always made.  It's like we were always in the same swell, groovy world, yet tasting completely different things...  Hmmm...). 

Anyway, I have my own copy--a vintage one of course, because Betty Crocker just doesn't make the same one, with the same collection of recipes, anymore.  Obviously I needed the one with the 60's style fondue pot on the cover--These were the flavors of my childhood. 

Ah, but what I remember most, are the Buttons and Bowknots.  They make me happy.  Maybe it's the smell of nutmeg that somehow triggers dopamine to circulate through my brain.  I like nutmeg.  I don't know.  I do know that these puffy doughnut-like treats are delicious.

2 c. Bisquick

2 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 c. milk

1 eggDip in:

1/2 c. butter  (Yeah, no...  This is a crapload of melted butter.  You need 1/4th of that!)

1 c. sugar (Yeah... Nope again...  Half of that.  You are just dipping the tops.  If you try to coat the entire Bowknot or Button, it's kind of gross, and that's all you'll taste.  The  nutmeggy flavor will be lost.

Mix first 4 ingredients. Stir in milk and egg. Mix. Knead to soft ball on flour.  Pat it out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut with doughnut cutter.  (We always used a water glass and a bottle cap to cut out the shapes). Twist the rings to form figure 8s. 

On an ungreased non-stick cookie sheet, bake figure 8s and holes at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes.  Melt  1/4 cup butter.   While warm dip each in butter, then sugar.

They are best hot, so it's a darn waste to let them sit there.  Just eat them all up.  It's surprisingly easy to do.  Just remind yourself they're baked, not fried.  ;)  (My twins now love them too!).

(P.S. in 2014:  Betty changed it up, got hip with the times.  I didn't see this until recently.  I'll have to try the "orange variation."  Buttons and Bows? Why change the name, Betty?!)