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The following dish is another recipe in our Cooking with St. Jude series that spotlights St. Jude patients and their favorite recipes, and is especially perfect for spreading joy and hope this holiday season.
St. Jude Patient Clayton’s Story
Clayton is an active, precocious 10-year-old boy from Tennessee who loves outdoor activities. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and is a tri-sport superstar, playing basketball, football and baseball! In the fall of 2018, then first-grader Clayton had perfect attendance – so perfect that he was scared to tell his parents, Natalie and David, that he wasn’t feeling well. When a visit to the doctor revealed he had issues with his white cell count and a high fever, he was referred to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Doctors at St. Jude diagnosed Clayton with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, b-cell, hypodiploid, a rare form of the disease. Clayton’s treatment initially included CAR T-cell therapy, but he had to undergo a bone marrow transplant when his cancer returned in 2020. Today, Clayton’s cancer is in remission and he continually makes others laugh as the happy boy he is.
His family is highly appreciative of the St. Jude team members who helped Clayton along the way. “The staff gets to learn the children so well here and they become like family,” Natalie said. “St. Jude takes the worry away. When you walk into the hospital, you truly understand what hope really means. Being here is just so hopeful, we have a lot of hope.”
A special memory for Clayton’s family was being able to make Nanny’s special cookie recipe while in St. Jude housing in 2018, during the first Christmas after Clayton’s diagnosis. What would have been their first year not making these cookies turned into a way for them to spread joy amongst not only their family, but other families facing similar situations. This special recipe is the perfect comforting sweet treat for the holidays.
Nanny’s Cookies
Ingredients for cookies: *Makes about 12 dozen
6 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
4 tbs milk
1 lb. butter
2 eggs
3 tsp vanilla
Instructions for cookies:
1. In a medium bowl, cream your butter with a mixer or whisk and gradually add in your sugar and eggs.
2. Add in your flour while alternating milk and vanilla into your mixture in small splashes.
3. Once your dough is mixed, divide it into four equal segments and wrap each separately in wax paper to chill overnight.
4. The next day, utilize a rolling pin to roll your chilled dough out into a thin sheet and cut out using your favorite assorted Christmas cookie cutters.
5. Bake at 350 degrees about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Let your cookies fully cool before frosting and decorating to prevent your icing melting.
Ingredients for icing:
3 tbsp margarine or butter
1/4 cup milk
2 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Instructions for icing:
1. In a medium bowl, cream your margarine or butter with a mixer or a whisk.
2. Add in your sugar, milk, and vanilla in small splashes until your mixture is creamy.
3. Frost your cookies lightly with your icing. Have fun with it!
4. Add Christmas sprinkles as desired.
About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent, and we won’t stop until no child dies from cancer. St. Jude freely shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food – so they can focus on helping their child live. Join the St. Jude mission by visiting stjude.org, liking St. Jude on Facebook (facebook.com/stjude) and following us on Twitter (@stjude).
