Lady Locks
My granddaughter and I made these delightful cookies for the first time recently. Lady Locks are also called Clothespin Cookies because the dough was traditionally wrapped around smooth, round clothespins to form a tube before baking. Many people now use cookie molds, but we decided to use clothespins. The cookies are cooled and filled with a sweet, fluffy filling. My granddaughter was a big helper and did a great job piping the filling inside of the cookies. We will definitely make these yummy cookies again!
We’ve added these Lady Locks to our traditional holiday cookie line-up. They are delicious! And while they take a bit of time and patience, they are worth every second we spent making them. So good!
Lady Locks
Recipe makes 5 dozen cookies.
What’s needed?
- 1 cup milk
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup Crisco
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 cups flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pound butter (or 4 sticks)
- 8 ounces of sour cream
How to make Lady Locks?
- For the filling, cook the milk and flour on low in a medium saucepan until thickened. Whisking as it cooks. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Place the mixture in the refrigerator to cool completely.
- Mix together the 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup Crisco. Beat it well with an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla and granulated sugar and beat it well. Add the cooled flour mixture and beat it for 5 minutes. Place it in an airtight plastic container and put it in the refrigerator.
- For the dough, put the flour and salt in a large bowl. As you would for pie crust, use a pastry cutter to cut in the four sticks of butter, one at a time. Your flour mixture will have small balls of butter that look like crumbs. Using an electric mixer, blend in the sour cream until combined. The dough will be dense.
- Bring the dough together to form two round, thick discs. Wrap and refrigerate them overnight or at least 4 hours.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and set it on the counter for 30 minutes before rolling it. Take one disc and cut it in half. Roll out the first half on a flour-dusted counter. Roll it out thin, just slightly thinner than pie crust. Use a sharp knife to cut rolled dough into 1 inch by 5 inch long strips.
Forming the cookies?
- Now it’s time to talk about the clothespins. I could not find round ones, so I used square ones. I know, it sounds odd, but I bought a pack of 36 clothespins for $1.77 and they worked great. Some recipes will tell you to wrap your clothespins in foil, but I simply sprayed mine generously with cooking spray.
- Wrap the strips of dough loosely around the clothespins being careful to overlap the edges of the dough so there are no gaps or holes in the cookies.
- Place the cookies (and clothespins) on an ungreased baking sheet about an inch apart. I was able to fit 16 to 18 cookies on each sheet. Bake the cookies in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. I took them out of the oven after 13 minutes, just BEFORE they turn light brown.
- Allow them to cool for just a few minutes. Then remove the cookies for the clothespins by holding the cookie firmly, but gently and pulling the clothespin slowly from the center. Place the cookies on a wire rack to cool completely before filling.
Where can I find molds for lady locks?
There are a variety of cookie mold sets available. This set of molds from Craftit Edibles can be used to make cream horns, lady locks and pastry horns. They are durable and well made, find them at walmart.com.
Filling the cookies?
- Remove the filling from the refrigerator and allow it to warm for about 10 minutes. Spoon filling into a piping bag with a star tip or a gallon plastic bag with corner tip cut off. Hold the cookies carefully and pipe a small amount of cream filling into each cookie.
I only had to show my granddaughter once how to use the piping bag and she filled more than half of the cookies we made. She’s a great little baker.
A quick tip, just in case you run out of filling, keep a container of vanilla frosting on hand. I had about 10 cookies left without filling at the end, so it was a relief to know that I had a back up.
This recipe makes about 5 dozen cookies. Store the cookies in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Before serving, place them on a holiday tray and dust the tops lightly with powdered sugar.
These were much easier to make than I expected. The effort is certainly worth the return. Lady Locks are not overly sweet. They taste a bit like a cream puff, light and heavenly. They are delicious and a fun new addition to my Christmas cookie line-up! My granddaughter sure loves them.
Lady Locks
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup Crisco
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 cups flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pound butter, or 4 sticks
- 8 ounces of sour cream
Instructions
Filling:
- For the filling, cook the milk and flour on low in a medium saucepan until thickened. Whisking as it cooks. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Place the mixture in the refrigerator to cool completely.
- Mix together the 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup Crisco. Beat it well with an electric or stand mixer. Add the vanilla and granulated sugar and beat it well. Add the cooled flour mixture and beat it for 5 minutes. Place it in an airtight plastic container and put it in the refrigerator.
Dough:
- For the dough, put the flour and salt in a large bowl. As you would for pie crust, use a pastry cutter to cut in the four sticks of butter, one at a time. Your flour mixture will have small balls of butter that look like crumbs. Using an electric mixer, blend in the sour cream until combined. The dough will be dense.
- Bring the dough together to form two round, thick discs. Wrap and refrigerate them overnight or at least 4 hours.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and set it on the counter for 30 minutes before rolling it. Take one disc and cut it in half. Roll out the first half on a flour-dusted counter. Roll it out thin, just slightly thinner than pie crust. Use a sharp knife to cut rolled dough into 1 inch by 5 inch long strips.
Forming the cookies:
- Now it's time to talk about the clothespins. I could not find round ones, so I used square ones. I know, it sounds odd, but I bought a pack of 36 clothespins for $1.77 and they worked great. Some recipes will tell you to wrap your clothespins in foil, but I simply sprayed mine generously with cooking spray.
- Wrap the strips of dough loosely around the clothespins being careful to overlap the edges of the dough so there are no gaps or holes in the cookies.
- Place the cookies (and clothespins) on an ungreased baking sheet about an inch apart. I was able to fit 16 to 18 cookies on each sheet. Bake the cookies in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. I took them out of the oven after 13 minutes, just BEFORE they turn light brown.
- Allow them to cool for just a few minutes. Then remove the cookies for the clothespins by holding the cookie firmly, but gently and pulling the clothespin slowly from the center. Place the cookies on a wire rack to cool completely before filling.
Filling the cookies:
- Remove the filling from the refrigerator and allow it to warm for about 10 minutes. Spoon filling into a piping bag with a star tip or a gallon plastic bag with corner tip cut off. Hold the cookies carefully and pipe a small amount of cream filling into each cookie.
- This recipe makes about 5 dozen cookies. Store the cookies in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Equipment
- clothespins or tube cookie molds
- baking sheet pans
- stand mixer