Old-Fashioned Molasses Cookies

With the first cool snap of the season, I make Ma Horton’s old-fashioned molasses cookies. The tantalizing aroma of molasses cookies creates an atmosphere of comfort and warmth in your home. This recipe for old-fashioned molasses cookies is easy to follow and will be your new family favorite!

Ma Horton’s molasses cookies recipe is one of the most treasured in our family. Her house always smelled like cookies and coffee. One of my favorite memories as a child was going to Ma Horton’s house because she would say, “Go look in the pantry and get you a cookie.” They were especially good because they made their own molasses.

It’s not only the memories that make them good, but I enjoy the aromatic flavors, especially with coffee…Yum! So put on a pot of coffee, make your own batch of Ma Horton’s old-fashioned molasses cookies, and enjoy the warmth that fills your home.

Old-Fashioned Molasses Cookies

Makes about 30 cookies/more or less depending on how thin you make them and how big your cookie cutter is.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons natural baking soda
• 4 1/2 teaspoons organic cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground organic ginger
• 1 1/2 cups molasses
• 1/2 cup lard (organic) or coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup organic butter, melted
• 5 tablespoons hot water
• sugar for sprinkling tops of cookies

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together with a wooden spoon. 
3. When well blended, poor in the melted  oil, butter, and the molasses and mix well. 
4. Now add the hot water and mix well again.
5. Let the dough rest in your bowl for one full hour. This is a very important step so don’t shorten the time.
6. After the hour is up, take out a small portion, I usually do one fifth of the dough at a time. Using a rolling pin, roll it out to between 1/8″ to 1/4 ” thick (I go closer to 1/8″). Do Not flour your rolling and cutting surface.
7. Cut the cookies into round shapes. You can use a cookie-cutter, a jar lid, or a glass.
8. Roll up any dough left over after cutting and add it to the next portion.
9. You can bake one tray while you’re preparing another portion of dough and cutting cookies
10. Repeat until all the dough is used.
11. The last piece from the final portion gets shaped by hand and baked. We don’t waste any of this delicious dough.
12. Place the cookies on a parchment-lined cookie tray and sprinkle tops with sugar.
13. Bake at 425° for seven minutes. 
14. Remove to cooling rack and allow to cool – Enjoy!

TIPS:

• This recipe is easily doubled to make a larger batch.
• For thicker cookies, don’t roll out as thin.
• You don’t need to flour your surface to roll them out. The oil and molasses keeps them from sticking to the surface. Adding extra flour will change the texture of the cookie.
• Be careful not to over bake, they burn easily you can’t judge by the color.
• Some people don’t like the taste of ginger in molasses cookies. You can always decrease the amount of ginger or even try leaving it out, but it won’t be the same scrumptious cookie.
• When I was a young mother and made these cookies for my sons, I thought I knew better than my grandmother so I skipped the one-hour waiting….Boy did I make a mess. I learned my lesson. The one-hour waiting allows the natural baking soda to do its job and for the ingredients to set together well.