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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-07-10 06:39 PM
Original message
boy, when I fail... wow!

My mother used to make wonderful Molasses Cookies...

dark and rich, gingery... soft and thick.


and I'll be darned if I can find a recipe that turns these out.

Can anyone share a recipe they know of that won't turn out like the mess I have in my kitchen?
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surrealAmerican Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-07-10 07:05 PM
Response to Original message
1. Would these be drop cookies, rolled cookies, ...
... spritz cookies, or "icebox" cookies?
"Molasses cookies" could mean any of those.
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 07:02 AM
Response to Reply #1
8. that's the problem...


there are a million molasses cookie recipes!

Let's see... they were drop cookies and as a child I fondly remember being allowed to stir the bowl full of the most wonderful smell. It made a very stiff dough, as I had to use 2 hands on the spoon and wrap one leg around the bowl.
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grasswire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 01:59 PM
Response to Reply #8
13. oh wait -- a very stiff dough?
Hmmm. That complicates things. I wonder how the cookies were soft if it was a very stiff dough. This is a fun puzzle!

They were dark, right? Were they crinkly? Did they have sugar sprinkled on top?
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 06:44 PM
Response to Reply #13
17. no sugar on top...

no crinkles - smooth and dense - rounded on top

and very dark -
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wildflower Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-07-10 07:24 PM
Response to Original message
2. A recipe I came across a while back...
I remember finding it interesting because it uses vegetable oil, not butter, and I wondered if that helped keep the cookies soft.

Bainbridge Island Molasses Cookies
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/foodwine/2008436271_recipe26cookiesmolasses.html

I haven't tried it yet.
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 07:06 AM
Response to Reply #2
9. thanks for looking...


They say soft on the inside and crisp on the outside. I know and love that kind... but it's not the some I'm looking for.

I'm beginning to wonder if my memory is faulty...:shrug:
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hippywife Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-07-10 07:24 PM
Response to Original message
3. These are our favorites.
Edited on Sun Feb-07-10 07:53 PM by hippywife
Bill requests them a lot! If you want them darker, I suppose you could add a little more molasses and cloves than called for. I also use brown sugar instead of the white. They're pretty dang good, Tesha.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Molasses-Cookies/Detail.aspx

Edited to add: I always add a little more of the spices than it calls for. Oh, and I use butter rather than margarine.
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 06:58 AM
Response to Reply #3
7. no - these are good but


They're not the ones we're remembering.
those were rounded on the top, and the texture was like a dense cake, dark and full or raisins...

you know what's strange? your recipe is almost exactly the same as the one I tried (from a favorite cookbook no less) EXCEPT yours had a cup more of flour!

You should see the smooched up mess on my counter this morning - :hug: Thanks so much for looking
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Warpy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-07-10 11:18 PM
Response to Original message
4. Unless you've mistaken salt for sugar or burned them to a crisp
your mistake should be edible.

That's the only good thing about mistake cookies.
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 07:09 AM
Response to Reply #4
10. I tried one...


and my husband braved his way through one (what a nice man he is)

but over baked they are like rocks and under baked they're like gum...

think the birds and squirrels could help me?:hi:
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wildflower Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 11:25 AM
Response to Reply #10
11. I crumble up cookie failures and save them
I put them in a container in the fridge and use them the next time I want a cookie crumb crust. I then adjust the baking time depending on whether the cookies were under- or over-cooked. Saves me some work! :)
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Warpy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 02:41 PM
Response to Reply #10
14. The squirrels will be grateful
but smack the hard ones with a hammer for the poor birdies so they can get the pieces down.

It sounds like that recipe would be good rolled very, very thin and cut into rounds. Drop cookies it aint.
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 04:52 PM
Response to Reply #14
15. not a single taker...


The big soft ones and the little crunchy one... just laying on the deck, untouched...


boy! this was bad really bad... when the long tail rats won't touch the bits.
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Warpy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 05:56 PM
Response to Reply #15
16. They might be curled up in their nests
because their weather warning system has detected the storm rolling in.
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pscot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 11:17 PM
Response to Reply #10
20. Racoons are fond of pie
I can't imagine they wouldn't like cookies.
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grasswire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Feb-07-10 11:42 PM
Response to Original message
5. are you talking about the kind that are very soft...
....like pillows of dark gingerbread? That's the kind my mom and grandmother always made. I have a recipe somewhere and will pull it out if that's what you want.
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 06:43 AM
Response to Reply #5
6. oh, yes please..


I'm making these for a little old lady who mentioned them...
she and I would be most grateful..:loveya:
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grasswire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 01:39 PM
Response to Reply #6
12. but these didn't ever have raisins
....so maybe we need to track another recipe. I have many dozens of old baking books and I will do some digging.
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hippywife Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 07:25 PM
Response to Reply #12
18. Maybe raisins could just be added?
I do that with the ones I make sometimes. Makes 'em even more yummy. :9
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housewolf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Feb-08-10 08:45 PM
Response to Original message
19. Here are a few recipes you could check out
I've never tried any of these, but there might be something there that's what you're looking for, or at least you might find an idea or two

http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/old-fashioned-molasses-drop-cookies/

http://www.bigoven.com/113932-Mrs.-Fields-Molasses-Raisin-Cookies-recipe.html

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1610,149171-234205,00.html

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/GRANDMAS-MOLASSES-COOKIES-1240046

http://mysisterskitchen.wordpress.com/2006/10/29/saras-healthy-molasses-cookies/

http://www.thecookingphotographer.com/2009/08/uncle-wills-molasses-cookies.html
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-09-10 06:51 AM
Response to Reply #19
21. Got it!


I'll be it's the first one - I'll be making them this morning...

I'll let everyone know how they come out. Thanks Housewolf - and everyone!!!:grouphug:
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clear eye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-09-10 09:39 AM
Response to Original message
22. For "cakey" cookies
your mom may have added an egg or two. And she definitely used plenty of baking soda (molasses is acid). For that really dark color she must have used blackstrap molasses, not the medium brown kind.

Hope this helps.
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-09-10 10:51 AM
Response to Reply #22
23. right... got it!


thanks for the tip. :hi:
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-09-10 10:59 AM
Response to Original message
24. Thank you everyone...

my Mom was in my kitchen this morning...:grouphug:


http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/old-fashioned-molasses-drop-cookies/


I changed the sugar to brown sugar (add a pinch extra)
and added less milk than she uses (go for a slightly stiff dough)
and they are wonderful - rich, dark, moist, and high - mmmm



thanks for the link housewolf...
thanks for all the time you must have spent looking :loveya:
what an amazingly supportive group!
and thank you for the heart - I love you guys..
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housewolf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-09-10 12:43 PM
Response to Reply #24
25. You're so welcome, Tesha...
It was easy and didn't take all that much time. I googled "recipe molasses cookies thick raisins" and got a ton of results. I started looking through them and discarded many, quit when I'd found the 6 that I posted above. It was interesting and fun... I love molasses cookies too so I may try the one you made since you're so happy with it. I'm glad it turned out well for you.

:party:


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grasswire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-09-10 12:45 PM
Response to Reply #24
26. so those are close to what you remember?
Cool.

I found this in Good Housekeeping Cookbook 1963:

Soft Molasses Cookies

2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp soda
2 T hot water
1/2 cup soft shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
6 T cold water
1/2 cup seedless raisins

12 minutes at 400 degrees

and this in Fisher's Flour Mills Baking Book 1941:

Molasses Drop Cookies

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup sour milk or buttermilk.

12-15 min at 375
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grasswire Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-09-10 12:48 PM
Response to Reply #24
27. I had a lot of fun too....
with dozens of cookbooks spread across the coffee table. I did not find my mother's recipe in my file, and it too is slightly different from all of these. Gotta call my sister for that I guess, and she is a wingnut so it's risky. Ha!
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Feb-09-10 02:26 PM
Response to Reply #27
28. only a dedicated foodie


would be willing to face a wingnut for a good recipe!

and this one is it!

Fisher's Flour Mills Baking Book 1941:Molasses Drop Cookies :9

thank you so much!
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Paper Roses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-19-10 12:19 PM
Response to Original message
29. Try these:


http://www.yankeemagazine.com/recipes/search/onerecipe.php?number=637

Best I have ever had.
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Tesha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-19-10 05:21 PM
Response to Reply #29
30. oh, I love the name...


and the story... oh, and the rum...

thanks!
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