Soft Molasses Cookies

I love that we have several used bookstores in my hometown.  I always find myself lost in the cookbook section and try to look for useful additions to my ever growing library of books about cooking and baking.  A few years back I came across an Amish cookbook and I loved so many of the recipes in it that I now go hunting for Amish or Mennonite cookbooks every time I visit these stores.  I have quite a few, and tonight I made a recipe for soft molasses cookies from the book From Amish and Mennonite Kitchens by Phyllis Pellman Good and Rachel Thomas Pellman.  I imagine it is out of print now, but it has some amazing recipes made with very simple, wholesome ingredients for all occasions.  You might want to keep an eye out for it at your local thrift shop or used bookstore, or look for similar books because they always seem to have amazing sections on baking and sweets.

When I made these cookies, I felt the very wet batter was spreading too quickly and so I added an additional cup of flour to make it have more body.  I think I will be drizzling them with a glaze made from powdered sugar and milk to make them a touch sweeter as well.  In case you can't read my penciled in notes, I had to make my own buttermilk since I don't generally keep it on hand.  One pint = 2 cups, and to make two cups of buttermilk you can add 3 Tablespoons of white vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice to a glass measuring cup and then top it with enough milk to make 2 cups of liquid.  Let it set for ten to 15 minutes and when the milk curdles stir it well.  According to the Domino sugar website one pound of brown sugar is approximately 2 1/2 cups firmly packed, so since the recipe half a pound I used 1 1/4 firmly packed cups.  I also used vegetable shortening instead of margarine because butter and margarine have been insanely expensive here in the last few weeks.  I took the suggestion of adding the cinnamon and ginger as well, because I thought they would have a more holiday feel with those warm spices added.  The kitchen smelled heavenly as these baked.  10 minutes was just right and I used non stick aluminum foil which I wiped off after each batch and reused to save time and keep me from scrubbing cookie sheets.

I'm not quite sure how the egg wash would work because as you can see the batter was still loose even with the addition of an extra cup of flour.  The yield was ten dozen cookies with the extra flour.  I can't wait to glaze these guys and take some in to work tomorrow!

Hope you are all having a lovely week and if you try this recipe you'll enjoy it - Next time I make it I think I will sprinkle a little white sugar over the top of each cookie before I put them in the oven.  They remind me very much of a favorite cookie of my mother's from when I was little made by Archway.  I think if they had that sugar crust they would be just like them.  I miss getting that red and yellow box with the cellophane wrap and sharing them with my mom over a cup of tea or coffee.  If these weren't so squishy I would try and mail some to her because I know she would enjoy them.  Much love y'all!