Grandma's Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies

By Addie

I will always associate these soft molasses cookies with my grandma. I don't think I ever had cookies just like these anywhere else but at her house, and she almost always had them on hand. When she made them she used a large, fluted cookie cutter which I now have. I also have her cookie jar which is pictured above. I am almost positive that I had asked her for this recipe because I remember being surprised that this cookie had coffee as an ingredient. But after looking high and low for the recipe, I couldn't find it. My mom finally located it a cookbook published by my grandma's church. As I read over the ingredients, another surprise was that the recipe calls for lard along with the notation "use lard" as in not to substitute. I have never used lard (pig fat), so I did a little research and found that because of the way it is now processed, the lard available in grocery stores today isn't like the lard used in baked goods in the past. Some even said that the today's lard doesn't differ much at all in taste to shortening when used in baked goods. So, I substituted the lard with shortening. Although these cookies tasted very good, they didn't turn out the way I remembered my grandma's cookies. Of course hers were so much better! It probably is because I didn't use lard. I also remember her cookies being darker so I am sure she must have used dark or robust molasses. The recipe didn't specify, but next time I make these I will definitely give the dark molasses a try. It could also be that this is a completely different recipe than the one I remember, or that she made her own tweaks which were never written down. I sure miss her and wish I could simply ask. But since I can't, we will enjoy the cookies as they are and remember just how fabulous her cookies were.

Ingredients

• Big, soft molasses cut-out cookies that my grandma used to make.
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• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup lard (I substituted shortening)
• 1/4 cup boiling coffee
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• 3 teaspoons soda
• 1 cup molasses
• 3 eggs, beaten
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• 5 1/2 cups flour (or enough to make soft dough)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Step 1

Cream together sugar and lard (or shortening). Dissolve soda in boiling coffee. Add coffee mixture and molasses to the creamed mixture and blend. Add beaten eggs and blend well. Add dry ingredients and stir until all ingredients are blended. Roll out on floured board to 1/4 inch thickness. Place cut dough on cookie sheet and bake in 350°F for 8 minutes; do not overbake. Remove to cooling rack.