Grandma Wildenstein's Molasses Cookies

This is my Grandmother's recipe for Molasses Cookies, Bessie Ida Roney Wildenstein always had a Tupperware container filled with cookies.  Actually there were 3 containers one had chocolate chip, one had soft white cut out cookies, and these Molasses Cookies.  She would keep a piece of bread in the containers to keep the cookies soft, something we all still do.  Grandma raised 7 children, did all the cooking, mostly lived on a dairy farm (which means she did a lot of big time chores outside the house also), quilted, sewed amazing Barbie clothes, always had a puzzle going on the card table, and worked in a garment factory.  The work ethic in this family can't be beat, they all work hard.  I am the oldest of the grandchildren which range down almost to my kids ages, so when you visited Grandma & Grandpa Wildenstein's it was an event.  Lots of people coming and going, lots of talking (usually all at once), laughing, photos, & catching up with everybody.  They never seem fazed by the chaos of the crowd in fact I think they loved it.  Lots of good memories for all of us.  I really feel it is so important for our children to know their heritage, where they came from, what their ancestors were like, how they lived, all of it makes us who we are today.  Recipes are a great way of passing history on to the next generation.

 There were no instructions on the recipe so I mixed my wet ingredients and my dry, then mixed them together with the hook beaters.  Her comment about mixing until the dough gets to stiff means she didn't have a mixer with the dough hooks---that would be a workout on the wrists--so she mixed till the mixer couldn't get through the dough.  I think most hand mixers come with dough hooks now--great invention.

Mom’s (Grandma's) Molasses Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup molasses

1 cup sugar

2/3 c boiling water

2/3 c shortening (Crisco)

1 egg

2 tsp soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

pinch of salt

4 to 6 cups flour

Roll & cut – use as little flour as you can, just enough to handle dough and roll it

• Note from Mom (aka- grandma):

“I put what flour I can in with mixer and then put some on board and mix by hand until I can handle and roll it.  Put these in a covered can with a piece of bread and they’ll be soft in a day”

**I refrigerated dough in a ziploc for a couple hours before rolling it out.