Molasses cookies

I love to read, I really do.  I tend to read several books at a time. For instance, at the moment I'm reading New York, a novel, The Knife Man, Pride and Prejudice and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  I'm also usually re-reading one of the Harry Potter books as well.


Years ago I read all of the Little House on the Prairie books, and enjoyed them very much.  I love history, I love homemade things and I love the simplicity of life.


I saw a recipe for Laura Ingalls Wilder's molasses cookies and I had to make them.

I think molasses is amazing.  You can use it in sweets then use it in your favorite BBQ sauce (which I have.) 


The cookie recipe is pretty simple, we take our ingredients, cream the butter and sugar, add the egg and molasses, mix the dry ingredients, mix everything together and we are good to go!


The ingredients, minus the tasty coconut (don't you love the different measuring cups I have??):

Mix it all up and get it on a pre-greased cookie sheet:

Cook for 8 minutes, turn, and cook for another 5.  What you get is a tasty treat.  Believe me!

This cookie is slightly sweet, and you will feel good because it's "healthy".  Come on, it has oatmeal and coconut!  We all know how much I love coconut.


I hope I made Laura proud.  Someday I'll have a farm with a garden a chickens... someday.


Laura Ingalls Wilder's Molasses cookies (adapted slightly from here,)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup unsweetened grated or flaked coconut dried
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease two cookie sheets. Pour the coconut into a small bowl and cover with cold water. Let the coconut soak to rehydrate while you're working with the other ingredients.

In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the egg and molasses.

Drain the coconut.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry along with the coconut and vanilla. Stir together till a batter forms. 

Drop the batter by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the greased cookie sheet. The cookies spread quite a bit, so make sure you leave enough space between them. I was able to fit 12 cookies per sheet.

Cook for 8 minutes, rotate and cook for another 5.  Cool on  rack and enjoy right away.

-April