Day 3 Cookie Bake! My heart beats faster when I run across a recipe that is obviously well-used and treasured. This recipe came to me from mama’s recipe box and it to her from her close friend Betty Hopkins. Miss Betty’s Molasses Cookies made for a satisfying and wholesome end to cookie baking time today and I definitely see why mama insisted these cookies be included in my cookbook.  These proved to be a perfect cold weather stay-at-home-with-a book treat.

The buttermilk is in the dough, they aren’t glazed, and they have a soft, yet chewy, texture.  They bake round and tall and fill your kitchen with the aroma of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.  I love the dark raisins and the walnuts I used as they make  the cookies dense and satisfying; these are definitely cookies to sink your teeth into, and, needless to say, so perfect with a glass of cold milk (yes, for lunch). The molasses sweetly softens them but also makes for a sticky dough and these benefit from just a bit of shaping once they are on the cookie sheets. The spices layer with the molasses throughout and I have to say there really isn’t a thing that needs changing here, proving once again that old recipes are, like old friendships,  treasures indeed.

Betty’s Molasses Cookies

1/2 cup Crisco shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
2-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup raisins
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Directions  Preheat oven to 400. In large mixing bowl, cream shortening, sugar, and the molasses with a wooden spoon until well blended. Add the egg and buttermilk and beat briefly with electric mixer. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl and stir with a fork to sift. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture gradually, blending well with a large rubber spatula after each addition. Fold in the raisins and the nuts. Bake on lightly-greased cookie sheets for 10 minutes. Store airtight. Yields 5 dozen.