Molasses Crinkles

Posted by ljmacphee on February 26, 2007 under Dessert, Grandmother's Recipes |

Molasses Crinkles

This is a recipe from my grandmother’s recipe box. The Victorians loved molasses and cloves and you find them in many of the older recipes.

3/4 c shortening
1 c brown sugar
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 c flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cloves

Cream shortening and sugar.
Add egg and molasses, beat well.
Add sifted dry ingredients, mix well.

Chill to make the dough easier to work.

Shape in balls about the size of walnuts.
Place on a cookie sheet about three inches apart.
Flatten with glass dipped in sugar.
Bake at 350′ about 15 minutes.
(yield ~ 3 dozen)

In Boston on January 15, 1919 there was the great molasses flood. A 2.5 million gallon tank on a hill that was holding molasses cracked and the molasses ran down the streets of the city. The wall of molasses running through the streets was about 20 feet high and it moved about 30 MPH. About 20 people were killed. Homes and businesses were destroyed. It took about 6 months to clean it all up. Even as late as the 1960’s when I was a child you could smell molasses in Boston on a rainy day.

The Molasses Disaster of January 15, 1919