Molasses recipes

I promised on Wednesday's Food page that I'd have more molasses recipes on here... so here you go...

Christmas Ginger Snaps
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup molasses
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put shortening and sugar in a large bowl. Beat well. Add eggs and molasses and beat until light. Stir flour, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon. Roll pieces of dough into small balls. Place into a greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle the tops with a little white sugar. Bake 12-14 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

Dark Gingerbread
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. molasses
1 egg
2 tbsp. milk
2 c. plain flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. baking powder
Heat the shortening until it is hissing, pour it into a bowl in which the molasses has already been measured, add the egg and milk and mix lightly. Sift together the flour, salt, ginger and baking powder, and stir into the liquid ingredients, beating and stirring only enough to blend. As soon as smoothly blended, pour into two shallow, well-greased pans and bake 15-18 minutes in a moderately hot oven (400 degrees) (From an old Rumsford Baking Powder cookbook)
The following glaze works well or you can use your own:
Add 1 tbsp. grated orange peel to 2 tbsp. melted margarine, stir in 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar, 1/4 tbsp. vanilla and a few drops of orange juice, only if needed to thin. Drizzle over warm gingerbread.
Recipe courtesy of Lydia Elliott Hamrick

Molasses Drop Cookies
1 c. raisins, plumped (soaked in warm water and drained)
1/2 c. chopped pecans or almonds
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 c. soft butter or margarine
2 tbsp. shortening
1 egg
1/2 c. molasses
1 c. buttermilk
Grease baking sheets. Start over 10 min. before baking; set oven to 400 degrees. Wash raising and plump, then cool. Chop nuts. Sift flour, measure, resift four times with next five ingredients. Press brown sugar through a coarse sieve to remove lumps. In a 3 quart mixing bowl, cream butter and shortening with a wooden spoon until smooth, add sugar and cream well. Scrape off spoon, remove. Beat in egg with a rotary beater until fluffy, then beat in molasses until satiny. Remove beater and use spoon. Stir in flour mixture and milk alternately in two or three portions, beginning and ending with flour and mixing until smooth after each portion. Stir in raisins and nuts until well distributed. Drop by heaping teaspoonfulls onto prepared sheet. Bake about 10 minutes until delicately browned. Remove at once from sheet to cake rack. When cool, store in a jar or box with tight-fitting lid with sheet of waxed paper between layers. Makes about three dozen. This recipe takes some time but it is well worth the effort. Shared by Lydia E. Hamrick