Nana Louise's Molasses Cookies

There are three molasses cookie recipes in the Bicentennial cookbook. I compared all three to see what the differences were. Nana Louise is the only recipe using vanilla extract. She also uses a very small amount of molasses, more baking soda, less flour, and smaller amounts of spices than the other two recipes. If you are completely curious, go and buy a cookbook. Spoiler alert, this recipe is my favorite of the three. I baked all three recipes and taste tested them on the same day, in order to compare flavors, textures, and the amount of Nana/Grandma/Grammy-love imbued in each recipe.

Why is this recipe my favorite? Who doesn't love the cookies that remind one of one's Grandma? My father's mother loved to bake cookies for her grandchildren. And we obliged by eating every single one, happily. My Grandma Bailey made a molasses cookie very much like this one, with a soft, moist interior and a little sugar on top. The picture shows my Grandma Bailey's cookie jar, which was a small wooden firkin with "cookies" inscribed on the top in faded red letters.

This recipe is submitted by Cynthia Scholar-Kellis, who co-owns the Holy Donut with her daughters. Cynthia's mother is none other than Nana Louise. 



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