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Dessert

Molasses Cookies

Molasses cookies are made with shortening, boiling water, sugar, molasses, ginger, baking soda, salt, and flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Molasses Cookies

Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Molasses Cookies

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the dough

  1. Melt the shortening in a large bowl.

  2. Add the sugar and molasses to the melted shortening and mix well.

  3. Slowly pour the boiling water onto the baking soda in a separate bowl and stir until dissolved.

  4. Add the dissolved soda mixture to the first mixture.

  5. Stir in the salt and ginger, then add enough flour to form a stiff dough.

Shape and bake

  1. Roll out the dough on a floured surface, cut into circles, and place on a baking sheet.

  2. Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  4. Ginger + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,564 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Shortening
Adds fat that keeps the cookies tender and gives a soft crumb.
Molasses
Adds moisture, deep flavor, and browning to the cookies.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the cookies brown during baking.
Baking soda
Reacts with the molasses acid to lift the dough and help it spread.
Flour
Provides structure so the dough holds its shape when rolled and cut.

The step that matters

Dissolving the baking soda in boiling water. Baking soda needs to be fully dissolved so it spreads evenly through the dough; undissolved pockets can leave bitter spots and uneven rising.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses, flour):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Jalapenofits better
  3. Gingerthe original
  4. Nutmegfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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