Molasses Crisps (Cookies) for Spring

Not all chefs are professionally trained in culinary schools.  Most of us are self-taught or a least, learned at home.  Personal chefs, for example, are not all formally educated in a cooking school.  Most of us just have a passion for food.  We love taking wonderful ingredients and transforming them into a magical performance.  We learned at home from family or just always had a desire.  Some, to our surprise, never had the desire, yet found that we enjoyed creating masterpieces for ourselves and others to eat.

I learned cooking at home as a child even though I never did the cooking until I got married.  I realize that I have always been inspired by the cooking from my childhood in Annapolis.  The tastes and smells of the kitchen come back to me often.

Today, I was thinking of crispy molasses cookies Mom made in the springtime.  These would be the last of the season, because summer was coming and it would be too hot to have the oven on.  The cookies have a deeply satisfying taste reminiscent of home.

Molasses Crisps

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup molasses (I like dark molasses)
1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift flour and measure.  Add next 5 ingredients and sift again.

Heat molasses to boiling.  Add butter and stir until melted.  Add dry ingredients and mix well.  Roll dough in a long roll about 3 inches in diameter and refrigerate over night or at least 4 hours.

Cut dough into very thin slices with a sharp knife.  Place on a greased baking sheet and bake until golden brown.  (10-12 minutes)

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies

Hmmm. Yummy!

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