Yes…we had dessert…Kentucky Spice Cookies…Yum!

Ok…you had the Taco Soup…right? Ready for dessert?

We had…Kentucky Spice Cookies (with Vanilla Ice Cream)! They are tasty! If you love gingersnaps or gingerbread…I think you’ll love these snappy gems also. I found this recipe in my San Francisco A La Carte cookbook (go figure). According to SFALC… “The recipe for these marvelous morsels migrated to California with some old Kentucky families and have become a Western favorite.”OK…I lived in the West and the Southwest.  I didn’t know about Taco Soup…or a Western favorite cookie? I have to come all the way across the plains to found out about these things!  There are no eggs in this recipe (nope…I double checked) so they will be a tasty treat for my kids and grandkids that are vegan.

This recipe makes A LOT of cookies (more than 7 dozen)…so, next time I will cut the recipe in half…now that is not a half baked idea! 

KENTUCKY SPICE COOKIES (adapted from SFALC)

3 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon powdered ginger

3/4 teaspon allspice

2 teaspoons salt

2 Tablespoons baking soda

1 cup dark molasses (no animals were injured)

5 cups unsifted all purpose flour

1/2 cup water

Sugar to roll dough in (approx. 3/4 cup)

Strawberry or Raspberry Jelly (I used Smucker’s Peach and Smucker’s Strawberry/Blackberry)

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the sugar, shortening, spices, salt and baking soda. Add the molasses and blend well. Gradually mix in the flour. Add the water to make a dough of piecrust consistency. For each cookie, take 1 teaspoon of dough and roll it into a ball, then roll (the ball, of course) in sugar. Place on  an ungreased cookie sheet, make a small indentation in the top of each ball and fill with a small amount of jam or jelly (less is better…and the cookies bake better and quicker with a smaller amount).

 

Now…the directions say to bake the cookies for 8 minutes. I baked them for 6 minutes…then rotated the baking sheet…and baked for another 3 – 4 minutes. They were crispier that way.  When the cookies are stored…the moisture from the jelly (or jam) will soften the cookie. The extra baking time worked for me and did not overbake the cookie.  Remove from oven, sprinkle with sugar if you like…and enjoy!

Allow to cool before storing.

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