Molasses Cookies

This recipe makes about two dozen cookies. Preheat oven to 350 deg. Put the molasses in a large pot, and heat over a low flame. Add the butter to the molasses and continue to heat until the butter melts. Remove from heat. Add the vinegar and mix well. Sprinkle the soda over the mixture, and allow the mixture to start foaming before continuing. Add the ginger and salt, then mix well. Add the flour little by little, stirring into the mixture until it takes on a doughy consistancy. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake the cookies at 350 deg for 9 minutes. Notes: Its important to do steps 6 through 8 quickly. In step 6, the baking soda is reacting to the vinegar in the mix, forming bubbles of carbon dioxide. If you dont do these steps quickly enough, then all the vinegar will have reacted before you start baking, and your cookies will seem heavy. For more flavorful cookies, lard (shortening) can be substituted for the butter. For a lighter taste, use margarine. busted by sooz Posted to recipelu-digest Volume 01 Number 229 by James and Susan Kirkland <kirkland@gj.net> on Nov 09, 1997