Foxfire Molasses Cookie Recipe- A Delicious & Old-School Lard Cookie Recipe

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Foxfire Molasses Cookie Recipe

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The other day I was flipping through the Foxfire Book in pursuit of a recipe (or at least inspiration) for dinner.

Instead of dinner I found soap-making and baked goods- among so many other neat things.

This Foxfire Book is the first in a series of 13 fantastic books. Published in 1972, it features interviews from people living in Appalachia who had the skills and lived a life that epitomized an older, more connected way of living off the land.

In addition to a chapter of recipes, the book contains in depth information on building a log cabin, making a wooden chair and rope bed, moon shining, planting to the signs of the moon, hog butchering, soap-making, “and other affairs of plain living.”

(I’ve only purchased the 1st and 3rd books in the series so far, but I know many homesteaders who own the entire collection and swear by them. You can find individual books on Thriftbooks (here) or Amazon (here) for a few dollars apiece, or the entire collection for $268 on Amazon (here).)

From a dried apple cake to a 100+ year old gingerbread recipe, the “Mountain Recipes” chapter left me inspired and curious.

All the recipes call for lard- when did that change?

Why isn’t there much sugar in here?

How come some recipes have specific measurements and others are just a method?

What’s a hot oven?

I found a molasses cookie recipe in the chapter too. Molasses, lard, egg, sugar, etc… roll, cut, and bake. It really seemed too easy. But it stuck in my mind.

Molasses Crinkles are my absolute, no-debate, favorite cookie. So this old school, Foxfire molasses cookie recipe from a book I’ve loved reading really caught my eye. What if this is my new favorite cookie?

I spent all weekend (a long weekend at that, thanks to this Tahoe-esque snow storm) thinking about this recipe. Torn if I wanted to give it a try- risking a serious overeating day- or not. In the end, the curiosity won out.

And the result really was delicious.

Foxfire Molasses Cookie Recipe

The original Foxfire Molasses Cookie recipe is as follows:

1 cup Molasses

1 cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg

3/ 4 cup Melted Lard

1/ 4 cup Boiling Water

Salt, “to taste”

Add enough flour to knead. Roll, cut out, and bake in hot oven.

 

That’s enough of a recipe for me. I’m trying to embrace cooking by feel more and more these days. The freedom of “to taste” and “enough” flour are inviting and charming to me.

But I also know that many people aren’t comfortable enough in the kitchen to cook without measurements. So I decided to measure how much flour I used, as well as the salt, and some extra seasonings I added in.

Plus that whole “hot oven” thing? I mean, any oven turned on at all is hotter than room temperature isn’t it? I opted for 350*, but I’m not saying that’s hard and fast in any way.

The resulting recipe, which should probably be called “My Take on the Foxfire Molasses Cookie Recipe Recipe,” looks like this:

1 cup Molasses

1 cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg

3/ 4 cup Softened Lard

1/ 4 hot water

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Ginger

½ tsp each Allspice & Nutmeg

1 cup All-Purpose Flour

2 3/ 4 cup Whole Wheat Flour

 

After baking and letting them cool, I added a basic icing drizzle with powdered sugar and milk too.

All in all, these cookies are pretty good. Not too sweet, not too crisp, and overwhelmingly molasses-flavored (yum!).

The best part was that this batch of dough came together to make about 5 dozen little cookies.

I foresee making these again around Christmas and taking the time to really decorate them for the season.

If you like a good, classic cookie, might I suggest giving this Foxfire Molasses Cookie Recipe a try?

Thanks for reading, and happy homesteading!

-Maia

 

PS Want to try the other molasses cookies I mentioned? You can find that recipe here.