Joe Froggers

Photo from: yankeemagazine.com

My grandmother, who was the mother of 15 children, ran an immaculate and well-organized household. As a little girl I always aspired to be just like her!! She was so special and sweet all the time, to everyone. She was the very soul of hospitality and on any given day or night of the week she might have had guests in her home for meals. She was always prepared though.

One particular thing I remember about Grammy is that she always had her cookie jars full. When I was about 7 or 8 years old I used to go into her pantry just to look at the cookie jars. I remember my head was just a little above the counter top where they were placed and I would rest my chin on it and stare at them. There were always sugar cookies and there were always molasses cookies, a regular staple in Maine households where I grew up. Yep, I'm a transplanted Yankee. (After I write this blog post I will definitely never be able to visit the Confederate garage up in Walker County, Georgia, EVER. I don't think they do Yankee up there. If you think I'm joking--google it, I'm serious!)

As an adult I have not lived up in the north country very much, but I still love the food that we ate growing up. (Can you say Lobstah???) Molasses cookies are something I hardly ever make because my southern husband and children just do not like them too much. My two oldest children do, though, but that is because they lived several years in Maine when they were very small and they are familiar with them.

Sooo, for a long time now I've been looking for a good molasses cookie recipe. Grammy died four years ago this month so I couldn't get hers. I researched online for a while and finally decided to try a recipe I found at Yankee Magazine. Well, guess what? Mr. J and all the kids ate 'em AND liked 'em. I didn't even offer them to Mr. J because I know he hates molasses cookies. He took it upon himself to mosey on into the kitchen and take a bite of one. Then he comes into the room and says "Hey, Hon, these cookies are great!" To which I responded, "Huh? Those are molasses cookies." He said, " I know but they're good". To which I thought to myself, "I'll make a Yankee out of that boy yet...".

 But I digress.... the truth is that I actually made these cookies because I was entranced with the story behind them.It's kinda neat. Plus they are an authentic Yankee recipe and Lord knows I need a little Yankeefying wicked bad by now, ya'll!!!

So get Yankeefied with me and try the Joe Froggers. They are wicked good.


Here is what you will need:

3/4 cup hot water

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon dark rum ( I  used     rum extract. 1 tsp of rum extract equals 3 Tablespoons of dark rum. I used 1 1/2  teaspoons)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups molasses

6 to 7 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 teaspoons ginger

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

 Ok now, don't just start throwing things into the mixer bowl. You have to do three things first:

                                                 In a small bowl, combine hot water and rum

             In a second bowl, combine soda and molasses.

                                                    
                                  In a third bowl, whisk together 6 cups flour with salt and spices.

Okay, now:

In a separate large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend water and rum into creamed mixture. Alternately add molasses and dry ingredients until well blended, stopping periodically to scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. (If dough is too stiff, add a little water; if not stiff enough, add more flour.)

Divide dough into three balls, cover with plastic wrap, and chill thoroughly. I actually chilled mine for like 6 hours because I got busy....


....and while I was gone 'them lazy southern kids' made a big mess and sat there in it while playing checkers in an air-conditioned room in south Georgia in August.....

Anyway, when you get ready to make the Froggers:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and grease two baking sheets or line with parchment. Roll out dough onto a floured board and cut with 2-inch cookie cutter or rim of glass. Bake on prepared cookie sheet, 2 inches apart, for 10 minutes or until the cookies have set but still seem soft in the middle. Do not over bake. I actually rolled mine out with confectioner's sugar for dusting. The recipe also states: Alternately, do not roll out the dough, but break off pieces and roll between your palms until they are the size of ping-pong balls. Arrange the balls on the baking sheet, then place 1/2 cup granulated sugar into a bowl. Press the bottom of a drinking glass into the sugar, then press it onto each ball of dough, flattening it before baking. (We did this for the second ball of dough instead of rolling them and we liked them a lot. Also they were softer because they were thicker. These are the ones that got Mr. J's approval.)

****Notes and observations****
I used 1 1/2 teaspoons rum extract which I felt was too strong. Next time I'm going to use 3/4-1   teaspoon
Do chill a long time
Do not over bake, but do not under bake either
Let them cool a while--they taste better
Ya gotta have milk with these

If you think you just can't do the Yankee heritage thing then you could call them Joe Gators or Confederate Joes or some such....

Thanks for Visiting!!!