Molasses Cookies

Dustin Ritch

Growing up, I was always very close with my great-grandmother. When I was young, she would watch me after school until my parents got off work. To pass the time, my grandmother would bake. It was kind of like a hobby for her.

She would bake everything from homemade bread to elaborate desserts. It seemed like every time I walked through the door she was pulling some treat from the over for me. Out of everything she made, my favorite by far, was her molasses cookies.

My Grandma only made them for me on special occasions, like when I asked her to. She also made them for me on my birthday and holidays, she knew she couldn't go wrong with her molasses cookies. Whenever she made a batch, she would always make one cookie especially big for me and write my name on it with frosting.

When I got older, she would let me help her make molasses cookies. I only did it so I could lick the bowl. I remember once when our church had a bake sale, Grandma and I stayed up all night making different assorted baked goods. The next morning at the sale, everyone who had bought one of our molasses cookies was coming back to get another, and telling us how good they were.

Since the death of my great-grandmother in 1997, my mother and grandmother have carried on her recipe, and it remains to this day my favorite dessert.