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Sunday, June 26, 2011

Joe Froggers

Marblehead Massachusetts was once the home of an old man called Uncle Joe. Frogs, loud big noisy ones, lived in a pond near Uncle Joe. My source tells me, Joe Froggers, originated there. Joe Froggers are a big, fat, soft, molasses type cookie.

It seems New Englanders have a fondness for this cookie. I wonder if the Old Sturbridge Village Bake Shop still makes them?

We ended up with 22 cookies, not the 3-4 dozen the recipe stated. Anyhoo, I liked 'em. I used a parchment paper lined bake sheet rather than a well greased baking sheet. Aside from those insignificant changes, I followed the recipe exactly. Success!


Joe Froggers

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup water
4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsps. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsps. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. each, cloves and nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice

Cream together the shortening and sugar. Stir in molasses and water. Sift other dry ingredients with flour: blend into shortening.

Chill dough several hours or overnight. Roll dough 1/4-inch thick on floured board ( oh yeah, we used powdered sugar).

Cut in 3-inch circles. Sprinkle with sugar. Place on a well greased baking sheet. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven 10-12 minutes. (mine were perfect at 11 minutes). Leave on baking sheet a few minutes before removing to prevent breaking.

Store in a covered cookie jar.





I mixed the dough on Wednesday and stashed it in the fridge. Thursday, my helper returned from Grandma's. She rolled, cut, sugared and placed them on the bake sheet!
The green sugar seemed to lend nicely to the name of Joe Froggers, don't you think?



Source:
The Cleveland Press olde time recipes
Barbara Bratel

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