Froggers (Soft Molasses Cookies)

Froggers come from the seafaring kitchens of old Nantucket and New Bedford. These were the cookies whalers carried on long voyages because the dark molasses, rum, and warm spices kept them edible for weeks at sea. The recipe is generous: 7 cups of flour, 2 cups of molasses, 4-inch rounds rather than tiny drop cookies, and the whole thing yields three dozen substantial cookies.

The spice profile is classic colonial New England: ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice, all working together to give the cookies that warm, almost peppery edge that defines proper molasses cookies. The quarter cup of dark rum is what makes these Froggers rather than generic molasses cookies; the alcohol cooks off during baking but the rum notes remain in the finished cookie.

The 12-hour minimum chill is the critical step. The dough needs to rest overnight so the spices bloom into the flour, the flavours marry, and the dough firms up enough to roll. Skipping this leaves you with sticky dough and flat-tasting cookies.

Pro Tips

• Cream the butter and sugar properly before adding the wet and dry alternately. Underbeaten butter gives dense cookies; well-beaten butter gives soft, slightly puffed ones.
• The molasses and baking soda combination in a pint measuring cup will foam up immediately. Use a large enough container or it’ll overflow.
• Roll the chilled dough to a true ⅓ inch thick. Thinner cookies bake into crisp wafers; thicker cookies stay raw in the centre.
• Don’t overbake. Twelve to fifteen minutes is right; the cookies should look slightly soft when you pull them and firm up on the cooling rack.

Variations

• Substitute dried currants or chopped dried apricots for the raisins.
• Add a tablespoon of grated orange or lemon zest to the dough for citrus brightness against the molasses.
• Glaze the cooled cookies with a thin lemon icing for a sweeter, more decorative finish.