Molasses Crumb Cookies

Recipe No. 86 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Cakes and Cookies. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

• Flour, sifted — 4 pounds (4 No. 56 dippers)
• Baking powder — 1½ ounces (3 mess kit spoons)
• Baking soda — 1 ounce (2 mess kit spoons)
• Salt — 1 ounce (2 mess kit spoons)
• Ginger — ½ ounce (2 mess kit spoons)
• Cinnamon — ½ ounce (2 mess kit spoons)
• Cloves, ground — ½ ounce (1 mess kit spoon)
• Cake crumbs — 1½ pounds (2½ mess kit cups)
• Shortening — 1½ pounds (1 mess kit cup)
• Sugar, granulated — 3 pounds (1½ No. 56 dippers)
• Eggs, beaten — 10 eggs (½ No. 56 dipper)
• Molasses — 2¾ pounds (1⅛ mess kit cup)
• Water — ¾ pint (½ mess kit cup)

Directions

Key ingredients

Baking Soda & Baking Powder · Cinnamon · Molasses

1. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together. Add cake crumbs; mix well.
2. Mix shortening and sugar; stir until light and fluffy.
3. Add beaten egg and molasses gradually, mixing well after each addition.
4. Add flour mixture and water alternately, mixing well after each addition.
5. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking pans. Bake in moderate oven (350° F.) 10 to 12 minutes.
6. Remove from pans at once.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Flour, sifted — 5 oz Baking powder — about ¾ tsp Baking soda — about ½ tsp Salt — about ½ tsp Ginger — a pinch Cinnamon — a pinch Cloves, ground — a pinch Cake crumbs — 2 oz Shortening — 2 oz Sugar, granulated — 3¾ oz Eggs, beaten — ¾ eggs Molasses — 3½ oz Water — 2 tbsp

⚠ As printed, the manual is inconsistent here — “Cloves, ground: ½ ounce (1 mess kit spoon)”: ½ oz, but 1 spoons x 0.25 oz = 0.25 oz. Transcribed exactly as printed; the parenthetical Army measure is usually the safer one to follow.

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 86, Cakes and Cookies. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.