Cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and molasses. The exact ingredients for making autumn.

I love chocolate chip cookies. I love them all year round. But molasses cookies are as close to a favorite cookie as I have. They hold a special place in my heart. A soft place. A tender place. As a child, I loved rolling them into spheres between my hands and rolling them in sugar with a spoon and smashing them with the bottom of a glass. I also loved eating them warm from the oven. So here they are: the quintessential fall cookie, sparkling with sugar as if kissed by the first frost of the season.

Molasses Cookies
Makes about 24

Mix together:
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup shortening
Then mix in:
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
Then add:
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour

Roll into small balls (about 2 inches or 4-5cm), roll in a dish of granulated sugar, place on cookie sheet and half-mash with the bottom of a glass. Bake at 350F (175C) for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to a cooling rack.

Recipe by my mother and her friend Florence.