Cry Baby Cookies

Merry Christmas!! My Christmas morning is usually very quiet so
I thought I would share a pic of the cookies I recently made and the recipe. This cookie was a favorite of my mother's - we would often come home from school to find a batch waiting for us. And Christmas time is so much about preparing things and foods for our family that I thought they would fit right into the season. Add to this the fact that they are a cakey ginger cookie and you've got a real nice Christmas cookie to have after dinner with a cup of coffee.

Cry Baby Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, cloves giver, nutneg & salt

1 cup dark molasses
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp soda

4 1/2 cups flour

Frosting:
1 lb box powered sugar & milk: mix to thickness you like and frost the cookies while they are warm

Mixing:
Add the shortening and sugar together. Mix until fluffy. Add eggs and continue to mix.
In a separate bowl mix the flour, spices, and salt together.
Add molasses to the shortening, sugar and egg mixture.
Add soda to the hot water
Add water to the shortening mixture.
Sift in the flour a little at a time.
Chill over night (very important if you want puffy, cake like cookies)

Spoon cookies onto a greased cookie sheet (or - and this is a 2010 modification to at 1960s recipe) - onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Frost while cooking on racks.