This recipe has been handed down over the Wendt family for several generations. Because the dough is easily cut into shapes, it is was always one of my favorite Christmas Activities.

2 1/4 Cups (1 lb) Sugar

1 1/3 Cups (1 lb) Dark Molasses

1 1/3 Cups (1/2 lb) Crisco

1 tsp bicarbonate of pot ash (I often use 1/2 tsp baking soda)

4 tablespoons warm rum

1 tsp vanilla

1 lemon rind grated

7 Cups (2 lbs) Flour

Mix Crisco, Sugar and Molasses in sauce pan. Heat until mixture foams and sugar dissolves. Let cool until warm to the touch. In a separate bowl, dissolve Potash in Rum. Warm in Microwave. Add Potash and Rum to sugar mixture. Wait until warm to the touch. Add and mix remaining ingredients in a bowl. Break apart into workable and Kneed dough, adding additional flour as necessary to prevent the dough from becoming sticky. Set aside extra in a double oven and cover to keep moist.

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Roll out dough as thinly as possible on a clean tablecloth using a rolling pin. This is important!  A thick cookie makes for a tough cookie.  In a pinch, the tablecloth can be omitted, but you will probably use more flour.  Using cookie cutters, cut into Christmas shapes as desired, making optimum use of space. Unused dough should be returned to the double broiler for re-moistening, which can be repeated for the same batch about three times before the dough is too hard to work.

Cook for carefully monitored 5 minutes.  The cookies will quickly turn from molasses to tan and then again a dark brown (which is optimal). 

This site was last updated 10/02/03