Fighting Anemia One Cookie at a Time.

Let me start by saying that I am aware that wheat products inhibit the body's absorption of certain minerals (including iron) by varying percentages.
I should also say that I am not advising anyone who is anemic to eat a cookie every day to cure the condition.
What I am saying is that these are delicious and they have a good amount of iron and B vitamins in them.

So, at my most recent appointment with our midwife we discovered I was still a bit anemic.  I think I hit a 9 out of 12 or something like that.  I felt alright except I slept a lot (thank heavens the little one also slept a lot) so I was surprised to find that something was wrong.
I was advised to take Blackstrap Molasses (2-4 tbs a day) and eat plenty of iron-rich foods.

I went home and tried to eat a straight spoonful of molasses.
Yeah....
I don't know if you've ever had molasses, but eating it straight is pretty gnarley.  Not only was it difficult to get down, my stomach decided I was an idiot for ingesting it and let me know.  I kept it down, I just felt pretty icky for a couple hours.

After trying to eat it straight I decided I'd integrate it into regular foods.  So I put it on my hot cereal and that worked okay, but I wanted some variety.  Also, I had romanticized molasses cookies.
Thing is, none of my recipe books contain a recipe for molasses cookies - I even have one a friend gave to me for a wedding gift called I Dough, 100 Cookies.  My mom didn't have one either.  So I turned to my trusty friend Bing and found this recipe which I've modified as seen below:

3/4 cup butter (melted)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
some white sugar

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Combine butter, sugar, and egg.  Mix until smooth and add molasses.  Add half of the dry ingredients, mix well and add the second half.
Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.

Oven: 375°

Roll the dough into balls and roll in white sugar.  Place the cookies about 2 inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the tops are cracked.


It really doesn't matter how large you make the cookies, they come out the same texture; nice and soft with a crispy outside (courtesy of the sugar).

I love this recipe, and hubby has proclaimed these cookies his new favorites.

They'll make a great addition to the holiday care packages I'm planning on delivering to my neighbors this year!