Ginger Cakes! Or Cookies! Or Balls!

This year, one of my son's many school projects was related to the Civil War unit he had for social studies.  He chose to do a recipe book.  That meant he (we) needed to make five or more recipes from that era.   We made Johnny cakes and cornbread and Mary Todd Lincoln's white almond cake and some orange cake favored by a General Oglethorpe.

Most of the recipes had already been adapted to fit today's ingredient availability and modern cookware.  Still, it was fun and I think we learned some interesting things about the food of the period.

It also got us back into the kitchen together.  I have always been big on baking together, but we go through periods where schedules and competing interests conspire against mother-son kitchen time. 

The most successful recipe we tackled were "ginger cakes."  We learned that ginger was a popular flavor in that era, and that women baked all kinds of cakes and breads and cookies flavored with ginger.  The "ginger cakes" we made were pretty much a traditional molasses cookie.  They were profoundly delicious.  And, according to my son, also a hit with his classmates.

We've since made that cookie several times; it's our new favorite, and really pretty easy.  I like to tell myself they are a "healthy" cookie due to the molasses.  Ha.

I made them again today, made up the dough at least.  I just attempted to bake up a dozen and they ended up round little balls of dough.  I don't know why they didn't spread.  I'm worried I made a mistake when I doubled the recipe in my head.  The other suspected culprit is the fact that I didn't have enough shortening and used some of the coconut oil I had on hand, from when we were doing more dairy-free baking.  I have to figure out how to fix these puppies.  My fallback, as ever, would be smashing them with the bottom of a glass before sliding them into the oven.  But I'd miss the pretty "crackle" finish.