A Joe Frogger is a soft, oversized spice cookie (reputed to originally have been baked to the size of lily pads), originating in Marblehead, Massachusetts and dating back to Colonial times. They were made by "Aunt Crese" who kept a tavern on Gingerbread Hill and were named after her husband, a Revolutionary War patriot and freed slave, Joe Brown.
Because the cookies used rum and water as ingredients, they would keep for long periods of time and so were packed up by the barrel-loads for fishermen to take with them on extended trips.
My dad’s side of the family hails from New England and we got this recipe from my grandmother, but my first memory of enjoying Joe Froggers was when my mom made them one Christmas when I was a teen. Because rum is one of the main ingredients in the cookie, I was pretending to be drunk on cookies which led to a giggling fit that lasted so long and got so out of control that my mom eventually sat on me to try to calm me down. Good times, good memories. Yes, she sat ON me. Mom claims not to remember the incident, but that’s the kind of thing that sticks with you so I remembered and that's all that matters.
They take a little time to make but are SO worth the effort.
JOE FROGGERS
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp allspice
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tbsp rum
2 tbsp hot water
1/2 tsp baking soda
In a small bowl, mix together flour, salt, and spices. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine honey, molasses, oil, rum, water, and baking soda. Will be super liquidy. FYI, beware of the onslaught of rum fumes as everything mixes around in the bowl, may cause dizziness and/or excessive giggling.
Stir in flour mixture, a bit at a time, until well blended.
Chill dough in fridge for 1/2 hour.
Measure out dough by the 1/4 cup (should make 10 cookies) then roll into balls. Dough is going to get sticky as it warms up so if needed, toss it back in the fridge for a few minutes to make it easier to manage.
Place dough balls on a greased cookie sheet, spaced 3" apart. Press balls out using a flat-bottomed glass or dish. I pressed my glass in some of the flour before mashing down the dough balls to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the glass.
Bake 375° for 9-10 minutes.
Remove cookies from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Will be soft and mooshy, not crunchy.
YAUHM!!!
NOTES
You can roll out dough to make smaller cookies to share. Mine actually turned out smaller than I was planning, but they still work.
You can spread a little flavored cream cheese or some other tasty filling between two cookies to make a soft cookie sandwich.
YAUHM!!!
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