Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House book series, was one of the first great food writers I ever encountered. As an avid young reader, I was enchanted by Little House on the Prairie, Little House in the Big Woods, and the other autobiographical books penned by Laura. I adored her colorful, vivid descriptions of the food her pioneering family cooked. Imagine my delight when I discovered a cookbook, inspired by Laura’s own personal scrapbook, filled with her recipes! This old fashioned molasses cookie recipe with oats and coconut called out to me. Tender and scrumptious, it’s a simple from scratch recipe that the whole family will love.
The Little House books are autobiographical, recounting Laura’s childhood adventures on the American frontier as part of a pioneer family. The Ingalls family rode from state to state in a covered wagon, settling first in the Wisconsin woods, then the prairies of Kansas, then the Minnesota plain, and finally the Dakota Territory. They suffered hardships most of us can only imagine—severe droughts, food shortages, illness, a grasshopper plague, freezing blizzards—yet the strength and love of their family helped them persevere.
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder, Source: Wikimedia Commons
Some of you might know Laura from the TV show “Little House on the Prairie,” where they used her books as the inspiration for a family TV series. I never watched the show much, but the books were a big part of my childhood. I read the series many times, starting with “Little House in the Big Woods,” where four year-old Laura and her family lived in a log cabin in Wisconsin, and ending with her marriage to Almanzo Wilder in “The First Four Years.”
Little House In the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder – Original Cover. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Food was a major focus of pioneer life; living off the land and feeding a frontier family through farming and hunting was a tremendously difficult challenge. Laura’s colorful descriptions of the recipes she ate growing up seemed to live on the page. Many times I found myself growing hungry at her vivid, sensory descriptions– the tantalizing flavors and aromas, simple pleasures. It was my first real exposure to great food writing.
Laura, along with her husband Almanzo and their daughter Rose, eventually settled in Mansfield, Missouri in 1894. She fell in love with a neglected 40-acre piece of land about a mile outside of Mansfield. The farm, according to the cookbook, is “a crazy quilt of gullies, knobs, slopes, and slants.” Almanzo paid $100 for the land, and Laura named it Rocky Ridge Farm. The farm house still stands, unchanged, as a memorial to Laura and her books. It was here that Laura first wrote the Little House books longhand, the old-fashioned way, with pen and paper.
Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, Missouri. Photo: National Register of Historic Places, Source: Wikimedia Commons
Laura was born on February 7, 1867. To celebrate the occasion of her birthday, I tracked down a copy of the now out-of-print book, “The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook.” Unlike other Little House cookbooks that have been published, these recipes come from Laura herself. They were found in her personal cookbook, which is actually a scrapbook of recipes and clippings assembled by Laura during the 1930’s and 40’s. This particular recipe, Molasses Cookies, is described as a “hearty, old-fashioned cookie jar cookie.” It’s a delightful recipe that produces soft, delicately spiced, beautifully flavored cookies. I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious they turned out… they’re not quite like any cookie I’ve ever tasted. The hint of orange is unexpected and lovely.
For generations, readers have been captivated by Laura’s firsthand accounts of pioneer living. The Little House books are cherished as a rare glimpse into America’s frontier past. The stories are heartwarming and unforgettable. If you have young children or grandchildren who enjoy reading, introduce them to this book series– they’re sure to fall in love with Laura and her adventures. I treasure the books, just like I treasure this Molasses Cookies recipe… it is part of our family’s kitchen heritage now, as I hope it will be a part of yours.
Recommended Products:
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Laura Ingalls Wilder's Molasses Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened grated or flaked coconut (fresh or dried)
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon orange extract or grated orange zest (or sub 1 tsp vanilla)
NOTES
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease two cookie sheets with unsalted butter. If you're using fresh grated coconut, grate it into a bowl and reserve. If using dried coconut, pour the coconut into a small bowl and cover with cold water. Let the coconut soak to rehydrate while you're working with the other ingredients.
- In a medium mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. You can cream them by hand (the way Laura would have) or with an electric mixer.
- Beat in the egg.
- Beat in the molasses.
- Drain the water from the coconut and squeeze dry (if you used fresh coconut, skip this step).
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, including the shredded coconut, along with the orange extract/zest and the coconut. Stir together until a batter forms. Note: If you're not a fan of orange flavoring, sub 1 tsp of vanilla for the orange.
- Drop the batter by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the greased cookie sheet. The cookies spread quite a bit, so make sure you leave enough space between them. I was able to fit 12 cookies per sheet.
- Place the cookie sheets in the oven, one on the top rack and one below. Let them bake for 8 minutes. Switch the sheets, lower to upper and upper to lower, and let them bake for 7-10 minutes longer. Cookies are done when an impression made by lightly touching the center of the cookie does not remain. Begin checking at 7 minutes, and test them frequently until they are done-- don't overbake, or the cookies will dry out.Remove the cookies from the sheets and cool them on a wire rack. Serve. Store them in a sealed container like a plastic zipper bag or sealed Tupperware; this will help them stay fresh.
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
SaveSaveSaveSave
SaveSave
SaveSave
Hi Tori,
I am a new food blogger and was looking for something interesting to go with my molasses oatmeal cookies in the way of a story. I love this and would like to refer to your site and this story. May I? Thank you. Anita
Hi Anita– of course you can link to the post! I just ask that you don’t reproduce it or copy/paste the text, rather reference it and link to it. Thank you for thinking of The History Kitchen!
I made these today and thought I’d comment on the flavor and recipe since the rest of the comments are justly targeted at LEW herself. Directions were good and the recipe fairly straightforward. I used orange zest but couldn’t really taste it. Overall the cookies are barely sweet, which I happen to like. My husband suggested adding an orange glaze to up the sweetness and orange flavor. Not true to the old fashioned recipe but potentially delicious. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve read The Little Hose series since I was achild and I love the way she wrote how to cook. Here’s I dream for. I love it.
Love this post! Just wish I had someone to cook these for me! (ha ha) Too many ingredients for a noncooker.
I remember checking out one of the Little House books from my elementary school library, and at the back of the book was a section with some frontier recipes. I really wanted to make one of them but it called for lard & maybe one or two other ingredients we didn’t have or weren’t sure what equivalents would be. Somewhere I think I have a photocopy of the recipe pages… might be time to dig them out!
Thanks for sharing. I looked those books when I was a kid! There was something very special about the way Laura wrote which I have never read before or since then.
These look awesome although I am not sure coconut was a staple available to them back then, I am going to try these.
This recipe was found in Laura’s scrapbook, which was assembled in the 30’s and 40’s. Coconut would have been widely available at that point in Laura’s life, and apparently she did have access to it, since it was in her personal recipe scrapbook. Enjoy!
Interestingly I was just reading about the medical condition that really made Mary blind and then I fell in love with the books all over again. Laura Ingalls Wilder lives at least in our hearts!
I just read about that too Julie! So interesting 🙂
I had 3 sons and read them the little house books. They loved them. So you don’t have to be a girl to like them. My mother would tell them about her life as a little girl and many of the things were the same.
Very true Sara!
Just in time for a unit on Westward Expansion. Very timely!
Ha ha! About to make these cookies…
How fun and also love the cookie recipe.Can’t wait to try it.
Thanks for all you do!
For anyone who would like a copy of ‘The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook’, it is available at the Rocky Ridge Book Store, http://lauraingallswilderhome.com/
Just received my order from there and looking forward to making the Gingerbread.
Hours after looking at this recipe I suddenly questioned where Laura Ingalls Wilder would get coconut from (until I recalled that her recipe collection was put together in the 1930s & 40s).
🙂
I had the same question: coconut and oranges? I remember Laura talking about how rare it was to get an orange for Christmas…seems unlikely they would use it up in a cookie!
Hi Erika and Cheylenna! This recipe comes from Laura’s personal cookbook, which she kept until she passed away. It was her own personal recipe. Laura’s “Little House” books were written from the perspective of a young pioneer girl. Obviously when she was riding in a covered wagon and helping her family settle on the prairie, things like oranges were rare and scarce. As she grew older and the community she lived in (Mansfield, Missouri) became more connected and modern, oranges weren’t as difficult to come by. Remember, she died in 1957– at that point, it wasn’t too difficult to find oranges (seasonally) in most grocery stores in the United States. If you are a fan of Laura’s books, I highly recommend you check out “The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook,” it contains many other recipes straight from Laura’s own personal cookbook/scrapbook. It’s out of print, I believe, but can still be purchased from used and vintage bookstores online.
What a treat to read your blog today. I loved The Little House books too and read them all many times. I especially remember being amazed at how much food Almanzo ate in Farmer Boy. Thanks for the memories and the cookie recipe.
My girls and I loved the Little House books. There was a time when long sundresses and sunbonnets were in style for young girls and I have some charming photos of my daughters dressed in Little House fashion. When we lived in Israel, the one television channel (at that time) ran the tv series, renamed “Little House on the Arava.” Your post brought back many great memories and I am looking forward to making the molasses cookies. I have all the ingredients on hand, so that just might happen today. Otherwise, they might turn up in this year’s mishloach manot.
Oh, thank you! My 7yr old daughter is just finishing Farmer Boy and is loving the Little House books. She’ll be so excited to try this recipe!
Just found your blog and love it! Thank you for the wonderful recipes and the step-by-step instructions. I am such unwilling cook I’d die of shame without bloggers like you. I just printed the Baba Ghanoush recipe and off to the kitchen I go. But I wanted to ask you, if you have a recipe for this Yemeni cookie. For a long time I want to track down this simple and hearty cornmeal cookie served with tea at Yemeni houses. It is a round thick cookie, made mostly with cornmeal, the cookie is totally yellow, some yeast, and flavored with black seeds (nigella sativa). I tasted them once hurriedly in a coffee shop in NYC and I never forgotten then. I’ve search the web but there is barely anything from Yemen. BTW I too had all the Laura Ingalls’ books =)
What a lovely tribute- you have made me want to re-read the entire collection; the cookies sounds so wonderful as well!
Tori, this is wonderful! I loved, loved Little House on the Prairie! I didn’t even know about the Country Cookbook. I will look for one myself. Cookies look delish! xo