Dreams of Childhood

DEAR SOS: Is there any chance of obtaining the recipe for the delicious chewy molasses cookies of my childhood?

--PATRICE

DEAR PATRICE: Try these. They’ve been around for generations.

SOFT MOLASSES COOKIES

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 cup water

Cream butter with sugar by beating together until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg.

Sift flour with ginger, cinnamon and salt.

Dissolve baking soda in water. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, then add soda mixture beating well between additions.

Drop by tablespoons onto greased and floured baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until cracked and barely set, about 10 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire racks.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Each serving contains about:

81 calories; 47 mg sodium; 13 mg cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.03 gram fiber.

Send requests to Culinary SOS, Food Section, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. Include restaurant address when requesting recipes from restaurants. We are unable to answer recipe requests by mail.