When I was a kid, Hazel always bought molasses cookies, I’m not sure why we never made them. Probably because there were no chocolate chips to liberate from the yellow bag. I always loved the soft chewy texture of those store bought cookies.
When we launched Top Shelf Cookies, we had (and still do!) a chewy gingerbread cookie called Ginger Chews – to indicate that they weren’t snaps, it’s also made more special by adding candied ginger to it. It’s one of our more popular cookies. People ask for them year round, once I even had a very grouchy older gentleman yell at me at a farmers market that ginger molasses wasn’t just for the holidays. I think he even shook his fist at the sky – I might have made that part up, but you get the idea.
Fact is, I love the Ginger Chews and the flavor in it is just really lovely and I wanted to bring those flavors out. So, we took Ginger Chews and made a little adjustment and made a really delightful molasses cookie.
What to name this delightful treat? If you have followed us for more than 5 minutes, you might have picked up that we are a Boston based company and we are very proud to be Bostonians. I didn’t learn about the Great Molasses Flood until one of my first rides on a Boston Duck Tour, but I was fascinated with such a bizarre disaster. Cliff Notes version: On January 15, 1919, a molasses tank at 529 Commercial Street exploded under pressure, killing 21 people. A 40-foot wave of molasses buckled the elevated railroad tracks, crushed buildings and inundated the neighborhood.
I had some friends that thought it was in poor taste to name a cookie after a tragedy. I argued that it wasn’t a man made tragedy – it was just unfortunate that it got really hot one day and molasses flooded the city. It’s part of our history. So, we settled on “The Flood” and it always starts the conversation and so far only one person thought it was an inappropriate name. Thankfully, people really seem to really enjoy the cookie. I hope you will too.
Cookie of the Month can be bought in 3 month, 6 month & 12 month subscriptions and it makes a great gift for someone you love or for yourself. A dozen cookies will be delivered via USPS every month and we’ll pick the flavor based on new releases or seasonally appropriateness.
September’s flavor will be in celebration of our upcoming 5th anniversary and it will be Black & Gold.
Till next time friends-
Heather
1 comment
Fred received your Cookie Of The Month Club membership. Your cookies are out of this world and yes….I find myself being the first to sample. Your cookies are GREAT!!