Crybaby cookies.

The minute I saw the name, I knew I would have to try to make them.

Barbara-Jean Glisson, who lives down south, but often visits her parents who live down the street from me on the avenue, posted her Crybaby Cookies on Facebook. She pointed me in the right direction and I gave it a shot.

I made them for our neighborhood Come As You Are, Go At Your Own Pace, So Good To See Everyone Together Independence Day Weekend Parade. Everyone gathers, some kids with gaily decorated bikes and some kids just simply flipping a football from hand to hand, and they all parade around the block. Most of the parents are in the parade, too, with about a dozen of us left on the sidelines to watch. It takes about two or three minutes for everyone to pass by, and only that long because there are huge gaps in the line where the people behind are meandering just a bit more slowly than the people ahead. And that’s OK.

Afterward, we all gather at the beach down the street for baked goods, fresh fruit, and this year we had an ice cream truck, too. Truth be told, most of the kids—we had about 20 turn out for the parade this year—preferred the Good Humor ice cream to my cookies, but I thought they were delicious, sort of like gingerbread, only lighter and perfect for any time of year. Some of my neighbors did, too. But maybe it’s a cookie best for grown-ups? Barbara-Jean and I liked them.

Barbara-Jean tells me she found out about Crybaby Cookies after eating them at the McDonalds, who used to live in the neighborhood when she was a kid. When Kathy McDonald Richards, who now lives in Massachusetts, saw that I made Crybaby Cookies after seeing Barbara Jean’s cookies, she said on Facebook that her grandmother, who made them for her, would be thrilled: “My grandmother would love that this recipe is living on & being shared!!!”

As a kid, Barbara-Jean would have to leave the beach each afternoon to deliver the evening New Haven Register. While making her rounds, she visited just about every house on the block, and knows the history of every one, including who used to live there, who was always on time with their payments, and who had to scramble to get coins in between the sofa cushions to stay on top of their payments. Barbara Jean knows a lot about the neighborhood and knows a lot about cookies.

But she doesn’t know where the name comes from, Crybaby Cookies. I have no idea, either. If you know, let me know at p.mcnerney@shorepublishing.com.

Crybaby Cookies

Adapted from recipes from Just a Pinch and the Great Falls Tribune

Ingredients:

½ cup butter or butter-flavored shortening

½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

½ cup molasses

1 egg

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoon each ground cinnamon and ground ginger

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ cup boiling water or boiling hot coffee

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

2 ½ to 3 cups all purpose flour

Hot water plus powdered sugar for icing (optional)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the butter or shortening and sugar. Add molasses, egg, salt, and spices; beat well until blended.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the boiling water (or coffee) and baking soda and add to the first mixture.

3. Stir in the flour and mix well.

4. Drop from a small teaspoon onto a greased baking sheet or cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

5. The icing is optional but highly recommended. Measure out about a quarter cup of powdered sugar and add only enough hot water to make it the consistency of icing. Start with about half a teaspoon. Once it is the desired consistency, drizzle it on the cooled cookies.