Christmas: Gingerbread: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Gingerbread Recipe

The reason I love this recipe is NOT because it's the best gingerbread I've ever tasted.  If I were giving advice for great gingerbread, I'd say it needs more spice, but I love that this belongs to Laura of Little House on the Prairie, who I wanted to be when I grow up (when I wasn't so grown up).  I love that she made this recipe in some little house, on some prairie, and when I make it....I get to channel that slice of American living for just a moment.  I would have loved making this when I was ten and reading the Little House series for the 10th time, and I still enjoyed baking this recipe today.  It's a wholesome recipe.  It did puff up nicely, and it tasted like gingerbread (always a bonus). And now....I'm going to learn to play the fiddle like Pa. 
Here is Laura's Recipe,  I bought this in Independence, Kansas when I visited the site of the Little House on the Prairie last summer.
Gingerbread Recipe Serves 20
Cream 1/2 c. butter, 1 c. brown sugar, 1 c. molasses.  Add 2 t of soda to 1 c. of boiling water, and then pour into the bowl with the first three ingredients.  Add 3 c. flour sifted with 1 t. ginger, cnnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg.  Beat 2 eggs well, add last.  Bake at 350 for 30 minnutes in a 9x13 inch greased pan. 
*It took my oven longer to cook the bread all the way through. 
*I would suggest adding powdered sugar, or whipped topping.

2 comments

  1. Anonymous11:48 AM

    Christy,
    You always post such mouthwatering recipes!
    I do love Laura Ingalls Wilder. Chickie and I read ALL of her books aloud together. It is really great to be able to make the very same recipe that she did.

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  2. Love this!! I'm a big fan and my ma used to always call me 'half-pint'!

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