The Centuries-Old Cookie Recipe You Need to Try

Outdoor temperatures are cooling down, which means that inside, our ovens are heating up, ready to bake warmly spiced treats. Thankfully, we know the ideal sweet to start with: Joe Frogger cookies. While it’s likely that you’ve never even heard of a Joe Frogger before today, rest assured, it’s a cookie you won’t soon forget. Beyond being wholly comforting and quite easy to whip up, the recipe has a history as rich as its flavor and intriguing as its name.

What Are Joe Frogger Cookies? 

Joe Froggers are molasses spice cookies with Colonial New England roots. Their distinctly warm and cozy flavor profile has made them a persistent favorite among those in the know and allowed their popularity to expand further in recent decades.

Rather than being dropped by the spoonful onto prepared baking sheets, Joe Frogger dough is chilled and rolled before being cut into rounds and baked. It’s likely that the cookies were originally sweetened exclusively with molasses, as molasses was notably less expensive than refined sugar during the 1700s. Modern adaptations rely on a balanced combination of molasses and brown or white sugar. In addition to robustly sweet molasses, Joe Frogger cookies are flavored with a combination of familiar fall spices—ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice—along with one rather unexpected ingredient: dark rum. 

Lore has it that, in place of the warm water called for in today’s recipes, seawater and rum were added to the cookie dough. This salty, boozy combination allegedly gave the cookies an exceptional shelf life.

The History of Joe Froggers

There are varying accounts of the precise details surrounding the Joe Frogger cookie’s origins, but all can be traced to a tavern owned and operated by Joseph and Lucretia Brown in the coastal town of Marblehead, Massachusetts. According to Smithsonian Library and Archives, Joseph Brown, known locally as “Black Joe,” was born into slavery, his mother being African American and his father being a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, in 1750. The Marblehead Museum notes that he was born in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, before making his way to Marblehead to enlist with a company of militia soldiers around age 26. (It’s generally assumed that Joseph was granted freedom because of his military service in the Revolutionary War.) Lucretia, born to former slaves, was a native of Marblehead and, according to local church records and Marblehead vital records collected by Marblehead Museum, married Joseph in 1794. 

In 1795, Joseph and Lucretia purchased (initially, just half of) a house on Gingerbread Hill that would become Black Joe’s Tavern—the acknowledged birthplace of the Joe Frogger cookie. The story goes that Lucretia Brown, also recognized as “Aunt Creese,” serviced the sailor-dominant clientele of Black Joe’s with hearty fare and beverages featuring, unsurprisingly, molasses and rum. It was in feeding her customers that Lucretia developed a tasty treat sailors could take in bulk to sea that would remain fresher for longer: the Joe Frogger cookies.

Competing theories offer different explanations for the memorable recipe name. No one contests that the cookies were named, in part, for Joseph, but where did the Frogger surname originate? Some say that Joe Frogger dough was traditionally cooked in an iron skillet on the stovetop, and when the dough hit the hot pan, it would splay out like a frog’s legs. However, the more common explanation is that the original Joe Frogger cookies were much larger—about the diameter of the frog-friendly lily pads that occupied the mill pond adjacent to Joseph and Lucretia’s tavern. 

Joe Froggers vs. Gingerbread Cookies

Chances are, if you enjoy gingerbread, you’ll love a Joe Frogger. That said, it’s worth noting that Joe Frogger cookies are generally softer and more molasses-forward compared to their more widely known cookie cousin. Although Joe Frogger cookies and gingerbread cut-out cookies share similar ingredient lists and preparation methods, their different textures and nuanced variations in flavor are due to the following distinctions.

• The molasses: Joe Frogger cookie recipes typically call for a higher ratio of molasses than gingerbread cookies. This contributes to the Joe Frogger’s extremely tender texture as well as its deep flavor.
• The water: Hot water is a key element of Joe Frogger batter, but is less commonly relied on in gingerbread recipes to achieve the right moisture content in the dough. 
• The rum: As mentioned above, the addition of dark rum is unique to Joe Frogger cookies. It’s arguably the cookie’s defining ingredient. However, if you do not typically keep dark rum on hand and would rather not purchase a bottle for a single recipe, rum extract can be substituted. For every 2 tablespoons of rum called for in your recipe, swap in 1 teaspoon of extract. 
• The egg: While Joe Frogger cookies are notably egg-free, most gingerbread cookie recipes require at least one large egg. 
• The fat: Gingerbread cookie recipes generally call for a higher ratio of fat—usually, butter—than Joe Froggers do. In combination with the egg, the higher volume of fat leads to gingerbread cut-outs having a crisper bite.
• The cinnamon: You’re likely accustomed to seeing ground cinnamon play a starring role in many spiced cookies, including gingerbread. Accordingly, you’ll be surprised to know that the Joe Frogger doesn’t contain any cinnamon.

How to Make Joe Froggers

Joe Frogger cookies are simple to make. In truth, the most taxing part of the process is allowing time for the dough to chill. To make a batch, you first need to whisk all-purpose flour together with salt, baking soda, and the required ground spices (ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice) in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream vegetable shortening or softened, unsalted butter with molasses and sugar. Next, you should measure hot water into a glass measuring cup and stir in your dark rum. 

Starting and ending with the flour mixture, alternate mixing the dry ingredients and the water-rum mixture into the molasses mixture. Once your dough comes together, cover and refrigerate it for at least two hours. After chilling, your dough should be soft, but not super sticky. If the dough clings to your fingertips when you pinch it, mix in a little more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until you reach a moist but workable texture. 

Next, place the dough between two large sheets of wax paper or parchment paper and flatten. Proceed to roll the dough to a relatively uniform 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch, round cookie cutter, cut the dough into discs. Transfer the discs to parchment-lined baking sheets and bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. If needed, you can repeat this process by re-rolling the cut cookie dough scraps one or two more times.

You’ll know the cookies are done baking when the edges darken and the centers appear set. Remove the cookies from the oven and place the baking sheets on wire racks to cool for 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the cookies from the baking sheets to wire racks to cool completely.

Finally, enjoy your Joe Froggers with coffee, tea, or a tall glass of cold milk!