Photo: Murray Hall • Food Styling: Jessie YuChen
Sorghum syrup, a grassy-tasting sweetener that had its heyday in the Civil War era, is still produced in small batches throughout rural regions of the American Midwest and South, including Northeast Missouri. In this sorghum crinkle cookie recipe from Alline Anderson—co-owner of the Milkweed Mercantile, a solar-powered and straw-insulated bed-and-breakfast in Rutledge, Missouri—the sweetener’s earthy, nutty notes are balanced by the milder, caramelly flavor of brown sugar. Look for sorghum syrup at specialty grocers, or online.
Featured in “The Anabaptist Community Taught Me Everything I Know About Sorghum Syrup,” by Benjamin Brownlow.
Yield: 20 cookies Time: 1 hour 20 minutes 2¼ cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1 tsp. ground ginger ½ tsp. ground cloves ¼ tsp. fine salt 1 cup brown sugar ¾ cup softened shortening ¼ cup sorghum syrup 1 large egg ½ cup sanding sugar, for rolling the cookies Instructions Into a medium bowl, sift the flour and baking soda. Add the cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt and whisk together. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar, shortening, syrup, and egg until smooth and well combined, then scrape the mixture into a large bowl. Using a wooden spoon or
