Ingredients

• 0.5 cups molasses
• 0.25 cups honey
• 0.25 cups shortening
• 0.25 cups margarine
• 2 large eggs
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 0.75 cups white sugar
• 0.5 cups brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons anise extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1.5 teaspoons ground cardamom
• 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 0.5 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. 1 Gather the ingredients.
2. 2 Place molasses, honey, shortening, and margarine in a saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir until creamy.
3. 3 Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Beat in eggs.
4. 4 Combine flour, white sugar, brown sugar, anise, cinnamon, cardamom, baking soda, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, black pepper, and salt in a large bowl.
5. 5 Add molasses mixture; stir until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate dough until well chilled, about 2 hours.
6. 6 Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Roll dough into acorn-sized balls and place 1 inch apart on baking sheets.
7. 7 Bake in the preheated oven until firm to the touch with slight cracking, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets briefly before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. 8 Dust cooled cookies with confectioners' sugar. Store in an airtight container.

Nutrition per serving