The Missing Ingredient

I love baking molasses cookies.  They taste good, stay soft, and come out looking perfect every time....except today.  I made a double batch because I'm planning to take them to Emmaus Send-Off tonight.  I took the first sheet out of the oven and it didn't seem right.  Same with the second.  I'm trying to figure out what could be wrong.  Am I not baking them long enough?  Did I switch brands of an ingredient?  Is my cookie sheet not doing what it is supposed to?  It wasn't until the third pan came out that I realized I might have made a mistake!  That's pride for ya :)  Sure enough, I looked at the recipe and realized I had left out the baking soda.  I was able to add some in and improve the other cookies (thankfully they both taste good).  So in case you are wondering what role baking soda plays, check out the picture below.  A teaspoon of powder makes a big difference!