Sunday we had our first snow of the season which was my signal to start baking cookies. As a kid I loved to bake cookies and my father and brother loved to eat them as fast as I could make them. As I grew older, I preferred to make cakes, breads and pies. Cookies seemed like so much effort and they were gone so quickly. But I do so love a really good molasses cookie and this simple recipe satisfies my craving. It’s fairly instant gratification, taking under an hour from start to finish. I used Grandma’s Unsulphured Original Molasses. I mean what’s the point of making a molasses cookie if you aren’t going to go for the full flavor experience? In my oven, these were perfect after 9 minutes. Now I have to admit that while these are a wonderful chewy molasses cookie, I personally really prefer a crisper, even slightly leathery molasses cookie. So I will be on the hunt for a recipe that meets those criteria and hopefully will have it to share in the next couple of weeks since I know that this is prime cookie baking season.
Chewy Molasses Cookies by Alison Roman in December 2013 Bon Appetit
Ingredients
Yield: 2½ DOZEN
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
⅓ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup mild-flavored (light) or robust-flavored (dark) molasses (I used robust-flavored)
¼ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
Coarse sanding or raw sugar (for rolling)
Directions
- Place racks in lower and upper thirds of oven; preheat to 375°. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and salt in a small bowl.
Whisk egg, butter, granulated sugar, molasses, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Mix in dry ingredients just to combine. - Place sanding sugar in a shallow bowl. Scoop out dough by the tablespoonful and roll into balls (if dough is sticky, chill 20 minutes). Roll in sugar and place on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2” apart.
- Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets halfway through, until cookies are puffed, cracked, and just set around edges (over baked cookies won’t be chewy), 8–10 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool.
DO AHEAD: Cookie dough can be made and rolled into balls 2 weeks ahead. Freeze on a baking sheet; transfer to resealable plastic bags. Let sit at room temperature 30 minutes before rolling in sugar.
