Friday, October 17, 2014

molasses spice cookies . . .



My husband  had a craving for cookies over the weekend, and I wracked my brain trying to think of a cookie that features all the warm flavors of Fall . . . and remembered a recipe for molasses spice cookies that I saw in my Cook's Illustrated Cookbook a few weeks ago.





They're tender, moist, chewy . . . and FULL of the warm flavors of Fall . . . cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, molasses . . . and they're so so so yummy!

We even made a few of them into ice cream sandwiches using vanilla bean ice cream . . . YUM!

As for me, I enjoyed them with a cup of Brown Sugar Cake coffee (I LOVE Gloria Jean's!) . . . again, YUM!

I hope you find time to treat yourself and your family and friends to these amazing little cookies this weekend.



molasses spice cookies
1/2 cup,  plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup light or dark molasses
.     .     .     .     .     .     .

Preparation
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
Place 1/2 cup granulated sugar on a plate or shallow baking dish.
Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, pepper, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat butter, brown sugar, and remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium low and add egg yolk and vanilla, beat until incorporated. On medium-low speed add molasses and beat until combined, about 20 seconds scraping down bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture; beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Give the dough a final stir to ensure that no flour pockets remain. Dough will be soft.
Working with 1 Tablespoon of dough at a time, roll into balls. Roll half of dough balls in sugar and toss to coat. 
Place the dough balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are browned, still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw in between cracks and seem underdone), about 11 minutes. 
Do not overbake.

Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature.



11 comments:

  1. Wow, I love chewy cookies, I'm going to try this recipe!!!! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Sounds like a wonderful fall recipe. Pinned so I will be reminded to bake some soon. I have been baking a lot of breads and rolls lately - time to do some cookies!

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  3. They look yummy and I love anything that is both sweet and spicy!

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  4. Yummy! My family loves molasses cookies. I must try these!

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  5. These are some of my favorite fall flavors. Thanks so much for the recipe. Pinning. ~Heather @ My Overflowing Cup

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  6. A cookie I am going to bake. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. These look delicious! The perfect fall cookie! I bet they would be so good with some hot apple cider!!!

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  8. I just made some molasses cookies last week and they were so yummy! Yours look relish!! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  9. Anonymous6:09 AM

    I love cookies like this, they are so warming and comforting. Thanks for linking up to Sweet and Savoury Sunday, stop by and link up again. Have a great day!! Laura@Baking in Pyjamas

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  10. These cookies look so good. And I am craving those ice cream sandwiches now!! Pinning to the Show Me Saturday board.

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  11. These are the best! I've made them three times now and everyone loves them. Though it is totally unnecessary, I dip them in white chocolate. It just makes an amazing cookie and takes it over the top. Thanks so much.

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