Oct 16

Oct 16 Soft Spiced Molasses Cookies

Soft Spiced Molasses Cookies | Hello, Sweetie!

I bought a cute tea towel over the holidays from the Hearth & Hand line at Target. It happened to have a recipe for gingerbread cookies on it. On a whim, I decided to actually make the recipe. I'm not sure if this is an actual Joanna Gaines recipe or something that was just meant to be for decoration, but take my word for it... it's an outta-the-park, perfect classic! These molasses cookies are some of our absolute favorites now, and will definitely be featured on every cookie platter I make.

They more resemble a molasses crinkle cookie than a crunchy gingerbread cutout, so I've changed the name, but that's all! Soft and spiced, with a little crunch from a role in coarse sugar before baking; I love to have them with a cup of coffee (sometimes at breakfast time!)

Don't judge me. Once you've tried these cookies, you'll understand.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature
4 cups all purpose flour
Turbinado (coarse) sugar, for rolling (granulated sugar can also be used)

Soft Spiced Molasses Cookies | roll the dough in coarse sugar to create that crunchy, crackled exterior.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat baking mats.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, until light and fluffy. Beat in the molasses, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding the eggs, one at a time.

Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer, then stir the rest by hand, if necessary, with wooden spoon.

Scoop the soft dough into 1 3/4" balls. Roll them in course (turbinado) sugar and place on the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes per batch, until edges are firm and they just begin to brown. Let cool on the sheet 1 minute before transferring them to a cooling grid. Let completely cool before storing covered at room temperature.

Yield: approximately 3 dozen