This is a firecracker of a cookie! Spicy, sweet, zesty: this is one sassy cookie. Not only does the molasses give it a smooth, rich taste, but the spices bring it to life and make you want to keep eating more. Look out for the dough, too. I couldn't stop eating it before putting it in the oven!
This weekend I managed to not successfully do anything I had planned. I was going to bake a bunch of things, clean up the house, read a lot, and generally get my life under control. Instead, I somehow squandered the time either lounging, producing baking failures, or drinking hot chocolate downtown. I realize lounging and drinking hot chocolate are both very enjoyable, I just didn't expect to spend Friday and Saturday doing so much of it!
Derek and I actually had a great weekend full of meeting people for drinks or dinner, going to the Bozeman Christmas Stroll on Main Street, and attempting to attend some Super Tour races (skate skiing). Overall, it really was enjoyable - but my closet still needs cleaning! Maybe it will learn to clean itself...
These cookies, baked on Thursday, certainly didn't last very long! They are molasses cookies, but with a strong punch of gingery spice - so I prefer to think of them as chewy ginger snaps. I'm all about ginger (in tea, in stir fry, in salad dressing, ANYWHERE), but not so much about the snap. I'm a chewy cookie person, not a crispy cookie person. I love biting into a soft cookie: it doesn't give up a fight like the hard ones.
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Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 12 mins
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 18 cookies 1x
Description
Spicy ginger and rich, caramel molasses make the perfect combination in these moist and chewy cookies.
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper or ¼ tsp chipotle powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
- ½ stick (¼ cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup molasses
- granulated sugar for sugaring tops of cookies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Whisk together the first 8 ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat shortening, butter, and brown sugar together until light and fluffy - about 3 minutes. Add egg and molasses, beat until smooth. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture.
- With wet hands, roll dough into small balls, dip one side in granulated sugar, then place sugar-side up on an ungreased cookie sheet. Cook for 10-12 minutes.
Notes
- I used cayenne pepper and thought it was perfect - a nice little spice without being weird in a cookie.
- Don't bake these too long! They won't look done when they're ready to be taken out of the oven: do it anyways.
- This dough is pretty soft. While it is workable without refrigeration, chilling it for a while would help make rolling easier.
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