Category Archives: Recipes – Baked Goods

Cookies, cakes, and other things I like to bake. Don’t bother stopping here if you’re seeking anything low-cal.

TMc’s Molasses-Spice Cookies

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A cool-season classic. Adapted from multiple sources and kitchen experiments.

TMc's Molasses-Spice Cookies
 
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Don't shun the chopped candied ginger or black pepper. Trust me.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients
  • 1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter (3/4 cup), softened to room temp
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup unsulphured molasses
  • 2-1/2 cups all-purpose white flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground allspice
  • 3/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/3 cup crystallized ginger, chopped small
  • 3/4 cup turbinado sugar (for rolling cookies)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  2. Mix together flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and pepper in a bowl and set aside
  3. In a mixer bowl, beat butter, granulated white sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy
  4. Add egg, molasses, and vanilla and mix thoroughly
  5. Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds
  6. Chill dough for 45 minutes in fridge (for ease of handling)
  7. Scoop out chilled dough and roll each scoop into a ball
  8. Place turbinado sugar in a shallow bowl
  9. Roll each dough ball in the turbinado sugar until coated
  10. Place cookies on parchment paper on cookie sheets
  11. Bake cookies at 350 until the outer edges of the cookies begin to set and centers are soft and puffy
  12. Cool cookies on sheets for 5 minutes before carefully sliding the parchment with all the cookies onto a cooling rack
  13. Let cool for several hours before packaging in air tight containers or zipper bags – these keep a few days at room temp, and up to several months in the freezer
Notes
~You can make the dough up to several days in advance and refrigerate - set out on the counter to soften for an hour or so before you start scooping if you take this route or you may well snap your scoop - I learned that the hard way
~The cookie-ball rolling gets messy - I keep a box of latex gloves in my kitchen and use some for this bit
~For a #16 disher (1/4 cup scoop), one standard cookie sheet accommodates 5 cookies (corners & one in the center)
~For a standard 1-TBSP cookie scoop, one standard cookie sheet accommodates 12 cookies (3 x 4)
~Bake about 11 to 13 minutes for smaller cookies
~Bake about 20 minutes for big cookies
~Rotate cookie sheet(s) halfway through bake time – I switch oven shelves & back-to-front
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TMc’s Nut Butter Cookies

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This was originally my infamous peanut-butter cookie recipe. However, I developed a late-life peanut allergy, so I experimented and adapted. This is good with any creamy nut butter you prefer, but if I can’t have peanuts anymore, I find I prefer using cashew butter for a plain nut-butter cookie. Please note: contrary to the claims of certain fans of this cookie recipe, they do not, in fact, contain crack.

TMc's Nut Butter Cookies
 
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Makes about 5 dozen cookies - works well with any creamy nut butter you prefer
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup)
  • 2-1/2 cups light brown sugar
  • 1 cup creamy nut butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2-1/2 cups all-purpose white flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Stir flour, salt and baking soda together in a small bowl with a fork
  3. Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl
  4. Add nut butter, eggs and vanilla and mix well
  5. Add dry ingredients and mix well
  6. Scoop out dough and place scoops flat side down on parchment paper on baking sheets
  7. Slightly flatten scoops of dough with the criss- cross fork move
  8. Bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees until cookies are light brown (add a few minutes if you are baking 2 sheets' worth at once)
  9. Cool on cooling racks for at least 20 minutes
  10. Continue to cool for a couple of hours before sealing in a container or plastic bag
Notes
Here are some variations that are very successful:
~ Nut-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies – Add 1 cup mini-morsels (the tiny chocolate chips) at the end of mixing, bake as above
~ Nut-Butter Kiss Cookies – Don’t press the cookies down, then stick a Hershey’s kiss in the middle when they come out of the oven (freeze the kisses for at least a half hour while the cookies are baking so they don’t melt down too much) – these need to cool completely for a couple hours before eating
~ Peanut-Butter Cup Cookies – Great for a special take on a peanut-butter treat! Roll each scoop of dough into a ball and bake in mini-muffin tins (use baking spray!) for 8-9 minutes, then put a miniature peanut butter cup in each one when they come out of the oven (freeze the pb cups for at least a half hour while the cookies are baking, same reason as above) – these also need to cool completely before eating
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