A cool-season classic. Adapted from multiple sources and kitchen experiments.
TMc's Molasses-Spice Cookies
Don't shun the chopped candied ginger or black pepper. Trust me. Yield is about 3 dozen standard 1 TBSP scoop-size cookies, less the bigger you go.
Servings: 36 cookies
Ingredients
- 12 TBSP Unsalted butter (1-1/2 sticks, softened)
- 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 Kosher 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 cookie dough balls in before baking)
Instructions
- Mix together flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and pepper in a bowl and set aside
- In a mixer bowl, beat butter, granulated white sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy
- Add egg, molasses, and vanilla and mix thoroughly
- Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until nicely combined - about 30 seconds at medium speed in a stand mixer
- Add chopped ginger, mix well
- Chill dough for 45 minutes in fridge (for ease of handling)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Place turbinado sugar in a shallow bowl
- Scoop out chilled dough and roll each scoop into a ball
- Roll each dough ball in the turbinado sugar until coated
- Place cookies on parchment paper on cookie sheets
- Bake cookies at 350 until the outer edges of the cookies begin to set and centers are soft and puffy
- Cool cookies on sheets for 5 minutes before carefully sliding the parchment with all the cookies onto a cooling rack
- 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 a couple of hours 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 nitrile 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 1.25-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.