Molasses Spice Cookies

One of my favorite cookies ever (and an honored pantry standby!) is the Brown Sugar Cookie. The rich butter-sugar-caramel is addictive.

However, for something just as comforting, just as easy, but a little fancier for the holidays or a winter weekend, I love these. (I might even like them better.)

One thing to remember with the amount of molasses in these cookies--they will burn if left alone. Don't walk too far from the oven while they are baking. I also highly recommend baking a "test cookie" first to check how quickly and evenly your oven bakes. (Mine kept burning on the bottom, for instance, so I slipped a silicone mat underneath the parchment paper to insulate them.)

Credit where it's due: this recipe is adapted from one I obtained from Tracy Dieselman.

Recipe after the jump...

Molasses Spice Cookies

Prep Time:

30 min, plus 30 min refrigeration time

Cooking Time:

8 to 10 min

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups bread flour (all-purpose flour and/or slightly less flour can also be used for less chewy cookie)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• ¼ cup molasses
• ¼ cup unsalted butter + 1 tablespoon
• ¼ cup shortening
• ¾ cup granulated sugar (can use brown sugar instead--just cut back the molasses)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar +  ¼ cup brown sugar, mixed
• 1 egg

Hardware:

• sifter for dry ingredients
• stainless steel saucepan or skillet
• 2 cookie sheets
• parchment paper (although aluminum foil does in a pinch)
• heatproof bowl
• medium to large mixing bowl
• cookie scoop
• shallow dish or pie pan (to hold sugar coating)
• spatula
• cooling rack

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 375º.

2.  Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

3.  Heat ¼ cup butter over medium-high heat until melted. Continue to cook, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Add additional tablespoon butter, shortening, and sugar, and blend until thoroughly combined and smooth.

4. Add egg and molasses to mixture and mix until combined, about 30 seconds.

5. Gradually blend in flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 1 minute. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.

6. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough for at least 30 min, up to 2 hours. (This will prevent cookies from spreading in the oven.)

6. Use medium cookie scoop to form balls of dough (if you don't have a cookie scoop, use a tablespoon to scoop 2 tbs of dough), rolling between hands into balls about 1½ inches in diameter.

Okay, this is actually from my Brown Sugar Cookie post...but it's the same process!

7. Working in batches, toss balls in white/brown sugar mixture to coat and set on baking sheet covered with parchment paper, spacing them about 2 inches apart, 12 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but it will take 3 batches.)

8. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are puffy and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), 8 to 10 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Do not overbake, and keep a sharp eye on the oven--these cookies will burn quickly!

9. Cool cookies on baking sheet 3 minutes; using spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Spicy winter goodness.