Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

Light is not my friend here, dear people. So, you’ll have to take the boy’s word for it when he tells you that these cookies “sparkle.” It’s just the sugar, catching little bits of fire light I’m sure. But it’s really hard to resist the request, “Hey mom, will you bake some of those sparkly cookies?”

You should also know, in addition to being sparkly, these cookies are a panacea for all that ails you. Whether you’ve succumbed to your inner 12 year old (or outer as the case might be!) and slacked off on all your responsibilities so that your mother has a mini-melt down upon viewing the state of your bedroom floor.

Or, you’ve embraced your inner 3 year old (or outer 40 as the case might be!) and melted-down over things not going your way and wishing JUST ONCE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, you could see your kid’s floor.

Or you’re just the guy stuck between these two forces of nature, wishing you could hide under the kid’s bed like the dog, except you’re afraid of what might be underneath the kid’s bed by the state of his floor.

It doesn’t matter. These cookies will make you feel better. They will make you smile and laugh and apologize and vow to do better in the future. How do they do it? They have Sparkle Power. And really, that’s hard to argue with too. Recipe on the flip.

Sparkle Power! Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

RECIPE:

3/4 cup of butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Heaping 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2  salt (we omit)

Beat butter until soft. Then add sugar, molasses, and egg. We use the full strength molasses. But if you’re not so keen on that flavor, the lighter molasses will work just as well.

While your butter, sugar is mixing, in a separate bowl mix together the remaining ingredients. Then, stir into your wet ingredients until well incorporated.

Cover dough and chill for at least an hour

Preheat oven to 375

Scoop 1″ balls of dough with a small cookie scooper. Roll in either granulated sugar or Turbinado sugar.  Place 2″ apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes (we do 8 with our convection oven.) Then let finish baking on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before plating.

Makes 36 cookies. We like these cookies freshly baked, so I tend to make up one sheet of cookies at a time and refrigerate the remaining dough for the next day. If refrigerate over night, you’ll need to let the dough rest on the counter for about 15 minutes in order to scoop it. Otherwise, it’s a real work-out if it’s too cold.

OR: You can use a larger scoop and make really LARGE sized cookies like the ones you find at really lovely coffee houses. You might need to increase your bake time in this case to 10-12 minutes.