Chewy Molasses Cookies

Pretty much everyone enjoys a chocolate chip cookie. Peanut butter cookies are well loved, and oatmeal raisin has its fans as well. But to like a molasses cookie, you have to be a special kind of person. So when Steve admitted that he was a molasses-lover, I jumped at the chance to make one of my favorite kinds of cookies. My first attempt, while ultimately tasty, wasn’t big on the molasses flavor. So I made a second batch, this time with my own adjustments. If you have a special place in your heart for molasses cookies, you have to try this recipe. They are chewy, slightly spicy, and best of all, perfectly molassesy.

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup molasses

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

White sugar

Mix the butter, sugar, and one egg together until smooth. Then stir in the molasses. I usually try to eyeball the molasses since it’s such a pain to measure it and then try to get the sticky stuff out of the measuring cup. Another hint I’ve heard but not tried is to spray the cup with no stick spray. If you try it, let me know how it works.

You can either combine the flour, soda, salt and spices in a separate bowl, or use a dish-saving tip. I like to pour the flour on top of the wet ingredients, then put all the other ingredients in the middle of the flour. Use a spoon to lightly stir the dry ingredients on top (without dipping into the wet ingredients). Then mix them into the molasses mixture until it’s all incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for about an hour.

After the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 375. Roll the dough into balls, about an inch in diameter. Pour some white sugar onto a small plate and roll the balls in the sugar to coat. I usually just make sure to get the top and sides of the ball (because I don’t like the burned sugar on the bottom of the cookie). But you can roll it all over if you like. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet and bake for about 8 minutes. If you like a crisper cookie, you can flatten the balls a little and cook a little longer. Either way, they are delicious and worth adding to your cookie repertoire.

(Click here for printable recipe)