Sometimes, we eat cookies to lift our spirits. For chilly gray days that seem to drag on without end, these chewy molasses-spice cookies can do some serious damage control. Deeply infused with molasses, the spiciness improves with age – if they last more than a day!
One baking note – I’ve often heard culinary greats like Ina Garten of Barefoot Contessa recommend cracking eggs in a small bowl before adding to the batter. For this recipe with its one egg, I opted not to follow her suggestion. Needless to say, I encountered my first “bad egg” in my baking career and had to throw the dough out and start again. From now on, I will always take the extra step!
Chewy Molasses-Spice Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1 1/2 sticks (12 Tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Place 1/4 cup sugar in a shallow bowl and set aside.
Beat butter and remaining cup of sugar in a large mixer bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and then molasses until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until just combined.
Using 1 level tablespoon per cookie, roll dough into balls and then roll each ball in reserved 1/4 cup sugar to coat. Place balls on baking sheets about 3 inches apart (I baked 9 cookies per sheet so they had space to spread) and bake one sheet at a time, until edges of cookies are just firm, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool 1 minute on baking sheets, then transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 4 days.
Yield: 36+ (I had 40) cookies (serving size: 1)
Calories: 90
Carbs: 13
