Soft Molasses Spice Cookies

Several years ago I made these on a whim, and I have made them every single Christmas since. Because while they were not traditional holiday cookies when I was a kid, I really wish they had been. They're soft on the inside, slightly crunchy on the outside, just spicy enough to be interesting, and just sweet enough to balance the spice. This isn't my recipe (although I've modified it). I originally found it at Food.com, where the recipe introduction says it came from the Robin Hood Cookbook.

Really basic ingredients. Flour (it calls for all-purpose, but I've used half or all whole wheat flour with no noticeable difference in texture or taste), brown sugar, molasses, oil, the usual spice suspects (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves), and a few other things. I think I had light brown sugar this go-around, but I've done it with dark also. The only thing I forgot to include in the picture is granulated (white) sugar for rolling, but I figure you know what that looks like.

Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. If you're really picky you can do this with a whisk instead of a spoon to prevent any lumps from forming, but I've never really had a problem with them breaking apart if they do. Whatever works for you.

In a separate, larger bowl, combine all the wet ingredients. It's going to be really, really liquid-y, and that's OK. Adding the dry ingredients to it will firm it up in no time. Plus, you'll be refrigerating the dough before you actually make cookies, so you'll be great.

Once the dry ingredients are completely mixed into the wet (I do this in 3-4 batches, mixing well between each addition), it's still not quite firm enough to work with. But that's OK... remember I said you'd be refrigerating the dough? You want to cover and refrigerate it for at least a couple of hours. I usually end up mixing the dough one day and making cookies the next, but I've left it for as little as two hours up to a little longer than two days with no problems.

You'll notice in the next picture the dough is in a different bowl. That's because the one above is my giant "I'm mixing things and I want room to do it" bowl. The one below is a normal-sized mixing bowl, and the dough fits in it just fine once it's made. It also fits far better in my refrigerator.

When the dough has chilled, get yourself set up to make the cookies. I tend to set up assembly line style, with the dough followed by sugar followed by the cookie sheet. I also just grab some dough with my hands to roll it, because I find it easier and don't mind getting my hands dirty. Your cookie sheet(s) need to be greased, and while you're welcome to do that however you please, can I once again extol the virtues of Pam for Baking? I used the same pan over and over to bake the cookies, and I sprayed it once before I started. They never once stuck to the pan.

What you should end up with are relatively uniform sized balls of dough, roughly the size of an unshelled walnut. Or bigger, but then that'll adjust your baking time longer. They will increase in size a little purely because they'll come out as flat, round, cookies, but I've never had them stick together while baking.

I always put the dough back in the refrigerator between batches of rolling, because it does tend to soften and get sticky fairly quickly. You will end up with a thin layer of dough on the palms of your hands, but it's not so much you should worry about not having enough for the cookies. The original recipe says it makes 54 cookies. I usually get at least 80.

See? They don't even touch when they come out of the oven. You do have to be fairly careful because they are easy to burn on the bottom (mostly because you roll them in sugar before baking). I'm usually making these at the end of a baking day so the oven has been at temperature for hours, which means I set my timer for 8 minutes and they're perfect. When they're done, they should almost taste like the very centers are still raw. They won't be as that's the soft and chewy part, but that's the best way I could think of to describe it.

Oh yeah... The original recipe called for chilling, then rolling flat and cutting out shapes rather than rolling in balls, rolling in sugar, and baking. If you want to do that, more power to you! I don't do things that require a rolling pin other than threatening an intruder. I'm no good at it, it takes too much time, and I don't like it. These look pretty enough for me with their cracked tops and glisten of sugar crystals.

Soft Molasses Spice Cookies

Makes 84

5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup oil (vegetable oil)
1 1/2 cups molasses
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar, for rolling

Step 1
Combine dry ingredients together in a bowl until well-mixed.

Step 2
Combine wet ingredients in a bowl until well-mixed.

Step 3
Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix well.

Step 4
Cover and refrigerate dough at least one hour (I've left it up to two days).

Step 5
Preheat oven to 375F; grease baking sheets.

Step 6
Using your hands, roll dough into balls slightly larger than walnuts, then roll in granulated sugar to coat.

Step 7
Place balls about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

Step 8
Bake at 375F for 8-10 minutes, watching carefully so the bottoms don't burn.

Step 9
Cool completely on wire racks before storing.

Serving Size: 1 (23.5 g)

Calories 84.6

Total Fat - 2.1 g

Saturated Fat - 0.3 g

Cholesterol - 0.2 mg

Sodium - 90.2 mg

Total Carbohydrate - 15.7 g

Dietary Fiber - 0.3 g

Sugars - 9.4 g

Protein - 0.9 g

Again, although I have revamped this, re-written it, and don't roll and cut out shapes, this recipe was originally found at Food.com, where it was credited to the Robin Hood Cookbook.