Sweet Sassy Molassy

Sweet sassy molassy, did I ever have a hankering for cookies the other day.  I have spent many a pounds on the chocolate chip variety and it is seldom that I will waste my time or calories on any other cookie.  Why the sticky quick sand of molasses pulled me under is unknown, but it did and the outcome was delightful. I chose to use the recipe right from the back of a jar of Grandma's Molasses. After all, Grandma knows best.

The cookies weren't nearly as complicated to make as I expected and the tiny little gingerbread men that danced in my mouth upon the first taste were well worth the effort. 

Mix shortening, sugar, egg, and molasses. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger.

Now here is the most important step, chill the dough for at least an hour.  Maybe that is common sense to everyone else, but cookie dough is one thing this salmonella-phobe should have, but never really worried much about.  What the molasses cookies taught me about making any cookie is that it is important to refrigerate the dough.  Chilling is what keeps the dough from separating and spreading and therefore your cookies will be more puffy and soft as opposed to thin and crispy.  Why didn't I know this?  Sure you already did so I apologize for the sidebar if you are already jars of cookies ahead of me.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll dough into balls the size of walnuts and dip tops in sugar.  Place sugared side up on lined baking sheet.  The recipe suggests sprinkling cookies with 2-3 drops of water; however, I wasn't impressed by the crinkle look and decided to forgo the extra step after the first round.  Bake 10-12 minutes (after first batch I cooked for 6-8 minutes as we like our cookies on the rare and chewy side).

Voila!

Grandma's Molasses Crinkle (or crinkle-less) Cookies
3/4 c. softened shortening (I used butter as it was what we had on hand)
1 c. light brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1/4 Grandma's Molasses
2 1/4 c. flour (I split this between white and whole wheat flour)
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp ginger

As delicious as the cookies were, I'm not sure if I will rush to make molasses cookies again until holiday time (for some reason they scream Christmas morning with a cup of coffee to me).  However; between you and me, I put quite a few in the freezer in case I need a hint of holiday flavor prior to December.