Much gratitude for all of your kind words in response to my last post. There are such good reminders in those comments about how important it is to be honest with our children and about how resilient those little ones are. Thank you for that.
In appreciation, I give you one of our all-time favorite cookie recipes. I discovered this recipe when I was working on a cookbook for our preschool, Acorn Hill. It was one of the first recipes that I tested for the book, and it was a big hit at home. We have been making these cookies ever since. Many thanks to Mary Forrest for allowing me to share her recipe here.
These cookies are chewy, lightly spiced with cinnamon and cloves, and topped with a sprinkle of sugar. I hope you make them immediately and that you all love them as much as we do.
Because, when life gets us down, we need cookies.
The original recipe calls for chilling the dough for 2 hours before baking the cookies. This chill makes for a chewier cookie, but we have made the cookies many times when we were in too much of a hurry to wait and they are still excellent.
Makes 3 dozen cookies
30 minutes preparation time, plus time for chilling
20 to 30 minutes total baking time
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups unbleached white flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
granulated sugar for dipping and sprinkling
Using a mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and molasses and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the molasses mixture and blend until the ingredients are completely incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, if you have the time.
When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Pour some granulated sugar into a shallow bowl.
Roll the dough into balls the size of large walnuts. Dip the tops of the cookies in the granulated sugar and arrange them on the cookie sheets at least an inch apart. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are firm. Remove them from the oven and immediately sprinkle them with more granulated sugar.
I usually use Martha's molasses cookie recipe. Maybe next Christmas, I'll put you up against her and see what the family thinks. (Native New Englanders, we get all lathered about our molasses.)
Posted by: Anna | January 26, 2011 at 08:59 AM
I do not dare make these cookies. They are irresistible. They actually have teeny little whispering voices that chant, "I'm chewy, I'm spicy, it's cold out, you deserve me." And then they're gone, just like that. They are my absolute favorites. Also, if you use demerara sugar to top them, you get the big crunchy crystals on top.
Posted by: Susan | January 26, 2011 at 10:14 AM
My favorite molasses cookie as well- dangerous indeed but they freeze well and sometimes this can keep us from snarfing the whole batch down in one day.
Posted by: Julie | February 01, 2011 at 03:08 PM
My favorite molasses cookie as well- dangerous indeed but they freeze well and sometimes this can keep us from snarfing the whole batch down in one day.
Posted by: Julie | February 01, 2011 at 03:08 PM