[Cookie 046] Chewy Molasses Crinkles

Sorry about the absence again, I'm a total flake. Well, actually, I left my USB cable at my friend's house so all of my cookie photos were locked in captivity on my camera. Excuses excuses, I know. Good news is I have a lot to post now, so get ready for me to flood your RSS feeders!

So anyway, a week or so ago it got pretty chilly here in New York--as in, down to the mid-40s during the day. I got very excited at the notion of being able to bake spicey, wintery cookies; the ones that while in the oven make your kitchen smell totally divine and cozy. I don't know if it's just me, but I never want to bake that kind of cookie in the heat of the summer. Usually, I reserve the fruity cookies for the summer, and save all the spice-laden ones for the dead of winter, but maybe that's just because that's what all the recipe books tell you to do. Whatever, enough analyzing. So I jumped right in with this recipe for Chewy Molasses Crinkles, is what I'm trying to say. Bought me some Molasses and got to work.

And I was very happy with the end results. The recipe is dead easy and makes an amazing cookie dough to pick at. I made the terrible mistake of leaving the dough to refrigerate for an entire day, and though this made no effect on the outcome of the cookies, I had substantially less dough than when I had put it in the refrigerator to begin with. Meaning: I have sneaking, savage roommates that have to have their fingers in every pie/cookie dough.

Fortunately, the recipe makes a completely massive amount of cookie dough, so you can either make monster sized cookies (who doesn't love that?) or you can make a million medium sized ones (also excellent) or you can eat a bunch of the dough (even better, but could leave you feeling nauseous). I chose options 2 and 3.

One qualm: They weren't very chewy. Well, if you underbake them, which I did, and eat them within the hour after pulling them out of the oven, they are chewy. But by the next day, they are 100% crunchy. I'm sure you can remedy this, but my roommates and I end up eating cookies so fast that preservation is a total joke.

So, to kick off the cooler months ahead (I am so ready to bust out my ugly Chewbacca winter coat), make these cookies. But if it's still warm where you are, they would make a totally delicious ice-cream sandwich if you put a scoop of vanilla or even ginger ice cream in between two. Now, go!

Chewy Molasses Crinkles

Makes about 2 dozen (but I got about twice that much...)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup for rolling
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon course salt

Directions

1. Put butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 c granulated sugar in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs one at a time, followed by the molasses and oil.
2. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and salt. Cover dough with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 325 F. Put remaining 1/4 c granulated sugar in a bowl. Using a 1 3/4 inch ice cream scoop, form balls of dough. Roll balls in sugar to coat, and space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are flat and centers are set, about 17 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 5 days.

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 1/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 3.5/5
Tastiness: 3.5/5 (A tad boring to be honest...)
Attractiveness: 3.5/5
Is it worth it?: If you want a molasses cookie, you'll get exactly what you're looking for.

{Pairings}
Drink: Apple cider, maybe? Ginger tea? Milk? Milk Tea? Ginger apple cider milk tea? (That's sounds gross, I apologize...)

Song: Winter is Blue -- Vashti Bunyan
Activity: Something cozy...baking these while wearing your favorite wooly knitted socks?