Christmas spices warm the home and the heart at this time of year.
Never a year would go by without Mom Helena making several batches of her famous ‘gingersnap’ cookies. A handful of cookies and a tall glass of cold milk (for dunking) was the ultimate bedtime snack. Her gingersnaps were a little smaller than this version, and not quite as spicy …delicious and memorable nonetheless.
Merry Christmas…
and a very Happy New Year!
Molasses Spice Cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes + resting time Baking Time: 10-12 minutes
Yield: 15 cookies
Ingredients:
410 g (2 ¾ c) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (10 mL) baking soda
¾ teaspoon (4 mL) salt
1 ¼ teaspoon (7 mL) ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon (4 mL) Chinese 5-spice
½ teas poon (2.5 mL) ground ginger
¼ teaspoon (1.5 mL) finely ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon (1.5 mL) ground cloves
180 g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
110 g (1/2 cup hard-packed) dark brown sugar
50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
125 mL (1/2 cup) molasses – ¼ cup blackstrap + ¼ cup fancy molasses
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract
Granulated sugar or sanding sugar for coating
Method:
- In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
- In a stand mixer, beat together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy – at least 5-6 minutes.
- Beat in molasses, egg, and vanilla.
- Add the flour and spice mixture and mix just until dough comes together.
- Refrigerate dough for several hours – preferably overnight.
- At baking time: Preheat oven to 3750F (1900C). Prepare cookie sheets with some parchment paper. Take the dough out of the refrigerate to ‘warm up’ a bit.
- Using approximately 65 grams of dough per cookie (large golf ball size), roll dough into balls. Roll the balls in sanding sugar, and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Gently flatten the ball (with the bottom of a water glass). Spray or lightly sprinkle cookies with some water (this encourages the cookie to crack).
- Bake 10-12 minutes until firm (don’t overbake).
- Cool on cookie sheets. Happy Dunking!!
