Martha's Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies

Submitted by COOKGIRl

"From Martha Stewart's Everyday Food as found online."

 

• Ready In: 15mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Yields: 3 dozen

ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground fresh nutmeg
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves (my addition)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 3⁄4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1⁄4 cup unsulphured molasses

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt.
3. In a shallow bowl, place 1/2 cup sugar; set aside.
4. With an electric mixer, beat butter and remaining 1 cup of sugar until combined. Beat in egg and then molasses until incorporated.
5. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in dry ingredients, *just* until a dough forms.
6. Pinch off and roll dough into 1" balls. Roll balls in the reserved sugar to coat.
7. Arrange balls on parchment lined baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges are just firm and top of cookies have a "crackle" effect, 10 to 15 minutes.
8. Cool cookies 1 minute on baking sheets; transfer to racks to cool completely.

Reviews

[Hanka]

These are great! They are chewy if you eat them right the away while still warm. When they cool down they become crispy. I used to make these a lot and serve them with coffee to my guests. I kept dough in refrigerator and baked only what I need it. They have wonderful flavor and aroma.

 

[Khaduja]

This is actually a recipe that my grandma handed down from my great grandma, so it dates to the early 1900's and probably before. They are a holiday tradition that I love and always make for this season. I have to make them in double batches as my husband devours them almost as quickly as I make them.<br/><br/>For me, 11 mins cooks them perfectly every time, and just a minute on the sheet before placing on a cooling rack. 5 mins on the cooling rack and then straight in to an air tight container, this is key for keeping them soft and chewy.

 

[suba7025]

These cookies have a delicious flavor (LOVE that fresh nutmeg, and the cloves are nice, too), but I'm rating low because they are so NOT chewy--baked 3 batchs different amts of time but all came out hard and crunchy. Since I really needed chewy in this case, I ended up having to look for a different recipe and make a whole 2nd batch late at night (needed them for the next day) Call them ginger snaps without ginger and I'll give the recipe 5 stars!

 

[Impera_Magna]

Boy, these are GOOD! When I started making them, the smells reminded me of a cookie I made 25 or so years ago... I wonder what happened to that recipe? Hmmm... Anyhoo... I followed the recipe, using Recipe #45672 for the spices, and subbing 1/2 c brown sugar for 1/2 c of the granulated sugar (I only had 1 c of sugar left and wanted to save 1/2c to roll the balls in). The kitchen smells so homey and warm... and the cookies are tender and delicious. I think they'll crisp up a bit more once completely cooled... but hey! I just had to try one! Thanks for posting this great recipe, CG! I'm sure the kids will enjoy them over the Thanksgiving holiday!