Molasses and Spice Lemon Sandwich Cookies

Submitted by Wish I Could Cook

"It's really hard to imagine what a wonderful combination this is. Make it once and you'll be hooked! Why this recipe works: these cookies combine the best of two worlds - a chewy molasses cookie with a tart lemon filling. To keep the cookies soft and chewy, take care not to overbake them. They are done when the cookies puff and just start to crack on top (they should sink into flat cookies when you take them out of the oven). For the best flavor, use fresh spices (replace your spices if they are more than one year old) and dark (or robust) molasses, avoiding black-strap molasses, which will make the cookies bitter."

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Yields: 40 cookies
• Serves: 20

ingredients

• cookies

• 3⁄4 cup Earth Balance margarine, softened
• 1⁄4 cup molasses
• 1⁄3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar

• filling

• 3 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine (softened)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar (sifted)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine wet ingredients and sugar in one bowl, dry ingredients in another, then combine.
3. Chill for about in hour so the dough is easy to work with.
4. Form into balls and roll in sugar and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes or until the tops just start to crack a bit. Remove from oven and cool completely before filling.

5. Filling:

6. Combine remaining 3 tablespoons margarine, lemon juice, and confectioner's sugar in bowl and whisk until smooth. Spread heaping teaspoon filling over bottoms of half of cooled cookies. Top with remaining cookies and let filling set 1 hour.
7. When cookies are cool, and filling is ready, just frost the bottom of one cookie with the frosting and place another cookie on top to make a sandwich.
8. Enjoy!