Molasses Spice Cookies

This is a version of a recipe that was on washingtonpost.com a couple of years ago during the holidays. I tried using whole wheat, and it worked great. These cookies are fabulous -- they stay chewy, they look professional, and they taste wonderful. Perfect for the holidays (or any other time)!

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Yields: 24 large cookies

Ingredients

• 4  cups whole wheat flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1⁄4 teaspoons baking soda
• 2  teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1⁄4 teaspoons cloves
• 1 1⁄4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1  cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 1⁄2 cups sugar, divided
• 1⁄2 cup unsulphured molasses
• 2  large eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Grease 2 large baking sheets.
3. In a large bowl, mix whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cloves and cinnamon.
4. In another large bowl, beat together butter and 2 cups of the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in molasses. Beat in eggs, making sure they get well beaten (you might want to do them first in their own little bowl).
5. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet and combine well.
6. Put the remaining 1/4 cups of sugar into a small, shallow bowl. Form the dough into 2-inch balls (no bigger -- this already yields really big cookies) and roll each ball in the sugar.
7. Arrange the balls on the baking sheets, about 4 inches apart. Flatten each ball slightly, using the bottom of a glass. (The original recipe said to dip the glass bottom in the leftover sugar first, but this never did anything for me. It was fun, though.).
8. Bake the cookies in batches in the middle of the oven 15 minutes, or until puffed and golden. They should be soft. Using a spatula, transfer finished cookies to racks to cool.
9. Enjoy!