Thursday, August 13, 2009

Molasses Cookies

I had spare time on my hands a few weeks back and decided that I'll to try out a cookie recipe I had chanced upon whilst browsing through one of my favourite food blogs, Jen of Use Real Butter . If you have not checked out her blog, I would encourage you to do so. I particularly admire Jen for her great recipes and beautifully taken nature photographs. In addition, I find her to be an amazing person, witty and funny, strong in character but at the same time having such a sensitive nature.

Anyway it was mid week, after work and the telly was showing some really crappy movies. So to while away the spare time, I decided to try out her cookie recipe. It also gives me the opportunity to use up the 2 bottles of molasses I have sitting in my cupboard. I particularly love ginger cookies and when I was young, I would dunk them into a cup of Nescafe and gobble up the soggy bits with such tenacity. Hmmm come to think of it I haven't done that in ages! Since my first batch, I've made three other batches todate and have slightly adjusted the original recipe. All I can say is these cookies are damn, damn good and I'll be making some more pretty soon.





Molasses Cookies
Recipe Adapted from Use Real Butter

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (190g) dark brown sugar, packed (I reduced the sugar to 175g)
1 cup (225g) fine castor sugar (I reduced the sugar to 180g)
2 eggs, well-beaten
1/2 cup (200g) molasses (not blackstrap)
1/2 cup (130g) crystallized ginger, minced
2 tsps (5g) vinegar
1 tbsp vanilla
3 3/4 cups (530g) flour
1 1/2 tsps (7g) baking soda
6 tsps (12g) ground ginger (I added 8 tsps of ground ginger as I do like my cookies with a bit more ginger "kick" to it)
2 tsps (5g) ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp (1g) ground cloves
1/4 tsp (2g) salt

Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar
about 1/4 cup milk (add a bit at a time)

Method:

1) Cream together the butter and the sugars. Stir in the eggs, molasses, ginger, vinegar, and vanilla.

2) In a separate bowl, combine the remaining (dry) ingredients and mix well. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix and beat until just combined.

3) Preheat oven to 325°F (160C). Form dough into 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheet or Silpat with 1.5 inches of space between each (they spread a bit but if you want a much flatter cooker, just flatten the ball slightly with the back of your palm). I found it easier to chill the dough for a while before shaping it. And in between trays I returned the dough into the fridge to chill.

4) Bake about 12 minutes. Cookies should be still soft when removed from oven. Cool on a wire rack.

To Make the Icing:

Place powdered sugar in bowl and add a little milk, stirring to incorporate. Continue to add milk if required until the glaze has a good thick pouring consistency (but not runny). Fill a squeeze bottle with the glaze and stripe the cookies. Let the glaze set.


13 comments:

Ju (The Little Teochew) said...

Absolutely gorgeous! Cookies with icing is a brainwave.

Unknown said...

Oh Love, love, love love molasses cookies. I haven't made cookies in ages. Seeing these reminds me that I need to start making them again

Pam said...

Yum - I haven't had a molasses cookie in years. They look terrific.

The Duo Dishes said...

Isn't it great how most of us cook when we're bored or not feeling stimulated? Great past time. With great results of course!

Unknown said...

dipping cookies into coffee...my favorite!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! I don't believe I've ever had a molasses cookie, sounds like a must try!

Heather said...

I love molasses cookies only they usually look rather plain. These cookies are delightfully pretty with the frosting.

Selba said...

Sometimes I like to dip my cookies into milk or coffee ;)

Never tried molasses cookies so far, but would love to have a try of it.

Lisa said...

Your recreation of Jen's cookies are beautiful. Molasses cookies akways remind me of X-Mas, snowing, fireplace lit..cuddling up..:) BUT hey, who says they wouldn't be great at the beach too? LOL Beautifully done (LOVE that glaze drizzle) and delicious looking!

gaga said...

Yummy! The icing is the perfect touch to an already great cookie :)

Palidor said...

When I was a little girl, my mom would give me this herbal medicine when I was sick. It looked, smelled, and tasted exactly like molasses. Ugh, it still brings back bad memories! But otherwise, these cookies look wonderful.

The Food Librarian said...

Ohhhh. I want! I want!

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