When I bake, chocolate is often the main ingredient. During the winter holidays though everyone needs a fragrant spice cookie and this recipe will do the trick. These spices and molasses cookies are soft and chewy, and the aroma of the spices wafts through the kitchen when you take the tray out of the oven. Their beautiful crackle is thanks to the turbinado sugar coating. The sugar crystals give them a fancy finish. I omitted the cloves because of a personal preference. Only bake 1 tray of cookies at a time. If you put both trays in the oven at the same time the cookies on the bottom rack won’t get the beautiful crackle. Do not overbake! Take the cookies out of the oven when they still look underdone to ensure a soft and chewy centre.
Bon appétit!
Recipe Sources: Cook’s Illustrated
Yields 22 cookies
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon table salt
⅓ cup packed dark brown sugar (about 2 1/2 ounces)
1 large egg yolk
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
- Pour the turbinado sugar into a small bowl and set aside.
- Whisk flour, baking soda, spices, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Reduce the speed and add vanilla and egg yolk, beating until incorporated.
- Add the molasses, beating until well combined.
- Fold in the flour mixture.
- Scoop dough and roll between palms into 1.5-inch balls.
- Coat the balls with the turbinado sugar.
- Place the cookie balls on the baking tray 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 11 minutes, until cookies are browned and puffy. The edges will have begun to set but the centers still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone).
- Cool cookies on baking tray for 5 minutes.
- Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool to room temperature before serving.
Store cookies at room temperature in airtight container for up to 5 days.
Nutritional information per serving: 153 calories, 7g fat, 4g saturated, 0g trans, 2g monounsaturated, 0g polyunsaturated, 25mg cholesterol, 84mg sodium, 22g carbs, 0g fiber, 12g sugars, 2g protein.
