Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Spice Sugar Cookies


My 7 year old was begging to make some cookies yesterday. I looked around at what we had on hand in the house & decided to make these. He loves any kind of spice cookie, especially ginger snaps. These came out looking very similar to the ones you buy in a Nabisco box, but tasted even better.
I think I may have to add them to the Holiday cookie list.

Begin by creaming 1 1/2 sticks of softened, unsalted butter in an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, until light & fluffy. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can use a hand mixer for these as well. Add in a cup of packed light brown sugar & beat until well incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, as needed.

Next, mix in 1 lightly beaten, large egg & a 1/4 cup of unsulfured molasses.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking soda,

1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger,

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves & a 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the mixer, in batches. Scrape down the bowl after each addition. Cover the dough & chill for 1 hour before rolling. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Scoop out the dough, by the tablespoonful & roll into a ball. Toss in a bowl of granulated sugar,

and place on a parchment {or Silpat} lined baking sheet, 3" apart. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking time. Transfer the cookies to a rack, to cool.

Then eat!
They taste especially delicious still warm from the oven, with a glass of milk.

Spice Sugar Cookies

Adapted from Gourmet magazine, October 1991
Makes 4 1/2 dozen cookies

3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
granulated sugar for rolling the cookies

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light & fluffy. Add the light brown sugar & blend until evenly incorporated, scraping down the sides, as needed. Add in the beaten egg & molasses & blend.
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves & salt. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer, in batches, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Chill the dough, covered, for 1 hour.
Scoop out the dough by the tablespoon, roll into a ball & roll in the granulated sugar. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet, 3" apart. Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through the cooking time.
Transfer the cookies, using a metal spatula, to a rack & let them cool
Click here for the printable recipe.

6 comments:

Lauren H. said...

Katie, I noticed you used sea salt. What's the difference between sea, table and kosher salt? When do you use which?!

katie said...

Lauren~
When baking I generally use table salt, as it has smaller grains & dissolves faster. But, with these cookies, I tried sea salt, because of the coarser texture. I thought that actually being able to taste the salt, in a spicy cookie, would be nice.
But, any of the three would work. Kosher is coarse, like sea salt, but it crumbles easily. This makes it my favorite for cooking in general. It's easy to grab a pinch & crumble it over food.
I have read that all three have the same sodium content. But, when measuring, keep in mind that there is more table salt in a teaspoon than kosher/sea salt.

Natalie said...

Yum, these cookies look great and perfect for Fall.

Dana said...

Gorgeous cookies! I am on a hunt for perfect gingery cookies and just posted about some. Mine did not look as good as these!

Restaurang said...

wow awesome :)

Sobi said...

cool recipe....

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