Molasses Spice Cookies

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HAPPY HOLIDAYS! ¡FELIZ NAVIDAD! BUON NATALE! FELIZ NATAL! JOYEUX NOËL! 즐거운 크리쓰마쓰! 圣诞快乐 新年快乐! メリークリスマス! Selamat Hari Natal!

These. cookies. are. so. good. I'm serious. When my mom saw that I was going to make cookies made with molasses and no chocolate or nuts, she quickly said, "I'm not going to want any of them," to which I quickly responded, "Well, they are going to be all for me then!"

However, after I made them and took one bite of a fresh, warm cookie, I knew that she would change her mind. I broke off a small, warm piece and meandered towards her stealthily. Then, while holding the tempting piece close in front of her face, I asked her, "Want to try a piece?" She looked up at me and reluctantly said, "Okay." After one bite, she wanted more. They are that good.
You can taste the molasses, brown sugar, butter, ginger, and other common winter flavors. They are soft, chewy cookies and are best eaten when warm. They lasted and tasted fantastic for 3-4 days and that is with homemade fudge, oatmeal cookies, and other sweets lurking around the kitchen.

Because I felt like playing around with my new camera even though I knew the lighting would be bad since I made these at night, I took process photos of the making of the cookies below. If you'd like the regular, printed version of the recipe with my adjustments, click on the link next to the title of the recipe. Enjoy!

Molasses Spice Cookies (printed version)
adapted from Simply Recipes
Yield: 2.5 dozen cookies

2 1/4 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
3/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/4-1/3 cup for rolling cookies (Use 1/4 to not waste sugar)
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsulphered molasses (I used Grandma's Molasses in the dark yellow jar)

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice together in a bowl and set aside.

Use an electric mixer (I used the new mixer that I won from Pioneer Woman!), and beat the butter for 2 minutes (Oops! I put the sugar in first because I left the butter defrosting on the oven top). Add the brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar...

and beat until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes at medium speed).

Add egg, vanilla extract, and...
molasses...
I sprayed in cooking spray so that most of the molasses would glide out easily...
Beat until combined, about 30 seconds. If you are not blessed with a beater blade (like me boohoo), then make sure you stir this mixture well at this point. See the unmixed batter below?

Add dry ingredients, and beat at low speed until just combined (~30 seconds).

Once you add the dry ingredients, don't beat the mixture too much so that the cookies do not come out too tough. See the bits of flour left in the dough? That's just enough. The mixture will integrate a bit more once you start making the dough balls.
Place the remaining 1/4-1/3 cup of granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. I had quite a bit of sugar left after making the balls, so in order to avoid wasting sugar, I suggest starting with 1/4 cup of sugar.

Working with 2 Tbsp of dough each time, roll dough into 1 3/4 inch balls.

[Check out my new cookie scooper! It is called a "Chip Clip", and I got it from Bed, Bath, and Beyond for about 3 dollars. This scooper is unique because the back of the scoop is made of a special type of rubber that allows easy removal of cookie dough. So, in order to demonstrate how it works, I will be presenting to you all my lovely finger below (aside from the profile photo, this is probably all you'll ever see of me on this blog b/c I abhor taking pictures haha).]

The back of the spoon...
My finger and unmanicured nail! Woohoo!
Further demonstration of how it works. Scoop up the dough...
Push the silicon part of the spoon to remove the dough. If it's sticky, as this dough is, you may need to help it out a bit by scraping out the sides of the scoop.
Roll the dough in a ball.
Roll balls in sugar and...
...place on ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart. I tried flattening out half of the dough balls to see if the flattened shape made a difference, and it didn't make much of a difference. So, just leave it in a ball.

Bake until the outer edges of the cookies begin to set and centers are soft and puffy, about 11 to 12 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring them to cooling racks.

EAT THEM WHILE THEY'RE WARM! Store in an airtight container; they last more than 3 days, if you have any left after that.

Note: Do not overcook. The centers of the cookies should be somewhat soft and spongy when you take them out of the oven, otherwise they will end up hard and dry.

Glaze (optional): When cookies have cooled, lay out over a sheet of wax paper. Sift 1 1/4 cups of confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar) and then whisk with 2 Tbsp of milk until smooth. Dip spoon into glaze and dribble over cookies. (I put some of this glaze on a few of the cookies, and they don't enhance the cookies that much or make them look any prettier.)