Molasses Spice Cookeis

Welcome to Day Two of Cookie Week here on Hilary Stone Soup! All week I am showcasing some of the best holiday cookie recipes around.

No holiday cookie collection is complete without a perfectly chewy molasses spice cookies. This recipe doesn't disappoint! It has a great chewy texture, and the warm spice combination tastes delicious. It's rare for me to make a cookie that comes out looking absolutely perfect, but these cookies always do! They are sure to impress anyone.

I personally love these cookies with vanilla ice cream. I love the idea of making homemade ice cream sandwiches with these spice cookies and some high-quality vanilla ice cream. Think of how much your office would love you if you bright these in to the holiday office party!

Molasses Spice Cookies

From Cook's Illustrated

Makes 22 cookies

1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup for rolling

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon table salt

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed 

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup dark molasses

Adjust oven rack to middle position, and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 1/2 cup sugar for rolling in a cake pan.

Whisk flour, baking soda, spices, and salt together in medium bowl.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars at medium-high until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to medium low and add egg yolk and vanilla, then beat until incorporated, about 20 seconds.

Add molasses, and again beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 

Reduce speed to lowest setting, add flour mixture, and beat just until incorporated. Give dough a final stir with spatula to make sure there are no flour pockets. 

Scoop heaping tablespoon of dough and roll between palms to create a 1 1/2 inch ball. Drop ball into cake pan and roll in sugar. Set on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough. 

Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are browned, still puffy, and edges begin to set. Cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone, about 11 minutes. 

Cool cookies for 5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer cookies to wire rack. 

Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Whether you are gluten-free or not, you will fall in love with these delicious, rich cookies. Part chocolate chip cookie, part brownie, this cookie is what my dreams are made out of.

These brownie cookies are perfect for the holiday season. Both adults and kids will love the rich chocolate taste, and everyone can enjoy them, no matter what type of gluten-free diet they are on!

The best thing about these cookies though is that come together in about 20 minutes, total. I bet you can make the batter in under 5 minutes, and they take about 15 minutes to bake!

Z and I ate these warm out of the oven with some ice cream, but they are just as delicious the next day on a beautiful holiday cookie platter.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownie Cookies

From Bon Appetit

Makes 24 cookies

3 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 large egg whites

1 large egg

4 ounces bittersweet chopped chocolate

Place oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt together then whisk in egg whites and egg. Fold in the chopped chocolate.

Spoon batter by the tablespoon onto parchment-lined baking sheets. 

Bake, rotating once, until cookies are puffed, cracked, and just set around the edges, 14-16 minutes. 

Let cookies cool down in the pan so they can firm up.

Enjoy!

Back to Basics: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was bored after work yesterday, so I baked cookies.  That's a totally normal thing to do, right?  I had a long list of things I need to do--answer emails, paint my badly chipped nails, order Chanukkah presents for my family, watch Modern Family--but last night I decided that baking chocolate chip cookies was much more important.  


I take chocolate chip cookies very seriously.  If I am going to spend the time baking cookies (and the calories eating them), the cookies better be delicious.  There are a lot of different recipes out there, including ones that make you wait a whole 24 hours before you can even bake them.  I have tried dozens of recipes over the years, but this Cook's Illustrated recipe below is my all-time favorite.  They produce a perfect cookie with crispy edges, and a soft chewy center.  These are totally worth the calories, and they are so easy to make on a weeknight.  

This recipe calls for browned butter, which adds a much deeper toffee flavor.  I suggest using a lighter colored pan to cook the butter in--I always have difficulty judging the color of browned butter in a dark non-stick pan!



Cook's Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 16 cookies

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (try to use unopened brown sugar if possible)
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (Guittard is my favorite brand)

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.

3. Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips, giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use a #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet.

5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10-14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.  

Brown Sugar Cookies

I love chocolate chip cookies because of their rich toffee taste and chocolate chunks.  This cookie takes that toffee flavor and makes it the sole focus.  When I saw the recipe in Cook's Illustrated, I knew it would be a winner.

What I love even more about this cookie though is that you are always likely to have the ingredients on hand.  This recipe calls for ordinary ingredients, but the cookies are anything but ordinary.  This is the cookie I'm going to reach for when it is late at night, and I just need a warm cookie and a glass of milk.  

Brown Sugar Cookies

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated

14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups packed brown sugar (the fresher, the better)

2 cups and 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. In a skillet, heat 10 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat until melted.  Then, continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the butter is golden brown and has a nutty aroma (about 2-3 minutes).  I recommend using a lighter colored pan so that you can easily see the butter.
2. Remove skillet from heat and pour the browned butter into a heat-proof bowl.  Stir in remaining four tablespoons of butter until completely melted. Let stand for 15 minutes.
3. Adjust oven rack to middle position, and heat over to 350 degrees.
4. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, Silpat, or coat them with butter.  
5. In a shallow bowl, combine 1/4 cup of packed brown sugar and the granulated sugar.  Toss with your hands until well combined.  
6. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and baking powder.  
7. Add remaining brown sugar (1 3/4 of a cup) and salt to the melted butter.  Mix using an electronic mixer (either hand-held or standing) on low speed until no clumps remain.
8. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula and add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix on low.
9. Add flour mixture, and then mix on medium-low speed until the flour is combined into the dough.  To make sure there is no excess flour, use a spatula to stir the dough one last time.
10. Spoon the dough into balls roughly 1 1/2 inches in diameter (about two tablespoons), and use your hands to shape them into a ball.  
11. Roll the dough in the sugar mixture.  
12. You should have roughly 24 cookies, with 12 cookies on each cookie sheet.  
13. Bake the sheets one at a time for 12-14 minutes.  Rotate the sheet at the 6 minute mark.  
14. The edges of the cookies should have set, but the centers should still be puffy.  Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to completely cool.