For years we have made Silver Palate Molasses Cookies, it's our family favorite, and the recipe is in the Tried 'n True archives on this site, but after tasting these, we have a new favorite.
They are moist, fat, plump chewy cookies, the tops are dusted with sugar, they crackle when they bake and the taste is amazing. My Silver Palate recipe is a flatter, oilier cookie, these are just better.
I never thought I would say this, we have used our Silver Palate recipe since the 80's, but this one is just far superior.
Hope you all enjoy these as much as we do. Oh my, they are so good!
~ jan
These cookies should be soft, so watch them carefully when baking. They will look very moist and underdone, but I promise you they're fine and will set up completely while cooling. I found one recipe in my research that called for sliding the parchment paper onto the counter top to cool the cookies rather than transferring them to a cooling rack. Supposedly, this would keep them optimally soft. For cookie baking, I prefer insulated cookie sheets to prevent undersides from over browning. I used a SiloPat baking liner when I baked these.
Makes 3 1/2 to 4 dozen
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. (generous) salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
3/4 cup shortening, at room temperature (Crisco)
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/4 cup molasses, preferably Grandma's (not blackstrap)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the shortening, brown sugar, egg and molasses on medium high speed until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat on lowest speed to moisten. Increase speed to medium and beat until combined, scraping down bowl as needed. Chill dough in freezer for about an hour or in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 and line baking sheets with parchment paper or place on SiloPat. Place 1/4 cup sugar in a shallow bowl. Scoop dough by rounded tablespoons and roll between your palms into 1 1/4 to 1 1/2-inch balls. Dip tops of balls in sugar and place on baking sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart.
Fill a glass with cold water. Dip your fingertips in the water and sprinkle each ball of dough with a few drops (this makes the crinkles). Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 8 to 9 minutes, or until cookies have spread, but still appear quite moist (they will not look "set" or done, but they are). Slide parchment onto counter top and cool completely.
NOTE: I think these cookies are so moist and soft because you use shortening (Crisco) instead of butter. We used to use shortening a lot years ago, but now so many cookies are made with butter instead...
Add your comment