Molasses Sugar Cookies
When we moved to Texas last year, I didn't have a job lined up. I've spent most of my time working on fun personal projects (such as this blog) and freelance design work. However, I was recently hired full-time at a local marketing agency and I'm pretty excited about it. While you might think that this means less time for Holy Hotdish, I now have a whole new place to test out these recipes. We've been trying to eat healthier, so I've felt a little guilty about making, say, four dozen cookies to share between the two of us. No longer! I can now share them with all my coworkers!
This recipe comes from the Aal Church Cookbook and is credited to Mrs. W. Kaldor.
Molasses Sugar Cookies
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
Melt shortening in a 3 or 4 quart pan over low heat. Remove from heat; allow to cool. Then add sugar, molasses and egg; beat well. Sift together flour, soda cloves, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Add these to first mixture. Mix well and chill thoroughly. Form into 1 inch balls. Roll in sugar and place on greased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake in 375° oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Yield: 4 dozen cookies.
As I mentioned before, I was able to share these cookies with my new coworkers - and they were a hit! The CEO even asked me to make these again when the weather cools down since they're such a nice fall spice flavor. A lot of people went back for multiple cookies throughout the day and I heard them comparing how many each had eaten.
The recipe says to bake for 10-12 minutes, but mine needed just about 14 and I rotated the pans halfway through to make sure they were evenly baked.
Overall, I really liked these. The texture is soft and chewy, which is my favorite kind of cookie. The molasses flavor is strong and it's not overly sweet.
Final rating: 4/5 These are definitely being added to my cookie repertoire.