After D ordered a ginger molasses cookie at The Bread Bike in San Luis Obispo, he challenged me to recreate it. This was the inspiration...
Apparently I don't make chewy ginger molasses cookies. My Spiced Ginger Molasses Cookies are akin to ginger snaps; they are crispy, not chewy. Okay. Fine. Challenge accepted. So, I researched 'chewy ginger molasses cookies'. I decided on three recipes that I thought would work well.
Take one resulted in a cakey cookie which was not what was requested. After reading more about cookie chemistry, I took that first recipe and made some changes that included using melted butter, swapping out one egg for one egg yolk, and reducing the oven temperature by 25 degrees. D said that it was still too cakey, but Jake liked it. So, I'm writing down that second take as one that my husband liked.
Ingredients
makes approximately 30 cookies
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
2 -1/4 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1- 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Also needed: cookie scoop, baking sheet, parchment paper
For Rolling
1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Procedure
Mix together turbinado sugar and granulated sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and spices. In a large mixing bowl, add in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, molasses, vanilla, grated ginger, egg, and egg yolk. Whisk until smooth. Melt butter in a small pan and pour it slowly in to the molasses mixture, whisking constantly.
Beat in the flour until a thick batter is formed. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Using a cookie scoop, drop dough into the mixed sugars. Place them on the prepared cookie sheet. Press down to flatten them slightly. Once the baking sheet is full, place the sheet in the freezer for at least 15 minutes to chill.
Place in preheated and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. The cookies will seem undercooked, but will set as they cool.
Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes on the sheet. Then remove to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.
That's a wrap for take two of my chewy ginger molasses cookies. My next batch completely skipped the butter, opting for vegetable shortening instead. D declared that closer to what he was looking for while Jake still preferred this version.
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