🍪TASTY TREAT TUESDAY🎅#2 - Chewy Molasses Crinkle Cookies

You guys are in for a serious treat today.

Like, you're going to be either thanking me, or cursing me, for sharing this one. These cookies tick all the boxes. They're sweet, with just the right amount of salt. They're crunchy on the bottom, but chewy and soft in the middle. They're filled with all the delicious warm spices we're used to during the holiday season, but without being overwhelmingly spicy. Seriously, dangerous. PLUS they're really easy to make! The sugar coating gives them a sparkly, festive look, but the crinkle finish makes them rustic at the same time. The best balanced cookies ever! These would be perfect for anyone out there with pint-sized kitchen assistants. My kids love to help make these, and they always turn out great! (That's gotta say something, considering they're 2.5 and 5 years old. haha)

The holiday season is upon us, and these will make a great addition to any cookie platter you might be putting together during this holiday season, or as your contribution to any of those cookie exchanges, or even a pot luck. I've yet to find anyone who doesn't love them. They basically just disappear. I made a batch last weekend - we had some friends over to watch the Grey Cup (Canada's version of the Super Bowl) and had a table of snacks laid out... By the end of the night I think there were maybe a handful left... out of almost 3 dozen! So I made another batch later in the week, and took a few to a get together, and those disappeared too! I'm honestly ready to make my third batch in the last 2.5 weeks. lol So, I guess, my word of advice would be to make a double batch if you're planning to share. 😉

Want to know another great thing about these cookies? One bowl! You can mix all the wet ingredients together, then just plop the dry ingredients right on top! Just make sure to give them a quick stir together on top, before stirring all the way to the bottom, to make sure you get those spices distributed evenly.

First, I put the butter, sugar and molasses into the bowl.

Cream those together, then add your egg, and mix it in thoroughly.

Now, dump all your dry ingredients on top.

Carefully stir the dry ingredients, then stir the whole thing together. It'll form into a fairly stiff dough. (As shown by that free-standing fork!)

Put some plastic wrap over the bowl, and pop it in the fridge for about an hour, to let the dough firm up a little more. You could skip this step, but your hands will end up very caked in dough during the rolling process. And the cookies will spread more. Trust me, it's best to let it chill. 😉

Once it's nicely chilled, take the dough out of the fridge, and roll it into 1-1.5" balls. You could use a scoop to make sure they're uniform, but I just scoop with my fingers. I can tell by eye and by feel if they're approximately the same. (And I don't mind a few slightly smaller/bigger cookies - then you can pick according to the size of your craving! lol)

Next you'll want to roll those balls in sugar. I like to sprinkle a scoop of sugar onto a piece of wax paper. This keeps the dough from possibly sticking to the counter, keeps the mess contained, and makes for much easier cleanup later.

After they're coated, place them onto a cookie sheet, about 2" apart. I like to use a silpat liner on my pan, you could also use parchment paper, or you could just put them straight on the pan, no greasing required! (I prefer not to chance anything burning onto my pans... burnt sugar isn't fun.)

Bake them for approx 10-12 min, until the edges are firm, and the bottoms are slightly browned. Don't over-bake them, or they won't have that nice chew, and for goodness' sake, don't let them burn!

Let them rest on the pan for a minute or 2 before moving them to a wire rack to cool. It can be tempting to move them right away, if you're impatient like me, but believe me, you don't want to do that. They're quite soft when they first come out, and they will fall apart. The first batch is the hardest to resist, but once you start working on subsequent batches, the best trick I've found is to use that minute to move the cooled cookies from the rack to the tin, then grab the pan and move the next batch to the rack. Ample time for the fresh ones to rest, without standing idle, looking at the clock!

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The Recipe:

(adapted from here.)

1 cup granulated (white) sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup fancy molasses (if you really like molasses flavor, you could sub out 1 tbsp of a darker molasses, but don't try to sub the whole amount - not all molasses are made equal!)
1 egg
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt (I like sea salt, not the iodized stuff, though kosher would work as well)
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
Sugar for coating

Preheat oven to 375°. In a large mixing bowl, beat together sugar, butter and molasses. Then beat in the egg. Pour flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves and nutmeg on top, and gently stir dry ingredients together. Once they're mixed, stir all the way to the bottom of the bowl, to combine the dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour. (Makes the dough firmer, thus easier to handle, and much less messy on the hands.) Once chilled, grab a tbsp or so of dough, and roll into a ball (1-1.5" in diameter). (You could use a small cookie/ice cream scoop, if you want them to be uniform, but I just eyeball it.) Roll each ball in sugar to coat. Place on cookie sheet, 2" apart and bake 10-12 min. (The edges should be firm, bottoms slightly browned. But don't over-bake them!) Let sit on the pan for a min before placing on wire rack to cool.

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As much as I love all the shortbread, gingerbread, and sugar cookies this time of year, they tend to be a bit dry, and I bet Santa gets kinda tired of pasty mouth after a while... maybe he will be extra generous this year, should you leave him a plate of these soft and chewy tasty morsels instead. 😄

Do you leave treats for Santa? What's your traditional must have cookie at Christmastime?

I hope you'll give these a try! If my assistant is any indication, you won't be disappointed if you do!

Until next time!

Megan