When I decided to add a Recipes section to my blog, I never thought I’d enjoy it as much as I did. I never considered myself a “pro” recipe blogger, and I still don’t, but the fact is this: I love food, I love to cook, and I love to bake. But I especially love to share what I make. That was good enough for me to carve out a section on here dedicated just for that.
I’m happy to say it was a fruitful addition to the blog: my recipe posts garnered the most response, and it felt nice when people said they tried one of my recipes or pulled inspiration from them. I once had a follower from Malaysia reach out to me on Instagram about my lavender and honey cookies. Food truly unites us all, and I’m excited to share more, because there’s a lot of delicious, seasonal and inspiring food-related goodness to enjoy.
That being said, with December and the Holiday festivities in full swing, I thought I’d wrap up my Recipes of 2019 with my classic Christmas go-to: my chewy ginger molasses cookies.
These have been a fan favourite for five Christmases in a row, and they are the perfect cookies to whip up for an office Holiday potluck, a cozy girls wine night, jazzy fam jams, or just a lazy Sunday with the tree lit up and snowflakes dancing outside the window. Why do people love these cookies so much? They are packed with aromatic spices of Christmas, but most of all, they are chewy.
I’ve sought out recipes that claimed to be “chewy” but ended up harder than a ginger snap. I was deceived, the way raisin cookies deceive you when you think you’re biting into a chocolate chip cookie. After a bit of trial and error, I finally found the recipe that delivered the chewiness that we all delight over.
What’s the secret to the chew? Don’t over bake. These cookies take no more than 10 minutes to bake and any minute over can harden them, so you gotta be quick and swift like a cookie ninja.
Now, of course, this all depends on your oven. In my oven, 9 minutes is the magic number for these bad boys. It might be more or less for your oven, but the bottom line is this: keep your eyes on the cracks. When the top begins to show cracks, that’s when you know they are ready to be pulled out. Then, you leave the cookies on the baking sheet for another 10 minutes, and then transfer them to a cooling rack. It’s a process that has proven to be successful every time.
This recipe yields 36 medium sized cookies. If that seems excessive, you can easily half the measurements of the ingredients, and it would yield 21 medium sized cookies. If you wanna be quirky and achieve those big, large cookies, then double the size of the cookie dough balls. You might have to bake a little longer, but the same rule applies: keep your eye on the cracks. And you will be rewarded with the quintessential cookie of the season.
Enjoy! 🍪 XO
Recipe
INGREDIENTS
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup molasses (I use The Original Grandma – Fancy Molasses, but any fancy molasses should do)
extra granulated sugar (1/2 cup) for rolling
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Whisk together until well combined. Set aside.
3. In another large bowl with electric mixer, beat together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.
5. Add molasses, beating until well combined.
6. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until well combined. The dough might get a little tough to mix at this step. Just keep going until everything is well combined.
7. Using a cookie scoop, form dough into 1 ½” balls, and roll them in the extra white sugar.
8. Place them on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and make sure to space them at least 3″ apart, as they will spread.
9. Bake for for 9-10 minutes. **Don’t over bake – they will harden if you do! They should look cracked at the top and the edges should be set**
10. Let cool for 10 minutes on baking sheet, then cool completely on cooling rack.
11. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Yields: 36 medium sized cookies (if you don’t need that many, just half the measurement of the ingredients, which will yield 21 medium sized cookies).
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