Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Day 10: 12 Days of Cookies Countdown



Day 10 and I am bringing you Molasses Cookies!



A little late, but better than not! I blame it on poor timing, running out of ingredients, and piddily decorating (that brings great results)

**NOW UPDATED!!**
(just one day late)


~Chewy Spicy Molasses Cookies~
(inspired by recipe from Eating Bird Food)
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 c. sugar, divided
1/4 c. dark molasses
1 lg. egg

For the dough, melt the butter in a 3qt. heavy saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and cool to tepid. Sift and mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves. Set Aside. Using a wooden spoon stir 1 1/2 c. sugar, molasses, and egg into the butter, mixing until smooth. Add the dry ingredients in two installments, blending well so that all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Leave in pot and cover with wax paper. Place in the refrigerator and chill for 30-45 min. or until firm. (Can also be left over night)
Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Prepare cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper. Place the remaining 1/2 c. of sugar into a small bowl. Shape the dough into 1 in. balls between the palms of your hands, roll in the sugar until covered, and place on the baking sheet about 2 in. apart. 
Bake for 8-10 min. or until the tops begin to crack, rotating the pan(s) front to back and top to bottom about 2/3 of the way through the baking time. Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet about 2 min. Loosen with a spatula and transfer to a cooking rack.


These cookies were really good and really easy! All the prep is done in one pot, what could be easier? They were perfectly chewy, with a little crispness on the outsides. They were just spicy enough with being too overly powerful. Hubby said they were really good! *wink wink*


These cookies are being packed up to be sent overseas! I hope they make the trip and that they are gobbled up quickly. I have sent my fair share of cookies to troops overseas, and I was looking around online the other day and stumbled upon a cool way to ship cookies with having to by more tupperware! What do you use? Empty oat containers! This was perfect, since I had about 3 empty ones laying around (I had more) from making about 6 or so batches of homemade granola for X-Mas gifts (another post) and some protein bars and granola bites for the Hubby & his guys. (Again, another post) It was really easy!


~Cookie Containers~
Wrapping paper
Tape/glue
Oat containers
Scissors
Marker

Basically, take the oat container and "trace" it on the wrapping paper so that you have the measurements of the cylinder length, and its circumference. Its okay if there is excess, you can trim it later. Cut it out. Tape/glue one end of the wrapping paper to the oat container and then wrap it around, pulling tightly and tape/glue down the other side. Trim any excess on the bottom of the container. Trace the circle top on some wrapping paper and cut it out. Trim it to fit in the top (this covers the "oat" label on the top). Tape/glue it in there. There ya go! Your done! 

Now ya gotta bake some cookies and then fill it up! I lined it was parchment paper on the inside and in-between every two layers of cookies, just to keep them from stick and what not. Pack them tightly, then they will not have room to bounce around in the container.


I also slapped on a "Hello My Name Is..." sticker on top to label what was in the container. I really have a soft spot for those HMNI... stickers. I just wish I cold find them in different colors...

I thought they were cute! They could be dressed up with some ribbon or bows two, but since I am shipping them, I skipped this part. Play around, be creative!

ENJOY!!

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