A Little Taste of the Holidays

Ginger snaps are good, but molasses spice cookies are so much better :) When I saw these cookies on Katie's blog, Good Things Catered, I knew I wanted to try them. When I think of Thanksgiving, I think pumpkin and cranberries. When I think of Christmas, I think gingerbread. These cookies are soft and chewy, and they have the perfect combination of spices. They're a little taste of the holidays. Everyone loved them, and you can easily whip them up in no time.


I did not have any allspice, but I found these two different substitutions online. You can use whichever one suits your taste better :) One teaspoon of allspice can be substituted with:

* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Molasses Spice Cookies
from Good Things Catered


2-1/4 cup lower-protein unbleached all-purpose flour (like Gold Medal or Pillsbury) (I used bleached flour and they still turned out great)
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1-1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup for rolling
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup molasses


Preheat oven to 375F and line a large baking sheet with parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, spices, pepper and salt together.

Either by hand or with electric mixer, beat the butter with brown sugar and 1/3 cup granulated sugar at medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium low and add yolk and vanilla. Increase speed and beat until incorporated, about 20 seconds. Reduce speed and add molasses. Beat until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping the bottom and sides once with a rubber spatula.


Reduce speed to lowest setting and slowly add flour mixture and beat until just incorporated, scraping the bowl once. Give the dough a final stir by hand to ensure no flour pockets are at the bottom (dough will be soft).

Place 1/2 cup sugar in a shallow bowl for rolling. Fill a small bowl with cold tap water. Dip hands in water and roll heaping tablespoon of dough into scant ball. Drop ball in sugar and roll to coat.


Set on prepared baking sheet at least 2 inches apart. Bake about 11 minutes (cookies will "crack", edges are puffy and inside of cracks look raw). Do not over bake.

Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Serve when cooled to room temperature.