Spicy Molasses Cookies For An Autumn Treat

While sorting through an old recipe file, I found a recipe for Spicy Molasses Cookies. It is a soft cut-out cookie; full of spices — cinnamon, ginger and cloves. With cooler autumn weather here; this seemed like a great time to bake the cookies. I used Halloween cookie cutters and decorations. In case you are wondering; these are bats and pumpkins.

Spicy Molasses Cookies

This  molasses cookie could also be called a gingersnap cookie. It is one of the best I’ve tried. I like the softer texture and it really pops with all the spices. Once chilled, the dough is very pliable and it is easy to cut out shapes. With different cookie cutters and decorations, it could be used for any fall or winter holiday–Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah.

The recipe is from a co-worker, Kathy Lamb, years ago when I worked in Flint, Michigan. I loved autumn in Michigan with cool weather and bright colors of the trees; fall gourds, pumpkins, apples and of course, apple cider and donuts. When I moved away from Michigan, my co-worker mailed me a clock I’d left behind and this recipe. She was a very kind person and I must have really left the impression that I liked her cookies. Well, she impressed me!

Making the cookies

The recipe is a simple one. Cream the margarine, sugar and egg. I prefer a harder stick margarine, but had softer tub margarine available. Add the molasses. Sift the flour, baking soda and spices together and blend in. Chill.Making cut-out cookies takes a little technique. I followed the instructions for ingredient quantities exactly as written and the dough was just the right consistency. When first mixed up, the dough is very sticky. But patience paid off; after chilling the dough for 4 hours, it became pliable and no longer sticky. It was easy to roll out. Here’s the chilled dough.

Roll the cookie dough out a kitchen counter or flat surface. (A large cutting board works, too.) Work the dough into a ball; add flour so the dough won’t stick to the rolling pin and roll to 1/8″ thickness. Hum, How thick is that? I just guess.

Here are pumpkin and bat cookie cutters; these seemed like simple shapes.

Gather up all the small left-over pieces of dough into a ball, chill the dough for a second batch. Here are baked pumpkin cookies.These cookies are baked in a hot 400 degree oven. In my oven, the dough only needs to bake for 6 minutes–the cookies should still be soft in the center and just slightly browned on the bottom. Darker cookie pans also brown faster than shiny ones; for the next batch I changed pans to shiny ones. Cool the cookies for only a few minutes and remove from the pan. If the cookies stick to the pan, re-heat in the oven for up to a minute; not too long then remove with a spatula.

Decorate

Decorating the cookies is the fun part and this is where my kids with their imaginations helped out. Decorating cookies is time consuming and it’s not my strongest attribute. I run out of ideas. I like to glaze the cookies, add sprinkles and pipe some decorations. Simple.

The glaze of powdered sugar, corn syrup and milk should be very thick. Sprinkles need to be added quickly as the glaze dries to a hard icing in a hurry.

Here’s the last of this icing batch.

And some finished cookies. Now we just need some cold apple cider!

Herbal Ginger

Ginger has been used for centuries as a medicinal herb and treatment for many ailments. The small amount of ginger used in culinary cooking does not have these properties. Ginger is a fascinating herb; but too much information for this post. Perhaps another time.

These cookies are great. Hope you enjoy making some too!

My 92-year-old mother-in-law is in the Halloween spirit and decorated this pumpkin Sunday afternoon. She had watched her 6-year-old great-grandson carve a similar one in a Cub Scout activity. What’s the theme? Dungeons, I believe. Never too young or old to enjoy a good time. I needed them here to help me decorate my cookies!