At our house, there is one holiday cookie to top them all. We make them every year and yep they are still the best – Ginger Molasses Cookies!
I just got back from one of my favorite holiday traditions that I inherited when marrying the hubs – Friends Cookie Party.
To say I lucked out, is an understatement! Not only did I meet my future husband upon moving to Minnesota, but I also inherited his awesome group of college friends.
I still remember meeting this group for the first time. Boy was I nervous! It was a New Year’s Eve Party and I had only been dating the hubs for about a month. I had already heard all about his college friends and how much they meant to him, so I knew this was going to be an important first meeting.
So I crossed my fingers, and hoped they liked me for me and that I liked them too! Turns out they were one of the nicest most welcoming groups of people I have met in a long time. Despite knowing all of them knowing each other for so long and sharing so many things in their past, they made me feel so incredibly comfortable and included.
And I don’t know about you, but I feel like the older I get the harder it becomes to make real connections with people. Not because people are not nice but because life is busy, everyone has their own friends, families, jobs and truthfully, it’s a lot of work sometimes to put yourself out there and take a chance.
Well for me that New Year’s night, I hit the jackpot. I was accepted into a tight group of longtime friends along with the man who ended up becoming my hubs. Win win 😍
Cheers to good friends!
To celebrate good friends and my first ever Sweet Poppy Seed Holiday Cookie Week, I give you Ginger Molasses Cookies. Soft, chewy, a slight sugary crunch and of course that ginger molasses flavor that warms your belly and heart with holiday cheer.
They come together effortlessly and save beautifully in a sealed container right next to your Christmas tree or your coffee pot. This was our cookie choice for this year’s Friends Cookie Party, and they turned out perfect to eat and share 🍪 🍪 🍪
30 cookies and doubles easily
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon white sugar
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy with a mixer. Beat in egg and molasses.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Then gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well.
- For the topping, mix white sugar with turbinado sugar.
- Roll dough into 1 ½ inch balls depending on your preference, then roll in sugar mixture. Place cookies 2 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Slightly flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass.
- Bake until lightly brown for 10-12 minutes. Set on wire racks to cool. They will harden when they cool but still remain nice and soft/chewy.
Notes
If you don’t want to bake all of these at once and save for a rainy day, freeze them! Scoop dough, place on a lined cookie sheet and freeze. You can freeze the cookie dough balls with the sugar coating or without, your call. Store in a Ziploc freezer bag for 2-3 months. When ready to make, thaw on the counter for about 20 minutes or overnight in the fridge, then bake. I like adding some coarse turbinado sugar to the sugar coating because it adds a nice sugary crunch and slight molasses touch to the outside of the cookie. But if you do not have this sugar, simply use white sugar.
Recipe slightly adapted from Taste of Home.
Originally posted 2016-12-14 07:00:00.
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