Back to the Cutting Board

Molasses Crinkles

adapted from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook for Boys and Girls

Dessert, Cookies | Yield: 36 cookies
Prep time: 20 min | Cook time: 10 min | Total time: 3 hour 30 min

Ingredients

Process

Cream together butter and sugar. Add in egg and molasses and mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl mix together the flour, soda, salt and spices.
Add into the butter mixture and combine.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill dough for at least 3 hours (or overnight).
After the dough is chilled preheat your oven to 375 degrees (F).
Scoop out some dough with a spoon and roll it into a walnut sized ball. Dip the top into a small bowl full of sugar. Place on your baking sheet (parchment lined is best, but otherwise just greased normally) about 3 inches apart.
Once your baking sheet is full, using your fingers, sprinkle or flick each cookie with a few drops of water. This will give a nice crackled surface of the cookie when it’s baked.
Place in oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, just until set but not hard.

Snickerdoodles

adapted from What Geeks Eat

Dessert, Cookies | Yield: 48 cookies
Prep time: 20 min | Cook time: 8 min | Total time: 3 hour 28 min

Ingredients

Process

Using a mixer cream the butter. Add the sugar and mix together well. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until light and fluffy.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
Add it the butter and egg mixture and mix until well combined.
Refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours, over night is better. You can refrigerate it in the bowl and use a cookie scoop to dole it out or you can pile the dough onto a large sheet of saran wrap and create an oblong of dough that is 12” long, 4” wide, and 3” tall. This method allows you to slice the dough into chunks for the cookie portions. I prefer the slicing method.
After the requisite chilling period preheat the oven to 375 degrees (F). Take the chilled dough oblong and cut 1 inch slices that you then cut into 8 chunks. Roll the chunks lightly in your hands to take the sharp edges off.
Put the 1/2 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a quart glass jar or large ziplock bag and shake to combine. Drop 4 chunks into the container, seal it and shake to coat well with the sugar. Remove the chunks from the jar and place on a parchment of silpat covered cookie sheet. Repeat until your sheet is full.
Bake for 8 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them rest for 5 minutes or so before you move them to a cooling rack. Repeat the chunking, coating with sugar, baking routine until they’re all baked.

Molasses Crinkles