Soft & Sparkly Molasses Cookies

This is not a top posts/recipes/photos/food/12 of 2012 post. Instead, I have for you the best soft molasses cookies. I made these cookies on a lazy afternoon in Texas while everyone was out. As they baked, the cookies filled the kitchen with the sweetest of smells. They were pretty much the perfect ending to my holiday cookie making.

I have no hesitation in making this claim to the best soft molasses cookie. These cookies are sweet and spiced, fat and puffy with the prefect chew. And the demerara sugar adds a pleasant crunch.

I decided to wait to share these cookies post-Christmas mainly because I love how the demerara sugar makes them sparkle. NYE apropos!

With that, I leave 2012. Thank you for your comments and follows and likes and pins since I began the blog this year. More to come, I promise. Happy New Year!

The Best Soft Molasses Cookie
makes 24-28 small cookies
adapted from Not Without Salt

170 g (3/4 cup) butter
250 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. clove
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
pinch cardamom
1/4 tsp. salt
100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
1 egg
85 g (1/4 cup) molasses
demerara sugar for rolling

In a saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter. The butter will begin to foam and bubble. Heat, whisking constantly, until the butter stops sizzling and begins to turn a light amber color and smells nutty and toasty. Immediately remove the butter from the heat and pour into a heatproof bowl. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, all the ground spices, and salt. Set aside. Once butter has cooled (it need only be warm, not totally cool), transfer it to a large bowl along with the sugar and whisk to combine. Add the egg and molasses and whisk until combined. Stir in the flour-spice mixture just until combined.

Using a tablespoon, scoop dough, roll into a ball, and roll in demerara sugar. Place balls of dough on prepared sheet one inch apart. Bake until cookies are puffed up in the middle and set around the edges, about 10 minutes.