By Last week of July in Tulsa. Brayden is forty-three weeks old. The baby-naming-ceremony catering job is in two weeks. The summer is moving through the hottest stretch and the apartment air-conditioning is on a continuous cycle from noon to six.
The frosted molasses cookies are Carol Bryant’s mother’s — Dustin’s great-grandmother on the Bryant side — soft drop cookies with a vanilla-buttercream frosting. The molasses-cinnamon-clove flavor profile reads as fall to most palates but Carol’s family ate them year-round and so do we. The frosting is the differentiating element. Most molasses cookies stand alone. Carol’s are always frosted.
The technique question is dough handling. The dough is sticky — the molasses keeps it tacky — and the cookies hold their shape better if the dough is refrigerated for two hours before scooping. The scoop tool I use is a number-forty disher (one and a half tablespoons), which yields a three-inch cookie after the bake. The bake is 350 for ten minutes. The cookies should look slightly underdone when they come out — they finish setting on the sheet pan.
Sunday I baked. Two dozen cookies, frosted Sunday evening after they cooled fully. Dustin had four with his evening coffee. Brayden watched from the high chair. The cookies will travel down to Mama next Wednesday as part of the regular freezer mail-pack.
Frosted Molasses Cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes (plus cooling) | Servings: 36 cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Additional granulated sugar for rolling
For the Frosting:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 2–3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and 1 cup granulated sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes. Beat in the egg and molasses until well combined.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
- Combine. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed until a soft dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour if the dough is too soft to handle.
- Shape the cookies. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and roll each ball in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
- Bake. Bake for 8–10 minutes, until the edges are set but the centers still look slightly soft. The cookies will crackle on top. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the frosting. Beat the powdered sugar, softened butter, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of milk together until smooth. Add additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until you reach a spreadable consistency.
- Frost the cookies. Spread a thin layer of frosting on each cooled cookie. Let the frosting set for about 15 minutes before stacking or serving.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 110 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 4g | Carbs: 18g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 105mg