Crispy Ginger Molasses Cookies – My New Favorite Cookie
Do you remember the Molasses Sugar Cookie recipe on the back of the bottle of Brer Rabbit Molasses? I certainly do. My college roommate and I baked them rather frequently. Crisp, chewy and spicy. Everything I wanted in a cookie (when I didn’t want chocolate chips). I found a recipe the other day for ginger cookies with molasses in an old Bon Appetit magazine. I made them gluten-free and subbed coconut oil for the vegetable shortening and my favorite local honey for the sugar. Let me introduce you to these gorgeous Crispy Ginger Molasses Cookies – my new favorite cookie.
Just-baked cookies on demand
Having frozen, unbaked cookies in a container in your freezer, you’ll never be without a quick dessert.
Harden balls of cookie dough on a tray in the fridge. Then pack them into a container and freeze. When you want cookies, take out as many or as few as you want to bake. Place them on a parchment paper or silpat lined double pan. In about 15 minutes, lightly flatten each cookie with the heel of your hand. Then bake them according to the recipe. Voila! Just-baked cookies on demand.
Double pans for baking cooking
Almost a guarantee that you’ll have perfectly baked cookies when you bake them on an insulated cookie sheet or a “double pan.” A double pan is easy. Two identically sized, rimmed baking pans placed one inside the other. In just a few minutes more than when baked on a single pan, you’ll have evenly golden cookies both top and bottom.
Crispy Ginger Molasses Cookies — Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free
Adapted from a recipe by Dede Wilson in Bon Appétit Magazine. Crispy Ginger Molasses Cookies sport a perfectly cracked top along with their crisp texture and gingery goodness. Although I use a food processor to make these cookies, the directions are the same with an electric mixer.
Makes about 30 cookies Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 ¾ hours including resting and baking time
2 cups gluten-free flour mix (I use Premium Gold Gluten Free Flaxseed & Ancient Grains) 2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¾ cup (5 ½ ounces) coconut oil (room temperature)
½ cup light honey
¼ cup mild-flavored (light) molasses
1 large egg
1 tablespoon minced, peeled fresh ginger
¼ cup diced candied (crystallized) ginger
Scant ¼ cup organic sugar for rolling the cookies
- Whisk together the first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl.
Cream the coconut oil, honey and molasses together in a food processor until blended. Stop the processor to scrape down the sides once or twice.- Mix in the egg and fresh ginger.
- Use the pulse button to just incorporate the flour mixture.
- Stop the processor to scrape down the sides.
Then sprinkle on the candied ginger. Pulse a couple of times to distribute the ginger throughout the dough. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. - Drop balls of dough using a #40 scoop (1½ tablespoons) onto a shallow plate of organic sugar. Coat the cookies with the sugar. Place them on a baking sheet. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Either freeze the cookies in a covered container after they are solid or bake them.
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Space the cookies 2-inches apart on an insulated or double-panned cookie sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silpat. Lightly flatten them with the heel of your hand.
- Bake for 10 minutes on the middle shelf. Rotate the cookies 180 degrees. Bake for another 5-6 minutes until the tops look dry.
- Remove the cookies from the oven. As these cookies are fragile when hot, cool them on the baking pan.