Molasses Crinkles

Cookies have sounded really good lately, and in particular, I couldn't stop thinking about the molasses crinkles I used to make when I was young.

So I made some!  And you should too.  I made waaaaay too many, so I brought the extras to my office and got rid of them there.  From the comments, it sounds like not everyone has heard of molasses crinkles, which I found somewhat astounding.  It's a pretty basic cookie, isn't it?  But despite that, they were very well received.  They are so soft!  Like little cookie pillows. 

The recipe starts the way any cookie does - mix butter, sugar and egg.  My butter was a little firm so that's why the batter looks so thick.

Then add the molasses.  This is what gives to cookies their deep, rich color.

Pro-tip:  you can make brown sugar by mixing white sugar with molasses.

Next is the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.

Mix it all together.  This dough was not nearly as stiff as the molasses crinkles of my youth, maybe I should have asked Mom for that recipe.

I was going to refrigerate it for a while to see if that helped, but I was impatient.  Cookie time!  Form 1.5-in. balls of dough, dip them in sugar, and place them on a cookie sheet.

Bake to perfection.  Eat immediately.  With milk.

Caution: recipe makes a pile.

Molasses Crinkles 
Yield:  30ish cookies
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened (3/4 cup)
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 c. molasses
• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar

Instructions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2.  Mix the butter, brown sugar and egg together.  Stir in the molasses.
3.  In a separate bowl (or large measuring cup) mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt.  Combine dry ingredients with wet until well incorporated.
4.  Form 1.5-in. dough balls with the cookie dough.  Roll them in the granulated sugar then place on a cookie sheet.
5.  Bake cookies for 8 to 9 minutes.  Let cool on a cooling rack.

Eat cookies.  Enjoy cookies.  Ponder the name "crinkles."  My guess:  bakers were trying to explain the cracks in the cookie as a designed-in feature, and not just a happy accident.