c is for cookie

I needed cookies this weekend. Big time. So, I called Mom and forced her to read me Grandma Schaffer's recipe for molasses cookies over the phone. Good idea or great idea? Either way, what bliss. (You're right. That is a quote from The Addams Family.)

Grandma Schaffer's Molasses Cookies
by Helen Schaffer


3/4 cup butter (actually, the recipe calls for oleo, but you don't need to get into that {if you even know what it is}. Butter will do nicely.)
1 cup sugar, plus a 1/4 cup for dusting
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cloves (didn't have that, so I subbed nutmeg)
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Let cool. You could beat that egg while you're waiting. In a medium bowl, mix together butter, sugar, molasses and the beaten egg. Congrats! You've just taken "care of the slippery stuff", as Mom said while reading the recipe.


Now, sift together flour, baking soda, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. (Or you could not sift. I don't own a sifter, so I never sift.) Add the dry ingredients to wet and mix. Let the dough chill in the refrigerator for ten minutes or so. Use that time to heat up your oven. Grandma wrote 375 degrees on the recipe card, but she added a note that 350 degrees would probably be OK too. I baked at 350 and all was well.


Remove the dough from the fridge and form into 1 inch balls. Roll the balls in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Into the oven for 10-12 minutes. Presto! Scrumptious cookies!


Still hungry? Here are a couple blog recommendations:


Nick Eats Food Follow Nick as he embarks on the food adventure of a lifetime! (P.S. Nick is Catherine's boyfriend. Just thought you should know.)


Gluten Free Indy Rachel dishes (yes, that is deliberate) on the ever-expanding world of gluten free food. I have tasted of this world and found it delicious. (Rachel is my friend--she's also a stellar cook. I can vouch big time.)