Since sometime right after Adam and Eve, marketers have been trying to distill and bottle the scent of love. The thing is, it can’t come from a bottle. And it requires baking.
Okay, I admit it. I have an unnatural relationship with the following cookies:
--------------- Molasses Ginger Cookies ------------------------------
2 Cups Flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger (powdered)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1-1/4 cups sugar (divided) (I use 1 cup white sugar in the cookies and 1/4cup+ course sugar for the coating but that’s just my preference)
1 large egg
1/4 cup light molasses
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel (zest)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and cloves in a bowl. Beat together butter, shortening and 1 cup sugar in a separate mixing bowl. Beat egg, molasses and orange peel into butter mixture until light and fluffy (up to 5 mins.). Reduce beating speed to low (or use fork) and add dry ingredients until just combined.
Place remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a pie plate. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in sugar (dough will be sticky). Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool. (Note, baking on the short side will create a soft cookie. Baking on the long side will make a ginger snap. Try some of each, they’re great either way. Also, I’m usually more generous on the spices.)
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With a nod to our Bakerina, my love of this smell is probably a chicken and egg thing.
My wife is a person who is nearly incaple of verbalizing love to me or even to her children. Its’ a personal thing on top of a cultural thing. Certain frineds of mine have indicated I’m a complete nutcase to put up with such a situation. They’re probably right. However, if pushed, my wife will tell you that she expresses love to our family through cooking.
‘Mouse has got to admit, in the process of coming to terms with this situation I had to think about which was more important, words or food. Anyone who’s read my loving descriptions of mangoes and deer dick knows where I came down on this decision.
Which brings us back to my original point. Are these cookies, with their perfect balance of ginger, molasses, vanilla, sugar and a slight hint of orange, the physical embodiment of the scent of love? Or is it the love in the cookies that makes them smell so perfect? .
Try ‘em and let me know.
Goliard, basic all-purpose is what I use. Sifting is optional. Cookies are not flour-sensitive like that damn bread stuff (but don’t use bread flour for cookies or anything that doesn’t call for bread flour). However, unlike bread which you knead to break down the gluten, cookies and most other all-purpose flour things benefit from minimal mixing once the flour hits the wet stuff—before that, the dry ingredients can be mixed together as much as you like—afterward, overmixing makes the results tough.
G’luck.