So, my moms were in town for Thanksgiving. Here’s something I’ll never get tired of hearing: “Dan, can you bring me some cookies? We don’t have anything in the apartment here.” Ah, sweet role reversal. It’s nice to know that after relying on her for my pastry fix growing up, my mom is now turning to me for her supply. Mom-there are few things on earth I’d rather do than bring you a bag of cookies.
Fortunately for her I’d been working on two recipes-Molasses Spice Bombs and Cinnamon Dusted Sugar Cookies. I began working on the sugar cookies assuming they’d be easy, but after the first batch came out of the oven I realized they were going to need some work. I don’t generally crave un-spiced cookies and the prospect of eating batch after batch of sugar cookies was a bit unsettling so I decided to through in some flavor. As long as I had to test the dough for texture it couldn’t hurt to add some spice, right? Wrong. It triggered my addiction to spice cookies. By round 3 I had completely chucked the idea of a sugar cookie and dumped in molasses and cinnamon. F-the sugar cookies. I’d get back to them. Food 52serendipitously released a molasses cookie recipe the same week this was bubbling in my kitchen so I melded their recipe with mine which brought me very near the finish line. The cookies needed a denser middle, a deep chew at the very center. One tweak later and the recipe was finished.
This week you get spice, next week I’ll give you sugar. I know, it’s out of order. Sugar and spice and everything nice? Nope. Not here. Spice first, sugar later, shake it shake it alligator.
I am not a poet.
My mom came to Brooklyn last week to see my sister’s show. I sent her home with a bag of these cookies.
(P.S.-she later informed me that these were too chewy for her liking. She prefers a cookie that is crisp through and through. Of course, she ate the whole bag.)
Free of Gluten, Dairy, Corn, Soy, Nuts and Tree Nuts.
Adapted from Food 52
- 1 cup Sweet Rice Flour
- 1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
- 1/2 cup Tapioca Starch
- 1/4 cup White Rice Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
- 1/2 teaspoon Ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves
- 3/4 cup Coconut Oil (in its hard form)
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 1/2 cup Molasses
- 1 Egg
- Sugar and Ground Black Pepper for rolling (optional)
Get Busy
- Whisk together the dry ingredients (flours, powders and spices).
- In a separate bowl cream the coconut oil and sugar. You can do it with a stand mixer, a hand mixer, your own arms or Jedi mind-foolery. 3-4 minutes beating on high till it looks nice and creamy.
- Add the molasses and egg to the creamed sugar and oil and continue to beat until incorporated.
- Stir the dry blend into the wet mixture in batches to avoid getting flour all over your shirt.
- When the dough comes together cover it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes, preferably for an hour or two.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- When you take the dough out of the fridge it will be stiff. Knead it back to life until it is pliable but still cold. Sprinkle some sugar and ground black pepper in a bowl (ok, ok-you don’t have to use the black pepper, but it adds a lovely kick!). Pinch some dough off the chilled blob and roll it into a ball. Put the ball in the bowl with the sugar and toss everything to coat the dough. Place the sugared ball on a cookie sheet. Repeat until you’ve finished the dough.
- Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until they start to get crisp at the edges. If you’re like my mom and wand a totally crisp cookie, bake these for 12-16 minutes.
- Let the cookies cool on the trays for 5 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.
- Eat it.
Prep. Time: 15 minutes active, 30-60 minutes chilling (you and the dough)
Baking Time: 10-12 minutes
Yield: ~45 two-inch cookies