Drunken Molasses Cookies

Welcome to Baking Extravaganza Day 2! Some of you regular readers might be wondering, what happened to Day 1? And what the heck are you talking about? Thanks to the magic of editing, I went back and started Baking Extravaganza last week, see here for more details. For those new, never mind! I totally had planned this all along and didn't realize an hour ago I have enough sweet and holiday themed recipes to create some a mini-event for this blog. Carry on!


I may or may not have asked my roommate if she wanted a little Captain in her when I offered her one of these cookies. In my defense, the cookies weren’t the only things that had rum in them at the time. In any case, molasses cookies are always tasty but these are a nice change from my traditional recipe – they’re not particularly sweet, but the spices are strong and you can taste the molasses from start to finish. You might think you don't like molasses cookies. I dare you to try these - they'll punch you in the tastebuds and give you noogies until you surrender and admit they're amazing. Because these are bold cookies; they aren't the sweet and non-confrontational sugar cookies. These molasses cookies are the badasses of the cookie world, the ones who in the inevitable robot uprising will blow shit up and walk away in slow motion, not even looking back at the explosion. Kind of like this.

Wow that metaphor got away from me. In any case, these cookies are awesome and you should make them. Did I mention there’s rum in them? Because I feel that’s also a selling point that shouldn’t be ignore, especially around the craziness of the holidays.

Drunken Molasses Cookies

Adapted from The Kitchn 

If you cook these without chilling they spread out quite a bit to look like the discs you see above. Still delicious, but chilling them for a couple hours helps them hold their shape. If you’re planning on bringing these to a party (or even leaving them for Santa), I’d recommend chilling if only because they look slightly fancier. If it’s just you and the Captain, feel free to skip the chilling.

Ingredients:

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (sifted to remove lumps)
1/2 cup unsalted, room temperature butter
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
2/3 cup molasses
6 tablespoons dark rum (though any rum or even apple juice will work)

Equipment:

Cookie sheet, hand mixer, large bowl

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and prep a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add spices and mix. Add flour and baking soda and mix. Pour in molasses and rum, mix until dough forms. It should be very sticky, not dry.

Scoop out about a tablespoon of dough and roll into 1.5" balls and flatten slightly. Bake for 12-13 minutes until set. The top of the cookie should be all one uniform color, not dark at the edges or light in the middle. Cool on cookie sheet and parchment until a off-set spatula can slide them off (the bottom of the cookie will still be a little sticky). Flip them over for 3 minutes to let the air reach the bottom of the cookie and then enjoy. Keep in an airtight container for up to a week. If they'll last that long.