Sunday, July 19, 2015

MAGIC HEALING COOKIES

Whenever someone is sick or injured or is recovering from still more back surgery (ahem!) Nina makes Magic Healing Cookies for them. The cookies can be any flavor that person is especially fond of. In my case it's GINGER of course! These big cookies are from Got Milk? the Cookie Book by Peggy Cullen - and they are very very good! And so are her many other cookie recipes. It is one of my favorite cookie books! 

Peggy says: My first experience west of the Rockies was as a baker on a cattle ranch in Idaho’s Sawtooth Valley. As an avid recipe snoop, it seemed from my New York City perspective that everybody's Mormon mom made a version of this cookie. Whenever I make the cookies east of the Hudson, I’m asked for the recipe.

To  my mind, they are the perfect cookies: crispy on the edges, soft and chewy in the center, with a sprinkling of crunchy sugar on top. As they bake, they puff up, heave a sigh, and then collapse as flat as can be. They get that nice cracked top like an old-fashioned ginger snap. Be careful not to overbake these cookies - burnt molasses is bitter.

Being sturdy and long-keeping (if they last, which they don’t) Mormon Molasses Spice Cookies are terrific in a lunch box, in the mailbox, or on a winter buffet table. They’re excellent dunked in a cold glass of  milk.


MORMON MOLASSES SPICE COOKIES

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter,
         cut in pieces
1/4 cup dark unsulphured molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup
2 teaspoons of baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Remove from the heat, and stir in the molasses and vanilla. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour with 1 cup of the sugar, the baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Whisk to combine.

Add the beaten egg to the cooled butter mixture and mix well with a fork. Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until firm enough to form balls, about 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F.

Place remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. Scoop out walnut-size pieces of dough and roll into 1-inch balls. Toss the balls in the sugar to coat completely and place on ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the centers no longer appear raw. (At 12 minutes you’ll have soft and chewy cookies; at 15 they’ll be crisp.) Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. 

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

note: For larger cookies double the size of the balls and cook a little longer. 

Nina used light molasses and salted butter because that was what we had on hand. 


Thank you Peggy Cullen!

- posted by Momsu