Sugar and Spice Make Everything Nice

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, my company recently moved to a new location in the city.  We have moved from our roots deep in the financial district to a sparkling new building on Atlantic Wharf.   Here's some views from my new cube:

Before you get all huffy about my waterfront view, my back is to this 99.99% of the day.  Suffice it to say, the move has confounded some of my colleagues when it comes to making decisions about, say, lunch.  We had been in our old office space so long that we all had our well-established favorites for everything from coffee to cookies. Because we are the sole occupant of our new building (for now), we don't have any restaurant/cafe/lobby shop options for the quick grab yet.  So, we have all started to venture out a little further afield for some new dining options in our new neighborhood.

On a rare sunny and mild day (and by mild I mean 40 degrees), some colleagues of mine and I decided to take a walk over the bridge into Fort Point to a little place known as Flour.  Now, I should back up a second.  At brunch a couple weekends ago, a friend of mine and I were discussing a new cookbook she had picked up--Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe.  We both love cooking and baking and were swapping recipe thoughts about an upcoming baby shower.  Flash forward two days, and there I was staring at the chalkboard menu perusing the lush sandwich menu and ogling the pastries only a few steps away.  While I was waiting for my turkey, cheddar and cranberry chutney sandwich to be made, I noticed that they had signed copies of the cookbook available for purchase. Cookbook?  Signed?  Sold!  I couldn't resist.

While pouring over the pages of my new cookbook, I came across a recipe for one of my absolute favorite cookies: Ginger Molasses Cookies.  I have made several iterations of these cookies.  There were crisp ones, chewy ones and cakey (is that a word?) ones.  I liked her recipe, but I personally want the spicy snap in my ginger cookies.  I doubled up on the cinnamon and ginger to add the right amount of heat and added about a teaspoon of vanilla just because I loved it and thought it might add a nice balance. 

Ginger Molasses Cookies (adapted from Joanne Chang's recipe)

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to the touch
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsulphured dark molasses
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
granulated sugar for coating

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer), mix together the butter, brown sugar, molasses and egg on low speed until well combined.

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, spices and salt until well mixed.  Add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and stir until well combined and dough is evenly mixed.

For the best results, scrape the dough into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 3 to 4 hours.  When ready to bake, adjust a rack to the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

Place some granulated sugar in a small bowl.  Instead of making large cookies as the recipe suggests (Joanne calls for 1/4 cup scoops...no joke!), I used my small cookie scooper as opposed to the ice cream scooper that the recipe would have me use.  The dough yields 16 mammoth cookies or a little over three dozen perfectly snappy cookies. 

Roll the dough ball in the sugar until well coated.  Using a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon baking liner, space about 12 cookie balls on the sheet and place in the oven. 

 
Since I had adjusted the size of cookies, I knew I would have to watch these closely to make sure I didn't turn them into tasty dog biscuits.  The small versions were perfectly cooked after 13 minutes. A good rule of thumb is to only place one cookie sheet in the oven at a time.  This will ensure evenly baked cookies every time.  Ya, I know...it will take you longer to finish baking all the dough, but really, if you're going to all the work of baking cookies, do it right!

Once they're out of the oven, place the cookie sheet on a cooling rack for five minutes before removing the cookies.  transfer the cookies to the cooling rack and repeat until all the dough is baked. 

These cookies had the right amount of spice and snap and were so darn good I almost didn't take them to the office to share...I think I might need to make another batch of this dough and freeze the balls for those evenings when I just want a yummy treat.