I am not a cookie person.  I would rather make a cake or quick bread since they are much simpler and don’t require scooping and rotating trays in and out of the oven.  But sometimes only a cookie will do, especially when you get a craving for a molasses cookie.  My hubs shockingly had never had homemade molasses cookies, so it became a priority for me to make sure he got to enjoy the goodness.

I wasn’t quite sure how this cookie would turn out.  I hate crispy cookies, and prefer chewy cookies, but these are more of a cakey texture.  It somehow manages to be a cookie still though, and they are highly addictive.  As in, Corey and I couldn’t stop eating them.  They are awesome right out of the oven (after you let them cool enough to eat of course), but they lose some of the awesomeness after they are fully cooled.  Until the following day, that is.  The time spent curing overnight allows the flavors to mingle and turn into something even better than that first taste out of the oven.  I only baked half of the batch, and then portioned out the other cookie dough, froze it on a plastic wrap lined cookie sheet, and then layered them between parchment paper in a container in the freezer to bake in the future.  My sister is visiting from out of town this upcoming week, and after I couldn’t stop gushing about these cookies, she is making me pull them out to bake for her.  I’m pretty sure that I can make the sacrifice of having to eat more cookies for her.

Soft Gluten Free Molasses Cookies
Adapted from The Gluten Free Girl
Makes 2.5 dozen cookies, depending on size

Warning for those of you who don’t read recipes before starting– this needs to sit in the refrigerator overnight before you bake the cookies.  

Ingredients

• 450 grams of your favorite gluten free flour blend
• 2 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon psyllium husk or ground chia seed
• 300 grams of butter, room temperature.  This is really an extraordinarily large amount of butter, something over 2.5 sticks, so don’t be scared when you’re measuring it out and think this has to be a typo.  It’s really not.
• 150 grams sugar
• 170 grams molasses– get the dark unsulphured molasses
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup raw sugar, for rolling the dough in right before baking

Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, powdered ginger, nutmeg, and psyllium husk in a large bowl and whisk together until will combined.

In a separate bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, blend the butter and sugar until fluffy and creamy.  While running the blender, add the molasses and fresh ginger.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each until well incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, about 1/4 of the mix at a time, mixing it well in before adding more of the dry ingredients.

Refrigerate the dough overnight.  Trust me, you NEED to do this.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat liner.

Scoop some dough, about 45 grams worth of it, which is a big cookie, roll into a bowl, and roll in the raw sugar to coat.  Put it on the lined cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.  Repeat with more dough.  The cookies may spread a bit, so make sure to put at least 2 inches between them.  Bake 11-14 minutes until they are crisp on the edges and soft in the middle.  Remove the tray from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes, then remove the cookies to a cooling rack.