Chewy Spiced Molasses Cookies
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 24
 
These spiced molasses cookies drizzled with white chocolate ganache and caramel sauce are a real treat to make and eat. With the crunch of coarse sanding sugar on the outside and their chewy insides, these will disappear faster than you can say, "cookie"!!
You will need:
  • All purpose flour - 2 cups
  • Baking soda - 2 tsp
  • Ground cinnamon - 1½ tsp
  • Ground ginger - 1 tsp
  • Ground cardamom - ½ tsp
  • Ground cloves - ¼ tsp
  • Ground or grated nutmeg - a fat pinch
  • Salt - ½ tsp
  • Egg - 1, large
  • Unsalted butter - ½ cup, melted
  • Sugar - ⅓ cup
  • Dark brown sugar - ¼ cup
  • Molasses - ⅓ cup
  • Coarse sanding sugar- ½ cup, for rolling
  • White chocolate ganache - 1½ cups, for drizzling (see recipe in notes)
  • Caramel sauce - 1 cup, for drizzling (see recipe in notes)
How to:
  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 deg.F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and molasses till well combined. Mix in the dry ingredients just to combine. The dough will be very sticky. Refrigerate it for at least half an hour so that it is easier to handle.
  4. When ready to bake, take the dough from the refrigerate. Take coarse sanding sugar in a shallow bowl.
  5. Scoop out heaped tablespoonfuls of the dough and roll into balls. Roll the dough balls in sanding sugar and place on the baking sheet, 2" apart (cookies will spread when baking).
  6. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through. Cookies will have cracked tops and will be just set around edges. Carefully remove cookies with a spatula, transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.
  7. Drizzle chocolate ganache and caramel sauce over the cookies. Find recipes for ganache and caramel sauce in the notes.
  8. Return frosted cookies to the baking sheets, refrigerate for half an hour to firm up the frosting. Store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Un-frosted cookies can be stored at room temperature.
Notes:
1. WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE.
You need: 1 cup or 6 oz white chocolate chips, 6 tbsp heavy cream and 1 tbsp unsalted butter.
Method: Take the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate in a mixing bowl and set aside. Heat the heavy cream and butter in a saucepan on low-medium heat till butter is melted. The cream must be hot, but take care not to boil it. Pour the hot cream and butter mixture over the chocolate. It will start to melt, give it a stir to melt the chocolate completely. You will get a smooth, silky ganache. Cool this slightly before using. Completely cooled ganache can be stored in a sealed jar in the refrigerator and lightly warmed up to make liquid again.

2. BROWN SUGAR CARAMEL SAUCE.
You need: ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup heavy cream, 2 tbsp unsalted butter, a pinch of salt.
Method: Take all ingredients in a small saucepan and start heating on medium heat. Once butter is melted and everything is well combined, heat for another 6-8 minutes on medium-low heat till sauce is slightly reduced and thickened. Remove from heat and pour into a glass jar. Cool completely, seal tightly and store in the refrigerator. The sauce will thicken as it cools, you can reheat it to make it liquid again.
Recipe by At The Corner of Happy And Harried at https://www.happyandharried.com/2016/01/07/chewy-spiced-molasses-cookies/