Kelli’s dad is a huge fan of molasses cookies (sometimes also known as ginger snaps). He prefers cookies that are crunchy throughout. Our version is something of a hybrid – a crunchy edge, with a delightfully chewy center. We recently made a batch for the one year birthday of our friend’s son, John. But of course, we couldn’t resist hanging on to a few cookies to enjoy ourselves at home!
2 ¼ cups GF flour
2 ¼ teaspoons xanthan gum
1 cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup butter, softened
¼ cup molasses
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ cup granulated sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Cream together the brown sugar and butter in a mixer. Add the molasses, egg and spices.
3. Stir in the flour and xanthan gum.
4. Put the granulated sugar in a small bowl. Shape the cookie dough into 1-inch balls and roll them in the sugar to coat. Place them on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
5. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes. Let the cookies rest out of the oven for 5 minutes. Then, remove from the cookie sheet and cool on wire rack.
Enjoy!
– Pete (& Kelli… my silent partner… who made these cookies…)
Are you kidding me? These cookies look perfect. May I have some to blend up and use for a cheesecake crust please?
Pete, that silent partner of yours rocks!
Melissa
Pete and Kelli–These are absolutely beautiful! I’m like Kelli’s dad, a huge fan of molasses cookies. That’s what I call them, but I use them whenever I need gingersnaps, too. I had converted my old recipe to gf and had made them successfully several times … even using them for a pumpkin cheesecake crust. Then the last two times I made them, they just spread into one big glob on the cookie sheet. Salvageable enough to eat as a cookie brittle of sorts, but not much else. So I’m doing a comparison of my recipe to yours and it’s very similar except you used brown sugar vs white sugar, you used slightly more flour, half as much baking soda, and twice as much xanthan gum. Hmmm. I think the best thing to do is just abandon my recipe and use yours!! But, now I am wondering if my xanthan gum is too old. It’s been working for other recipes, but maybe this one just needs the xanthan gum more. Anyway, thanks so much for the recipe. This has always been one of our favorite “go to” cookies. I make them for hubby with raisins and that version is called Raisin Molasses Gems. 😉
Off to see how one can test xanthan gum to see if it’s still doing what it’s supposed to … I know you can do that for baking powder (and soda, I think).
Oh, may I suggest that you enter the second photo on tastespotting.com … it’s really fantastic! (I have had no luck thus far with submitting to tastespotting, but I hope you will.)
Shirley
Hi Melissa… in fact, Kelli uses these cookies to make a crust for her pumpkin cheesecake! I’d be happy to send some cookies your way. =)
Hi Shirley… cookies, we find, are a delicate balance of flour and xanthan gum. When testing cookie recipes, we first play with the flour amount to get the cookie dough as wet/sticky or dry as we want (resulting in a chewy/moist or dry/crunchy) cookie. If, after finding the right amount of flour, the cookie still spreads thin, then add xanthan gum until you’ve achieved the cookie you want.
Cheers, Pete
I haven’t eated a cookie in months. I got your cookbook at the library and this Molasses cookie is the first one I chose to make. It was delicious. And you are absolutely right. Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Perfect in my opinion. Thanks!
Hi Anonymous… So glad you enjoyed the molasses cookies!
Cheers, Pete
Totally loved the cookies! And I just made a batch to use for the pumpkin cheesecake crust from the second edition of your cookbook. It’s in the oven right now and was smelling amazing, but suddenly the springform is leaking something….looks like oily liquid….has this ever happened to you? I’m about to set my oven on fire. Just hope it doesn’t ruin the cheesecake!
I made these last night and they are delicious!
I didn’t see mention of adding the baking soda in the directions. I added with the flour and I added 1/4t salt.
Love the idea of using these as cheesecake crust and now that autumn is coming….yippee!