Spicy Molasses Cookies

 So I’m renewing my effort to cook my way through all the recipes I’ve saved over the years. This one I saved because I’m always looking for gingery-molasses cookies that have a kick to them, and I’m happy to report that these do!


Recipe (from Bon Apetit)

INGREDIENTS

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1½ teaspoons finely ground black pepper, plus more for sprinkling

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg, room temperature

⅓ cup plus 1 Tbsp. mild-flavored (light) molasses

¾ cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon (or more) milk

Raw sugar (for sprinkling)

PREPARATION

Whisk all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and 1½ tsp. pepper in a medium bowl to combine.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed,beat brown sugar and butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and beat to incorporate. Add ⅓ cup molasses and mix just to combine. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients; beat just until incorporated. Pat dough together and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.

Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 350°. Scoop out level tablespoonfuls of dough and roll between the palms of your hands into smooth balls. Place on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 2" apart (you should be able to fit about 12 on each sheet).

Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and back to front halfway through, until just firm around the edges, 9–12 minutes (if you like chewier cookies, bake less, and if a crispier cookie is your thing, bake a little longer). Let cookies cool about 5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.

Repeat with remaining dough, using fresh parchment paper on baking sheets, as dough is quite sticky.

Whisk powdered sugar, milk, and remaining 1 Tbsp. molasses in a medium bowl until smooth. The glaze should be very thick and glossy but still pourable. If needed, add more milk or water ½-teaspoonful at a time until you get to the right consistency. Drizzle glaze over cookies and sprinkle with raw sugar and more pepper.

Do Ahead: Cookies can be baked and glazed 2 days ahead. Once glaze is set, store airtight at room temperature, or freeze unglazed cookies up to 1 month in resealable plastic bags.


My notes:

I used ground white pepper in place of ground black pepper, mostly because all I have is coursely ground black pepper. I also freshly ground my cloves, and probably erred on the side of extra spice overall.
The dough was quite soft and sticky after being mixed (before the chill), and though the chill helped make it easier to manage, it quickly melted as I handled it.
So naturally it follows that these cookies spread quite a bit in the oven.
I rolled the dough into .5 oz balls, which spread to 3 inch cookies. I really liked this size.
At the 9 minute bake mark, the cookies were crispy on the outside and chewy in the center. Perfect.
These cookies are great unglazed, but need the glaze to look visually appealing. The glaze came together easily and was an orange-y color.
These had a kick! I ate way too many in one setting though, and my mouth became a little numb from all the pepper. 



My pics:



The verdict: I'd totally make these again, as is, or reducing the pepper a bit, just to make them more of a crowd pleaser. I would also consider sneaking in more ginger.