The Kitchen Witch

Magical Molasses Crinkles

If you want a cookie that stays moist and chewy for days – even a week! – this is the cookie for you. Rich and spicy, they are perfect for cold rainy days or cool summer nights and they pair perfectly with grapes and cheeses and an orange-spice herbal tea or that favorite dry white wine you only pull out for special occasions. This cookie is known as Molasses Crinkles and it is indeed magical.

This is a cookie my mother used to make all the time and still does. It is from the original (first edition, published in 1950) Betty Crocker Cookbook – I do not think later editions have this recipe in it. I know the edition I bought in the late 1990’s does not have it – or many of the other wonderful recipes that are in this book!

If you can find one, I highly suggest you beg, borrow, buy it or steal it! No kitchen witch should be without this basic text.

Molasses Crinkles are very easy to make. As with all recipes, get out everything you need before you start.

Sift your dry ingredients and set them aside and then cream your softened butter and brown sugar together before adding the molasses. My mother used to tell me that I was “as slow as molasses in January” and if you make these cookies in the winter, you’ll know what she meant! You have to chill the dough for at least a half-hour, so allow yourself time. The recipes is as follows –

Cream together – ¾ cup soften butter or shortening

1 cup brown sugar

Add – 1 beaten egg

And – ¼ cup molasses

Sift together & add in – 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Chill dough. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Ready a small bowl of white sugar for dipping. After an hour or so, bring the dough out of the fridge & roll into balls the size of walnuts. Dip the tops into sugar. Place each ball, sugar-side up, onto a greased baking sheet about three inches apart. Bake until just set but not hard, 10 to 12 minutes, depending on your oven. Makes about 3 or 4 dozen cookies. Put into a container with a tight lid and these cookies will stay soft and chewy for over a week!

Honestly, these look so good, I want to eat them right out of the picture! You HAVE to try these! They are TRULY magical! Until next month, this is Polly Applequeen the Kitchen Witch. Bon Appetite!