Thick Molasses Spice Cookies

I thought I had already tasted the best molasses cookie ever made. My mother made excellent Molasses Cookies and Molasses Crinkles have always been a family favorite!
Both cookies are cookies I have been baking for years and years. Cookies I grew up loving. Molasses Cookies I just could not get enough of!
Thick Molasses Spice Cookies

I did not think you could get any better than those. That is until now. Today I baked the best molasses cookies I have ever eaten. The BEST! (Sorry to shout! But I can't help myself!)
I recently purchased a cookbook entitled Smitten Kitchen Keepers, by Deb Perelman. It is filled with loads of tasty sounding and looking recipes that beg you to try them.
I adapted this cookie recipe from the one found in that cookbook. It's marvelous and if this recipe alone is any indication of the quality of the remaining recipes in the book, I am in for loads of treats!
Thick Molasses Spice Cookies

These cookies are soft and chewy in the middle and crispy coated with sugar on the outsides. They are spiced beautifully with a wonderful mix of the warm baking spices.
The smell of them baking alone is enough to get your tastebuds tingling and I can promise you, your house will smell beautiful while they are baking!
Thick Molasses Spice Cookies

I did make a few adaptations to her recipe, but they worked beautifully. First I added some ground cardamom to the spice mix. I have always found that ground cardamom works very well in any kind of gingerbready mix.
Next, I used part molasses and part golden syrup. If you don't have golden syrup, by all means use all molasses. I also chose to use soft light brown sugar instead of dark.
And I may have used a bit more candied ginger than she did. What can I say? I love crystalized ginger. It's one of my favorite things.
I also decided to add 2 tsp of finely grated orange zest. I thought it would work very well with everything else and I can say with absolute veracity, it did!
I also put them together slightly differently than she did. It worked beautifully and there was a bit less faff involved in my opinion.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE THICK MOLASSES SPICE COOKIES
If you have a well stocked baking cupboard you probably have everything you need in the house to make these today!

2 1/3 cups (305g) plain all purpose flour
2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 cup (170g) butter, melted and cooled
4 1/2 TBS (100g) molasses
2 1/4 TBS (50g) golden syrup
2/3 cup (145g) soft light brown sugar
1 large free range egg yolk
3 TBS (45g) chopped crystalized ginger
2 tsp finely grated orange zest
Demerara (Turbinado) sugar for rolling

All of these warm baking spices work beautifully together in unison. There is no one flavor that is over-powering. I found myself wondering as I put them together what the flavor of orange zest would be with the remaining flavors.
I just happened to have an orange in my larder and so I went with my inspiration and added some. It was the right decision.
Thick Molasses Spice Cookies

Don't mix your measurements. Use only the weight or only the imperial. Don't mix both together. I used the weight measurements (much more accurate in my opinion) and these worked out perfectly.
Using the combination of molasses and golden syrup worked very well. They had just the right amount of molasses flavor in my opinion.

HOW TO MAKE THICK MOLASSES SPICE COOKIES
These are really simple cookies to make. Be prepared to fall in love.

Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Set aside.Put some Demerara sugar (turbinado) into a small bowl. You will need about 6 TBS. (75g)Whisk together the flour and all of the spices, salt, pepper and baking soda.Whisk the melted butter, molasses, golden syrup, candied ginger, orange zest and egg yolk together in a large bowl. Stir in the dry ingredients. The dough will be thick. Make sure everything is well combined.Scoop out 1 3/4 TBS of dough at a time. Roll into a ball and then drop into the bowl of sugar. Roll to coat with sugar and place onto the baking sheet. Space evenly, leaving about 2 inches between each.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes. They will look a bit underbaked but be crackled a bit on top. Don't worry, they are baked through. Check to make sure they are lightly browned on the bottom.

Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 8 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Enjoy! Betcha can't eat just one!

Deb called these her "Forever" molasses cookies. I am calling them my "Happily-Ever-After" molasses cookies. Yes, they are that good!
I can't wait to make them again and try the orange zest addition. I just know it is going to be phenomenal! If you bake only one cookie this week, let it be these!

Here are a few other Molasses type of cookies from The English Kitchen that you might enjoy:
GINGERDOODLES - The perfect blend of a molasses cookie and a snickerdoodle. Half and half, two doughs rolled together, rolled in cinnamon sugar and then baked to perfection. The best of two worlds!
CHOCOLATE GINGERS - Crisp edges, chewy middles, sugar coated and tastily drizzled with melted semi-sweet chocolate. Chocolate and ginger have a wonderful affinity for each other. These are gorgeous.
Yield: 24Author: Marie Rayner