centennial molasses spice drops

My mother doesn’t own a KitchenAid (or any brand) stand mixer, so in those formative learn-to-bake years I never knew what I was missing.  Heavy cookie batter, mashed potatoes, whipped cream?  Just use a little extra ‘elbow grease,’ or an electric beater in a pinch.  Then I lived with a roommate who had her own KitchenAid, and my baking life suddenly became an interesting science!  It made everything easier.  When that roommate married and moved out, I mourned the KitchenAid (laugh if you must!), all the while dreaming of buying my own.  I could never quite justify the expense, though. 

My 30^th birthday rolled around three weeks ago, and I asked some girlfriends to meet me at my favorite restaurant for dinner.  What I didn’t know was that my best friend had organized for all of them to pitch in for a KitchenAid.  They’d been planning it as a surprise for months.  I was not expecting it AT ALL, and I was so shocked and happy that I started crying – see the photos below for evidence.  After carefully perusing the instruction manual, I found a new recipe to try to break in the best birthday gift ever.  I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m still in awe.

Centennial Molasses Spice Drops (modified from recipe in Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book)

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup molasses

3 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or foil and spray with baking spray.

Blend butter, sugar, eggs and molasses in a large bowl until thoroughly mixed. Sift together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add half of dry ingredient mixture to batter, then add vinegar, and finally add the rest of the dry mixture, mixing well after each addition.  If batter seems too moist, place in refrigerator for an hour to set the dough (I did it both ways and there wasn’t a noticeable difference in the end result).

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets, leaving two inches between each cookie.  Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes (no imprint should remain when tapped lightly).  Remove from oven and then transfer to wire racks to finish cooling.  Makes 5-6 dozen cookies.

Note: I used the whisk attachment for the dough, and I'm pretty sure it helped the cookies turn out light and cake-y.  If I wanted something dense next time (approximating a gingersnap) I'd use the paddle or mix by hand.  Also, the original recipe called for shortening and I substituted butter.  That probably also had an effect.

Recommended for: those who like spice cookies and anyone who wants to experiment with an unusual cookie ingredient (apparently this recipe was created for the 1876 Centennial!).

Interested in other food-related posts?  Check out Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking!