October 29, 2011: Molasses Cookies

Winter decided to give us a sneak peak this past week! With 8 inches of heavy and wet snow that peak was more like a smack upside the head!  Now, I love when it snows and the ground is covered with pretty, sparkling snow but Fall is still my favorite season and I would like a bit more before I truly have to bust out the coat!  With this pseudo fall/winter transition I thought the perfect cookie would be Molasses.  I have never used Molasses in anything and I was happy surprised how well these turned out!  Enjoy!

Molasses Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar

¾ cup shortening

¼ cup molasses

1 egg

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (non-elevation locations - 2 1/4 c of flour)

1 ¾ teaspoons baking soda (non-elevation locations - 2 tsps of baking soda)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

Heat oven to 325°F. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, shortening, molasses and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients except granulated sugar.

Shape dough by rounded tablespoonfuls into 1 1/2-inch balls. Dip tops into granulated sugar. On ungreased cookie sheet, place balls, sugared sides up, about 2 inches apart.

Bake 13 to 16 minutes or just until set and cookies appear dry. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

Makes About 2 dozen cookies

Apple Pie Cookies

Fall is here!  The leaves are finally changing colors, the temperatures are cooling off (even though we have had a few days in the 80s yet). Fall is by far my favorite season of all, yet we don't seem to get much of it before the snow flies!  We are suppose to get snow on Wed with a high of only 33, don't get me wrong I love when it snows too - it's so pretty!

I'm not much of a pie fan, nor am i all that good at making pie - no idea why!  Yet I decided for fall i would make apple pie cookies!  They turned out really yummy!

Here's the recipe!

Apple Pie Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

Dough:

1/3 cup sour cream

1 egg yolk, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup butter (or margarine)

Stir together to blend sour cream, egg yolk and vanilla extract. In a separate large bowl stir together flour and sugar. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in sour cream mixture until well blended.

Divide dough in half and chill until easy to handle (1-2 hours or so).

Filling:

1 tablespoon butter (or margarine)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon apple pie spice *

2 medium cooking (I used honeycrisp for about everything) apples, peeled and chopped

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add apples, brown sugar and spices. Cook, stirring occasionally, until apples are fork tender. Remove excess liquid and cool.

*Instead of apple pie spice you could substitute 1/2 t cinnamon, 1/4 t ground nutmeg, 1/8 t all spice, and a dash of ground ginger or cloves.

Assembly:

Roll each piece of dough to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut with a 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter (I used a glass). Fill rounds with a skimpy teaspoon of filling. Fold in half and seal edges with a fork. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet (or parchment paper).

Bake at 350°F for 10-15 minutes or until light brown. Remove and cool.

Lemon Sugar Icing:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1-3 teaspoons water

Mix ingredients until drizzling consistency. If too thick, add a little more water, if too thin, add more powdered sugar. Drizzle over cooled cookies.