This is the iconic cookie in my family's kitchen, and I'd like to say that they are far more chewy than they are snappy. My mom, Lynda, will make about two or four dozen of these around the holidays and they just sit around beckoning us to all ruin our appetites before dinner. It's not unusual for my brother to have 6 in one sitting. Since this is the first holiday season that I'm not spending with my family in Calgary, I figured I would bake them myself to stoke to holiday spirit. The original recipe calls for sugar, all purpose flour, and margarine, but I've used coconut sugar, gluten-free 1 to 1 all purpose flour, and butter. Feel free to substitute back to the originals. The last addition to the cookie is optional, but I recommend that you try at least one or two if you are skeptical. Lynda will make a little indentation to the cookies immediately after coming out of the oven and add a little bit of raspberry jam to the top. I prefer to bake them with the jam. Your call. It turns out that you can't go wrong with these, jam or no jam, applied pre or post bake.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 cup coconut sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup fancy molasses
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
Optional but encouraged: Raspberry or cherry jam
Yield: makes about 3 dozen cookies
Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. In your standing mixer, beat 1 cup coconut sugar, butter, egg, and molasses on med/high until smooth, light and fluffy.
- Turn the speed down to 1 or 2, and add remaining ingredients except for the 1/4 cup sugar. Increase speed again to mix everything together well, possibly scraping down the sides once or twice.
- Refrigerate for up to an hour or place in the freezer for 20 minutes for easier handling.
- Once chilled, place remaining sugar in a bowl and roll your dough into 1" balls between your palms and roll in remaining sugar. Place your sugared balls 2" apart on your prepared baking sheet. Use the back of a spoon to gently press an indent into the top of the balls.
- If going for the jam center pre-bake, add a small amount of jam to fill the indent. If you're adding the jam post-bake, do so immediately after they come out of the oven. Bake for 8 minutes. Allow them to cool for about a minute before removing from the cookie sheet and if you have enough will power, let cool entirely before eating.
