Molasses Cookies

- LW

From Cook's Illustrated

The quintessential ginger-molasses cookie crusted with sugar and crinkly cracks, yet still soft and chewy.

As with most Cook's Illustrated recipes, it's important to follow all directions exactly. Whatever you were thinking of doing differently, they have already tried it in and written an article about how it RUINS EVERYTHING. So don't use the whole egg instead of just the yolk or bake the cookies just a little longer because they still look raw or leave out the black pepper because it seems weird. Just trust the recipe.

Ingredients
2 ¼ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon cloves

¼ teasppon allspice

¼ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup butter

1/3 cup white sugar (plus ½ c. for dipping)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup molasses (not blackstrap)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.

Beat butter and sugars together with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Beat in molasses. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture until just incorporated.

Make balls of dough 1 ¼ to 1 ½ inch in diameter. Roll in sugar. Place on baking sheet covered with parchment paper, leaving plenty of room between balls of dough (they will spread out and flatten as they bake).

<p class="MsoNormal">Bake at 375 about 11 minutes until edges are set, but middles still look raw and puffy. Remove cookies from oven and let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a rack. (This gentle heat finishes the cooking process outside the oven.) To ensure proper texture and even cooking, only bake one sheet of cookies at a time.