Friday, December 23, 2011

Oodles of 'Doodles: Molasses Vanilla



When I made my first batch of snickerdoodles a few days ago, I had a bunch of the tasty cinnamon-sugar topping leftover.  In the spirit of holiday indulgence, instead of throwing the topping away I made an entirely new batch of cookies.  


A day later, I found myself rumaging through the pantry pulling out the panoply of ingredients needed for these snickerdoodles.  I looked at one particularly dark bottle, turned to Ian and said, "I'm a little concerned you won't like these cookies because they have blackstrap molasses in them."  Ian responded astutely: "Um, molasses is in barbecue sauce, so of course I'll like them!"


He did.


These cookies taste like the love child of a traditional snickerdoodle and a ginger snap.   I might even try a 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger next time I make these.  Which will probably be tomorrow.

Molasses Vanilla Snickerdoodles

  Topping:
    1/3 cup sugar
    1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  Cookies:
    2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1 cup sugar or vanilla sugar
    1/2 cup canola oil
    1/4 cup molasses
    3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon nondairy milk 
    1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract



Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. On a large plate, preferably with high sides or a rim around the edges, mix the topping together (sugar and cinnamon) and set aside.

In a medium to large bowl, combine all the flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to get everything incorporated nicely. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar and oil until thoroughly mixed. 

Stir in molasses, vanilla extract and nondairy milk. Mix these ingredients together, then slowly sift in the dry ingredients. Use your hands to get a dough to form. Avoid overworking the dough.

Take small portions of the dough and roll into walnut sized balls. You can make them bigger, if you so choose, but this size usually yields about 20 cookies. Gently press cookie between your palms and fingers to form little disks/patties.  Carefully pat cookie disks into cinnamon sugar topping mix. 

Place on prepared cookie sheets, sugar side up and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges turn a faint golden brown. For a softer cookie with a chewy edge, bake for about 10 minutes. Allow a few minutes for cookies to cool before removing from sheet pan, then transfer to wire cooling rack and allow to completely cool.

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