ginger-molasses cookies

THESE ARE MY FAVORITE NON-CHOCOLATE COOKIE. 

I sometimes forget this if I have an especially good sugar cookie or oatmeal cookie, but then I take a bite of one of these and I remember: this is warm and homey. It reminds me of summers at the lake sharing Amish ginger cookies with my grandpa. I will always want a spicy, chewy, sparkly cookie. 

This is the last recipe I'm sharing from the first round of Ama's Army Cookie Dough Sales! I hope you make it and love it too.

Ginger-Molasses Cookies
3 sticks butter [1 1/2 cups], softened
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
4 1/2 cups AP flour
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp ginger
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Mix the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and molasses before slowly adding in all the dry ingredients until you can't see any more white from the flour. Make sure you get the bottom of the bowl scraped because this dough tends to get a dry spot down there.

Cookies: scoop the dough, roll them gently in your hands and then coat them in sugar. Place the sugar-coated balls of dough about 1-2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes watching for the tops to crack. For a soft cookie, go closer to 10 minutes and for a crisp cookie [think gingersnap] closer to 12-14 minutes. Once the dough is baked, allow to rest on cookie sheets for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Bars: line a sheet pan or 9x13 pan with parchment, gently spread the dough evenly in the pan. Bake for 26-30 minutes [maybe longer depending on how thick these bars are!], use a toothpick to check that cookie bars are baked through. If you don't want to frost, you could sprinkle the tops of the bars with sugar.

Cream Cheese Frosting! 
1 bar cream cheese [8oz]
1 stick buttah
1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste [this is where you use the $$$ vanilla!]
2 lbs powdered sugar
heavy whipping cream
salt

In a stand mixer combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Mix throughly and slowly add the powdered sugar. Continue mixing, depending on the humidity and the softness of your cream cheese, you may need something to thin the frosting. I like heavy whipping cream. Just stick your [clean] finger in it and see if it feels soft enough to spread. Taste the frosting on your finger. You may also need to add some salt. I usually do 1/4 tsp-1/2 tsp for this amount of frosting. Once you feel like your frosting is soft enough, mix MIX MIX. At least 5 minutes on medium-high speed mixing to fluff that frosting to the max.

**tips**
-These cookies are not that special. However, if you use the right ingredients they become MAGICAL. I have strong opinions on these three things: Grandma's molasses, Penzeys spices, and Zulka Morena sugar.

     1. Grandma's molasses: available everywhere. The taste is top notch.
     2. Penzeys spices: OK, maybe not Penzey's, but high quality ginger and cinnamon. THESE ARE NOT YOUR GROCERY STORE SPICES. They taste different. They smell better. They up your baking level exponentially.
     3. Zulka Morena sugar: I get this at Aldi. I've seen it at Kroger, Target, and Meijer; my point being it's available everywhere. I think most organic, pure can sugar will work. I've found that using this type of sugar gives an extra sparkly finish. WHO DOESN'T LOVE SPARKLY COOKIES?
-You can refrigerate the dough and it becomes less sticky, if you're opposed to getting your hands dirty.
-If you have extra frosting, just put it in a sealed container [this can be as simple as a freezer bag that you've squeezed all the air out of] and pop it in the freezer. Any cookie becomes special when made into a sandwich cookie. Just take your frozen frosting out, let it thaw, give it a good mix [or just a massage if it's in that baggie], and put it between two cookies.

xo