Spicy Molasses Cookies

Halloween. Megan dressed as a witch this year — pointy hat, black dress, green face paint that she applied with the precision of a fourth-grade art project. I dressed as a Packers player, which is just me wearing a jersey and calling it a costume. She said, "That's not a costume, that's a Tuesday." She's right. I wear the jersey every Sunday. It is not a costume. It is a lifestyle.

We handed out candy at the apartment again. More trick-or-treaters this year — word has spread that the top-floor apartment gives out full-size candy bars. This is because Megan insisted on full-size bars. She said, "Those mini bars are an insult to children." She bought sixty of them. We had eight trick-or-treaters. We now have fifty-two full-size candy bars in the apartment. I am not complaining.

At the brewery, the sour beer is bottled and we're doing a limited release in the taproom next week. Three hundred bottles. I designed the label with help from the brewery's graphic designer — simple, clean, with a hand-drawn illustration of a barrel. The beer is called "Wild Patience" because it took eight months of waiting and trusting and hoping for the best. Also because I am not creative at naming things and "Wild Patience" is the best I could do at 2 AM when the label was due.

Babcia's birthday was November 3rd — she would have been ninety-three. I made her mushroom soup, as I do every year. This time Megan joined me in the kitchen, not to cook but to keep me company. She sat on the counter and read a book while I stirred soup and hummed something I don't remember. She looked up from her book and said, "You hum when you cook." I said, "Do I?" She said, "Like Babcia." I stopped stirring. I didn't know I did that. I didn't know I carried that. Some things pass down without permission.

After I made the soup that night, Megan and I stood in the kitchen surrounded by the warmth of it — the steam, the smell, the quiet that follows cooking something that matters. She asked if Babcia ever baked, and I told her about the cookies. Spiced, dark with molasses, the kind that make the whole apartment smell like someone’s grandmother is visiting. So I made those too, because some weeks you need the soup for the grief and the cookies for everything else.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes (includes chilling) | Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cayenne, and salt. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and 1 cup sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the wet ingredients. Beat in the egg, molasses, and vanilla until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Combine wet and dry. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
Chill the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or until the dough is firm enough to roll.
Shape and coat. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small bowl. Roll the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and roll each one in the sugar to coat.
Bake. Place the dough balls 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until the tops are crackled and the edges are set but the centers still look slightly soft.
Cool. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. They will firm up as they cool.

Nutrition (per serving)

Spicy Molasses Cookies — The Things We Carry Without Knowing