Molasses spice cookies

Recipe

Chewy molasses spice cookies - "Dessert person", Claire Saffitz

How it turned out

They looked identical to the ones in Claire's cookbook. They were also lovely and chewy. However, I think I was expecting a ginger-forward cookie. I was surprised to bite into it to find it less sweet and more molasses-y.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the flavour, but my partner loved them. So it's likely just a personal preference thing.

What I learned

There are different types of molasses. The recipe called for unsulphured molasses. I had fancy molasses in the pantry from my sticky toffee pudding bake, so I just used that. When the taste was alarmingly more molasses forward than I was expecting, I wondered if I had used the wrong molasses. After quite a bit of research, I still don't fully understand the difference. Next time I make these, I'll be sure to use molasses that specifies it's "unsulphured", and see if that makes a difference.

Mise en place — more work up front, but worth it. I took the time to layout all the ingredients, by weight, in their own bowls. When it came to mixing the batter, I lined up the bowls in the order they needed to be incorporated. It made this recipe an absolute breeze. All I needed to do was pour each ingredient in, which came in handy since I was working with a hand-mixer (not a stand mixer) and couldn't walk away or use both my hands.