Molasses Spice Leaves Food

CHEWY MOLASSES-SPICE COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. In a shallow bowl, place 1/2 cup sugar; set aside.
• With an electric mixer, beat butter and remaining cup of sugar until combined. Beat in egg and then molasses until combined. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in dry ingredients, just until a dough forms.
• Pinch off and roll dough into balls, each equal to 1 tablespoon. Roll balls in reserved sugar to coat.
• Arrange balls on baking sheets, about 3 inches apart. Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges of cookies are just firm, 10 to 15 minutes (cookies can be baked two sheets at a time, but they will not crackle uniformly). Cool 1 minute on baking sheets; transfer to racks to cool completely.

MOLASSES SPICE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Grease a 15x10x1-in. pan., Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses. In another bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and spices; add to creamed mixture alternately with coffee, beating well after each addition. Spread into prepared pan., Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack., For icing, beat butter and vanilla until creamy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar and enough milk to reach desired consistency. Spread over cake.

MOLASSES SPICE LEAVES

Steps:

• Make cookies:
• Finely grind walnuts in processor. Add 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar and blend to powder. Using electric mixer, cream butter with brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg. Mix remaining 1 3/4 cups flour with nut mixture, spices and baking soda. Stir into butter mixture (dough will be soft). Divide dough into 2 pieces. Flatten each into disk. Wrap each disk tightly in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter heavy large cookie sheets. On heavily floured surface, roll 1 dough piece out (keep remainder refrigerated) to thickness of 1/8 to 1/4 inch. Cut out cookies using 3-inch leaf cookie cutter. Transfer to prepared cookie sheets, spacing 1/2 inch apart. Repeat rolling and cutting with second dough piece. Gather scraps and chill 15 minutes. Reroll scraps and cut out more cookies. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Cool on racks.
• Make icing:
• Using electric mixer, beat sugar and egg whites until smooth.
• Spoon icing into pastry bag fitted with 1/16-inch round tip. Pipe icing atop cookies. Decorate with dragées. Let stand until icing sets. (Can be prepared 2 weeks ahead. Store refrigerated between layers of waxed paper in airtight container. Let stand 5 minutes at room temperature before serving.)

MOLASSES SPICE COOKIES WITH DARK RUM GLAZE

Steps:

• Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Heat oven to 375. Spread 1/2 cup sugar in a shallow dish for coating. Set aside. Whisk the flour, baking soda, spices, pepper and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
• Beat butter, brown sugar and remaining 1/3 cup sugar together in a large bowl using an elecctric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 inutes. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds. Beat in the molasses until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping down the side of the bowl and bveater as needed.
• Reduce mixer speed to low. Slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. (Dough will be soft.) Give the dough a final stir with a rubhger spatula to make sure it is combinewd.
• Using wet hands, roll 2 T. dough at a time into balls, then roll in the sugar to coat. Lay on two parchment-lined baking sheets, spaced about 2 inches apart. Bake, one sheet at a tim, until edges set and tops are cracked but centers are still soft and underdone. (Peek thru cracks to check centers.) It's about 10-12 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet halfway thru baking.
• Let cookies cool on sheet for 10 minutes. You can serve them at this point or transfer to a wire rack, cooling completely before putting on the rum glaze.
• To make glaze, just mix the confectioners sugar and rum together until smooth. Drizzle it over the cooled cookies. Let set for 10-15 minutes before serving.
• NOTE: if you want to make these w/o the rum glaze, you could also use a variation that has orange essence in it. Just add 1 t. grated orange zest to the dough when you add the molasses. Process 2/3 cup sugar with 2 t. grated orange zest in a food processor until fragrance, about 10 seconds. Use that for rolling instead of the plain white sugar.

MOLASSES SPICE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-2-inch round cake pan. Line bottom with parchment, and butter the parchment.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, sour cream, molasses, ginger, lemon zest, and vanilla.
• Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Beat in flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream mixture.
• Scrape batter into prepared pan, and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack, remove parchment, and turn right side up. Let cool completely. (Cake can be wrapped tightly in plastic and refrigerated for up to 1 day.)
• Spread frosting over top of cake. Drizzle with glaze. Serve immediately.