For nine weeks of nothing but book writing, I had to ignore the urge to bake. People at work started to ask when the cookies were coming back. I finally had a free night, with Halloween just around the corner, and pumpkin cookies would be perfect.
Unfortunately, it’s one of those weeks where I’ve already been to the grocery store twice for necessities, and pumpkin must have slipped the mind. My favorite seasonal baking ingredient must wait. What’s just as autumnal for the mouth? Cloves, cinnamon and ginger. Therefore: Molasses Crinkles.
My recipe is the same as this one on AllRecipes.com:
Into the pan goes 3/4 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1/4 cup molasses. And then the flour…where’s the flour? There’s always extra in the fridge…there’s none in the fridge. How in the world did I, the baker, run out of flour without realizing it? Probably because I haven’t been able to bake for months.
So, a trip to the grocery story the next day after work. Flour and pumpkin both, and more brown sugar.
Back to the kitchen. Now, the 2 1/4 cup flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon ginger.
These are the kind of cookies you roll into a ball and dip in sugar before baking (for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.) So you know they’re going to turn out nice and thick — hearty cookies you can sink your sweet tooth into.
And, with the spicy flavor, these were the perfect snack during the decoration of the Haunted Hall. Every year, several of us at the office help the nonprofit organization down the street put together its annual Halloween party for the disabled children it provides services for. The cookies were gone long before any of the kids arrived.
