Molasses Spice Cookies

Sometimes, especially after a long series of mishaps, it's pretty wonderful when something, anything just happens to go right. It's been a tough couple of weeks, what with finals looming and two months having gone by since I've seen my boyfriend and then some bug or allergen or something decided to give me big ol' itchy spots ("Boy, this is piquing my appetite," I hear you mutter.) I'd also been tinkering around with new recipes and after a failed tart and a couple failed batches of cookies, things weren't looking (or feeling) too great. Until today. Like I should have known from the start, all's well that ends with molasses, brown butter, brown sugar and spices.

These cookies are still essentially a variation on the Valentine's Day cookies I'd been trying to invent but that never quite turned out right. This is definitely more what I was going for. It's a variation on my favorite recipe for ginger snaps; a little crunchy on the outside but nice and chewy on the inside with a delicious layering of dark, spicy, sexy flavors. So when the rain's falling outside and you've got to somehow write an intelligent fifteen page final paper on youth and social media, you'll know that you can make some tea, grab one of these cookies, and get it done right.

Molasses Spice Cookies

1 stick butter
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup molasses
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
pinch chili powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (or 300 if your oven is overeager, as mine is.) In a small saucepan, cook the butter on low heat until melted. Once melted, slightly increase heat and begin to cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter has thoroughly browned and smells rich and nutty. Remove to a glass container and refrigerate, stirring every once in a while, until creamy and in a relatively solid state (see picture above).

Cream browned butter with the sugar and mix in the egg. Add the molasses and the cider vinegar. Sift together dry ingredients and incorporate into the batter. the batter should still be slightly sticky to the touch. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Take a teaspoon of batter at a time and roll it around in your palms until it forms a smooth ball with a few cracks. Put these balls on the cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, depending on how soft/crunchy you like your cookies. Let cool completely and enjoy!