chewy molasses cookies with spiced chocolate.

about once a year i get a craving for a chewy, chewy, chewy molasses cookie. they had pretty delightful molasses cookies when i worked at starbucks - i remember heating them in the oven for a few seconds and oooh la la… behold the warm, chewy sugary goodness!

but when it comes down to cookie time, i can’t deny my chocolate lovvve.

that’s the beauty of homemade recipes. you can do whatever the hells bells you want!

somehow this cookie reminds me of something i ate or some very distinct smell from when i lived in germany as a kid. when the spiced chocolate cooled and i took a whiff, it smelled like germany to me…whatever that means. i don’t know if i ate some sort of spiced baked good there, or they use a lot of warm spices? the smell of a christmas bazaar?? maybe a person there, or someone’s house, or germany as a general place just smells like cloves? who knowwwwws.

smell memories are so interesting & powerful!

and dang, you gotta appreciate the chewiness of a good molasses cookie.

these are moist, dense and C H E W Y in the best way.

these just smell & taste like holiday to me. i can’t really see myself baking a spicy molasses cookie in the month of may or something, so winter is prime time for these warm chewy babes!

even after a few days, when the chocolate is completely cold and hardened, the flavor develops even more. i really like the texture of that firm chocolate layer around the soft, chewy molasses center.

i made these over a week ago and the cooks are still chewy and delish!

somebody i know makes these teeny tiny molasses cookies that are so thin and perfectly chewy and addicting.

i think about them fondly and often.

loving these cookies kinda makes me feel like a grandma, mainly because i noticed that only elderly ladies ever ordered molasses cookies back in my aforementioned starbucks days…

but i feel like a true grandma in my soul, so it’s all working out, folks.

by the by, i will be 32 years old at the end of december!

32, going on 72!

except somehow i also perpetually feel like i’m 17? how to feeeeel ?

respect to the old souls everywhere whom also feel like teenz at heart. i’m certain this is a demographic of people.

much like the molasses-cookie-loving-granny demographic. but grannies generally know what’s upppp. and molasses cookies are good!

moral of this ramble - have yourself a merry little chewy molasses cookie and dunk it in warm spicy chocolate while you’re at it, why dontcha!?

Chewy Molasses Cookies with Spiced Chocolate

Makes 16-20 cookies

Total Time: 30 minutes

Adapted from Bon Appétit, by Alison Roman

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp. baking soda

• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp. ground ginger

• 3/4 tsp. ground cardamom

• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• 1 large egg

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted & cooled

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

• 1/3 cup light or dark molasses

• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

• raw sugar or sanding sugar, for rolling

  For the Spiced Chocolate:

• 4-6 ounces semi-sweet to dark melting chocolate

• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves

• 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

• pinches of ground ginger, all-spice, and salt (optional)

Instructions-

Place oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom & salt.

In a separate, larger bowl, whisk together the egg, melted butter, white & brown sugars, vanilla extract and molasses. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spatula until just combined.

Chill dough for 10-20 minutes. While the dough is chilling, melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Let the chocolate cool slightly, and stir in the remaining spices.

Scoop 1 tablespoon sized balls of dough and roll into raw sugar or sanding sugar in a shallow bowl until coated. Place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets and give the dough balls a light press.

Bake on the bottom rack for 4 minutes. Spin the tray 180 degrees and bake for 3 more minutes on the top rack. Do not over bake. When removing the baking sheet from the oven after 7 minutes, slam the tray onto the stove or countertop to compact the air bubbles and create a more dense, chewy cookie. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Dip the tops or half of the cookies in the spiced chocolate and lay on parchment until chocolate hardens.

Store layers of cookies between pieces of parchment in airtight containers. Cookies will stay moist for 7-10 days.

qp

browned butter butternut, kale, crouton & bacon bake with garlic goat cheese sauce.

hellooooo, redundo alliteration recipe title of the year! there’s just no other way to put it.

i should spell crouton with a ‘K’. cuz that would be…kool. i had to mention the croutons in the title because THEY ARE NOT TO BE SKIPPED in this dish!

ok yum. i invented this in my head because i had a butternut squash i needed to use. turns out to be a perfect thanksgiving-esque side dish, or a dinner of its own.

for this, there’s a lot of cooking individual items, but they each get cooked in the same exact pan in a very methodical step-by-step process. so, read the recipe first, lol.

butternut squash is terrifying to cut - feel free to use pre-chopped cubes. however, i feel that you get more when you start from a whole squash. but please be careful!!

the one-third cup of butter in this recipe may seem like a lot, but it actually gets used in both tenderizing the butternut squash as well as toasting the sourdough bread croutons.

the remainder of the browned butter after cooking the squash gets ALL absorbed into the sourdough croutons and THAT. IS. WHAT. MAKES. THIS. SO. GOOD. after you salt them, of course. it was hard not to just stand there and eat all those browned buttery, toasty, salty sourdough bits right out of the pan.

then, the kale & bacon share a cooking arena. in the same pan that the bread was just in! don’t dirty up a zillion pans, people. only one large pan is necessary.

cook the bacon. let the bacon drain on a paper towel. then cook the chopped kale in the bacon grease until just tender and super bright green. beautiful.

other tasty add-ins!

toss all the elements in a big bowl and transfer them to the baking dish where they’ll all mingle and get hot togetha. ow owww! add most of the crouton bits on the very top because you want those to get a touch crispier and be the star of the show.

before baking and after baking…. the squash & croutons get a little more browned and tender. the kale softens and crisps at the edges. the bacon melds its flavors onto all of its neighbors.

scoop some on a plate or bowl to serve. drizzle with the garlicky goat cheese sauce, and yuhuuhuuummm. get every element stabbed onto your fork if you can. so much flavor and richness. the colors are gorg and make me wanna go crunchy leaf stompin.’ plus, it’s warm, cozy & satisfying.

pete & i ate this as dinner (with a sausage on the side, lolz), but this could be a really nice side dish for your holiday gatherings!

this recipe is built on browned butter and you must go with it.

and remember…. don’t skimp on the sourdough.

texture town, babyyyyy!

Browned Butter Butternut, Kale, Crouton & Bacon Bake with Garlic Goat Cheese Sauce

Serves 4-6

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, browned in a large non-stick pan

• 1/2 a large or 1 small butternut squash, seeds removed and cubed into bite-sized chunks

• 4 slices thick-cut bacon, sliced into 1” chunks

• 1-2 cups jagged sourdough chunks, torn from a loaf or baguette - crust included

• 2 cups of roughly chopped tuscan kale

• 1 large shallot, sliced into rings - rinsed under hot water in strainer to tame the bite

• 1/3 cup of chopped chives

• 1/4 cup pepitas

• kosher salt

• 1/2 cup creamy goat cheese (chèvre), room temperature

• 1 garlic clove, finely minced - rinsed with hot water in fine mesh strainer to tame the bite

• 2 TB. apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar

• 2 tsp. honey

• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Instructions-

Wash and carefully cut the exterior skin off the butternut squash. Slice in half, remove & discard the seeds. Cut the squash into 1/2 inch bite-sized bits. Alternatively, use pre-cut butternut squash cubes from the store.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

On the stove top, brown the butter in a large non-stick pan on medium-high heat. Constantly whisk the butter in the pan until it foams and brown flecks appear, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and continue to whisk for about 30 more seconds to prevent burning.

Return pan to heat and add the cubed butternut squash. Toss frequently with a spatula, coating with browned butter. Add some generous pinches of kosher salt as you toss the squash until slightly tender and deep orange, 5-8 minutes. Keep in mind that you’re going to put the squash in the oven, so you don’t want it to become too tender or mushy in the pan.

Scoop the slightly tenderized squash into a large bowl, leaving the browned butter in the pan on medium heat. Throw the rugged torn chunks of sourdough into the hot browned butter. Toss frequently on medium-high heat until toasty and golden (still tender - not too crunchy), 3-5 minutes. The bread will soak up the remainder of the browned butter. Remove from heat and toss with a generous pinch of salt.

In the same pan, cook the chopped bacon til brown & cooked, but not too crispy, about 3-5 minutes. Drain on a paper towel.

Sauté the kale in the bacon grease until tender and bright, 2-3 minutes.

Place the cooked bacon and kale in the large bowl with the cooked squash. Add the chopped chives, rinsed shallot rings, and pepitas. Toss gently until all ingredients are dispersed. Lastly toss half of the toasted sourdough croutons into the mixture and combine.

Place the mixture in at least a 1 quart baking dish. Press the remaining half of sourdough croutons on top. Place the dish on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until croutons & squash are a bit more browned and the kale is crisp.

While the squash dish is baking, make the garlic goat cheese sauce. In a small bowl, thoroughly stir the room temperature goat cheese, garlic clove, ACV or RWV, honey and black pepper until very very smooth. Plate the baked squash and drizzle the goat cheese sauce over individual servings.

Serve immediately! Reheat within 2 days at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

qp