Matt's Ginger Molasses Cookies

It's back to college for Matt. We didn't expect to see him this weekend but he needs to pick some things up from home so I'll have these chewy, delicious cookies waiting for him -- his favorites! Matt is not one of those guys with a sweet tooth, so it's a real compliment that he loves these cookies. We all do!

Matt's Ginger Molasses Cookies

1 1/2 sticks (12 T) butter, melted
1 C sugar
1/4 C good quality molasses
1 egg
2 1/2 C flour
1T ground ginger
1 t cinnamon
Dash cloves
Dash pepper
1/2 t salt
2t baking soda
Extra sugar (regular or turbinado) to coat

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place melted butter, sugar and molasses in a mixing bowl and beat til creamy. Add egg and beat well.

Combine flour with spices, salt and baking soda and sift into butter mixture. Mix just to combine. Don't over mix.

If dough is too soft to roll into balls, refrigerate for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Roll tablespoon-sized balls of dough in sugar (turbinado gives a crispier coat than regular sugar) and place 2" apart on silpat or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.

Bake 350 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes. Remove from oven while still soft. Let cool a bit on cookie sheet. Remove to cool on waxed paper.

Make ahead tip: You can freeze the dough in balls, separately on a cookie sheet, and then place in a ziploc bag for baking anytime you're ready. Place frozen cookies on sheet and bake in preheated oven for an extra minute or so.

Banana Bread Cookies

If you have a hankering for banana bread but don't have the time, these soft, cakey cookies will fit the bill! Adapted from one of my favorite food blogs -- Simply Recipes.








1/2 C butter, room temp.
1 C sugar
1 egg, room temp.
1 t vanilla
1 C mashed bananas (around 2 large)
1 t baking soda
2 C flour
1/4 t salt
2/4 - 1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t ground cloves
1/4 t pepper
1 C pecans or walnuts
--Optional: 1/2 - 1 C raisins, soaked to plump (or cover w/ water & microwave for 40 seconds; drain) or 1 C butterscotch chips or 1 C chocolate chips -- use your imagination!
-- Optional: 1/4 C turbinado (natural) sugar for sprinkling on top before baking

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar together 5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and continue to beat until light and fluffy.

In a small bowl, combine mashed bananas and baking soda. Let sit for 2 minutes. The baking soda reacts with the acid in the bananas to help the cookies rise.

Add the banana and baking soda into the butter mixture. Mix til combined. Mix together the flour, salt, and spices and sift into the butter and banana mixture. Mix until just combined -- don't over mix.

Fold pecans, raisins and/or chips into the batter. Drop in teaspoon-sized dollops onto silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. If desired, sprinkle tops with turbinado sugar. (Gives cookies a bit of crunchiness like a banana nut muffin.) Bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

Transfer cookies to waxed paper to cool. I like to turn the cookies upside down after cooling for 15 minutes or so to help dry the bottoms thoroughly. This helps to keep cookies from sticking together. Store after completely dry, and leave the container lid open a bit for a day or so to help prevent sticking. You can freeze these cookies individually on a cookie sheet and then plop into a ziploc bag to store up to 3 months.

Makes about 30 cookies.

Peanut Butter Cookies with a Twist

I made these cookies thinking, because of their title, that they'd be more chocolate chippy, and my first bite was a bit of a disappointment. But once I figured out that these cookies, adapted from Bon Appetit, were misnamed, and they were really peanut butter cookies I fell in love. I adore the firm yet crumbly texture. These cookies have my name written all over them!

Peanut Butter Cookies with a Twist

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2/3 C crunchy peanut butter
1/2 C (1 stick) butter)
1/3 C sugar
1/3 C packed light brown sugar

Using an electric mixer, beat these ingredients together for 5 minutes, until creamy.

1 large egg
1 t high-quality vanilla extract

Add these to bowl and beat til smooth.

1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1'2 C flour

Combine these ingredients and add to above mixture. Beat until dough looks crumbly. Do not overbeat.

1/2 - 1 C semisweet chocolate chips
1 Butterfinger candy bar (2.1 oz) chopped -- about 1/2 C

Stir in chocolate chips and Butterfinger pieces.

1/4 C sugar

Place sugar in a bowl. Use a heaping teaspoon to form balls, close to the same size. Roll in sugar and place 1" apart on cooking sheet lined with a silpat or parchment paper. Using the bottom of a flat glass, press cookies to flatten.

Bake at 375 degrees in middle of oven until golden brown -- around 12-13 minutes. Don't overbake. If you are doing two sheets in one oven, have one rack in top third of oven and the other rack in bottom third and switch cookie sheets halfway through baking.

Transfer cookies to waxed paper to cool.

If you want to save some cookies for later, you can freeze them individually on a cookie sheet, and then plop into a ziplock bag to save once frozen.