Molasses Sugar Cookies

The Christmas Cookie Cookbook: Book Review

Are you thinking of your holiday baking?  This book The Christmas Cookie Cookbook: All the Rules and Delicious Recipes to Start Your Own Holiday Cookie Club might spur you on!  I was sent a review copy by the publisher. It’s not for sale yet but will be released November 16, 2010.

In addition to some great sounding recipes for holiday cookies and candy, Pearlman and Bayer also lay out the rules they use in their own Christmas Cookie Club. Each year, a dozen friends get together for an evening. Every lady brings 13 dozen cookies. They each go home with a dozen from each friend’s cookies and they donate the extra dozens to a local charity.  They share some of the things they’ve learned about what works for them in terms of having a cookie club and also share ideas they’ve heard from others.  One thing I like about theirs is that every lady takes turns presenting their cookies and tells a short story about why they chose that cookie or something that might have happened while baking or something that’s gone on in their lives during the past year.

In addition to a bunch of great sounding cookie and candy recipes, there are also recipes for appetizers and soups that have worked well at their parties over the year.  They also have some advice and ideas on how to package up your dozen cookies to make it easier for people to carry as well as being fun to look at.

The only thing missing from this book is pictures!  But I know that adds substantially to the production costs of the book.

I’ve tried one recipe so far, these delicious molasses sugar cookies and have several others bookmarked to try. I’ll try to remember to come back here and add links as I bake.  I’m definitely going to be making the peanut brittle!

Print Recipe

Molasses Sugar Cookies

An easy sugar cookie with molasses, cinnamon and cloves.

Ingredients

• 12 Tbs butter 1 1/2 sticks, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• more sugar for rolling cookies in

Instructions

• Melt the butter and then let it cool off a bit so you don’t “cook” the egg. Cream together the butter, sugar, molasses and egg. In a small bowl, stir all the dry ingredients together, then add to the wet ones and mix well. Scrape the dough into a small bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate an hour or more.
• Preheat the oven to 375 F when you are ready to bake.
• Pinch off a bit of dough and roll in your hands to make a 1″ ball. Roll in granulated sugar. Place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or a Silpat Baking Sheet.
• Bake 8-10 minutes. Put cookies on a wire sheet to cool.