12 Days of Christmas Cookies, Day 1

Let me start off the "12 Days of Christmas Cookies" by saying welcome!  I'm so glad you've joined us for the next 12 days of what is SURE to be a baking storm of delicious FUN!  That's right...FUN!!  I want you to know all of my recipes are made with 100% organic ingredients.  When I say "flour" it is organic flour...  When I say "eggs" I mean organic free range brown eggs.  But who wants to type all that out?  Right...me neither.  All of my recipes are dairy-free.  Some of them are vegan and most of them CAN be made vegan with NO change in the quality of the dough or the outcome of the cookie.  I'm so thrilled to keep up with this tradition, though I'm flyin solo this Christmas now that we're stationed outside of the U.S.  Let's get started shall we??

Molasses cookies are my FAVORITE cookie to have at Christmas.  They SMELL divine and pack a HUGE amount of flavor in a small package.  In our family, it just isn't Christmas without these in the house.  This recipe NEVER fails me and the cookies are always a hit with everyone that tries them.  They are crispy on the outside and super soft on the inside.  I hope these become a new favorite for you and your family this year! 

Crackle-Top Molasses Cookies
3/4 c. oil
1 c. organic cane sugar
1/4 c. organic dark molasses
1 egg or 1 tsp. egg replacer
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
additional sugar 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees 

In a large mixing bowl combine the oil, sugar and molasses.  Add the egg or replacer; mix well.  In a separate bowl combine the flour, soda, salt and spices with a whisk, then add it to the sugar mixture and mix until well incorporated.  Put in a tupperware container and refrigerate for 4 hours or until easy to handle.  

Shape dough into 1 inch balls and dip the tops into sugar.  I usually use my Pampered Chef medium scoop (about the size of a tablespoon).  Place 12 on each cookie tray and bake for 7-9 minutes.  When I use my medium scoop on refrigerated dough it takes the whole 9 minutes.  Look to make sure the tops are cracked and the edges are set.  Let them stand 2-3 minutes on the pan, then remove them to wire racks to cool completely.

  
 With small scoop this recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies.  With the medium scoop it makes just about 2.

**A couple of times I decided not to refrigerate the dough and a couple problems came up.  When you don't refrigerate the dough these suckers spread like a DICKENS.  So, if you don't have time to refrigerate this dough you can use the small Pampered Chef scoop (this is about the size of a teaspoon), still only placing 12 balls on the pan.  Those will only take about 7 minutes.  So the size of scoop changes and the cook time changes if you don't refrigerate it.