What texture should these cookies have?

9 years ago

Today, I made Molasses Cookies, recipe below. I have never made this recipe before. Unfortunately, I had to make a substitution. I thought I had sufficent molasses, but I only had 1/4 cup, not the 3/4 called for. In addition to the 1/4 molasses, I substituted 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1/4 cup dark Karo syrup. I don't know if that contributed to the problems below or not.

The cookie dough was very soft. There is no way they could be rolled in the turbinado sugar. I baked a few cookies. After 9 minutes, they were quite gooey and underdone in the center. I baked them for another 3 minutes. They were still soft in the center but I didn't want to over cook them.

I believe that I've read that brown sugar creates the chewy texture in cookies while white sugar makes them crisp. This recipe's only sugar is brown sugar, so I expect a certain amount of chewiness.

These cookies are now cool. The outer edge is crisp while the center is pliable bordering on gooey, but not raw. For this recipe is that appropriate?

Molasses Cookies

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch kosher salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup molasses
Turbinado sugar, for coating

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and then the molasses. In thirds, gently mix in the flour mixture until just combined.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out the cookie dough into 1-inch balls onto a sheet tray covered with turbinado sugar. Gently toss the dough balls in the sugar, covering them completely. Place the sugar-coated dough balls on another sheet tray and gently squish a little.

Bake for 9 to 10 minutes. Remove the cookies to a rack to cool.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks

Recipe courtesy of Anne Burrell, 2012

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Comments (7)

plllog
9 years ago
Cookies aren't done until they're completely cool and done, not just cool to the touch. Check them tomorrow.

Molasses cookies in general should be very moist inside, and bend more than snap, but they're stiffer. You can also make them crispy, like gingersnaps with a dryer recipe. Given the substitutions, borderline gooey isn't wrong. If you'd baked them more that might have been solved but the edges might have been overdone. Molasses is thicker, i.e., less liquidy. Liquid makes for gooey cookies. Let them air out a bit. :)

Did you taste one? That's what really matters.
bbstx
Original Author
9 years ago
They taste good, so they pass that test.

They have been sitting on parchment paper on a cooling rack since yesterday. This morning, they are still pliable. They are stiff enough to support their own weight - they don't droop when held up.

I "broke" one in half to go with my coffee. Definitely no snap to it. It was more like I tore it in half rather than broke it in half. I would say it conformed to your "bend more than snap" description.

When I make cookies, I portion out the dough, then freeze the balls. That way, DH and I can have a warm cookie or two and we won't have 3 dozen sitting on the counter taunting us. I have at least 2 dozen of these now frozen. I will be experimenting with the length of time for cooking as I take them out of the freezer.

Thanks for the comments, plllog. I hate to make substitutions, but it was too cold here yesterday to run to the grocery for molasses.
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grainlady_ks
9 years ago
It sounds like you may have needed more flour and/or some additional leavening due to the substitutions, which occasionally happens with liquid sweeteners.

The hygroscopic attributes of molasses, maple syrup and dark corn syrup in baking are different. Maple syrup is 32% water and that may have been a big contributor to the dough being too wet and sticky. Golden Syrup may have been a better choice because it's not high in water. Sorghum Syrup would also be a good choice in the flavor department, but it is also high in water coming in at 22.5%.

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User
9 years ago
My grandmother's molasses cookies are like the ones you made and they were not crispy at all. They were soft. Mmmmmmmm

Her ginger snaps on the other had were very crisp and snapped when they broke.

Now I'm going to have to dig out those recipes and make them this weekend.
tami_ohio
9 years ago
You are making me hungry for my aunt's ginger cookies, which contain molasses!
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
9 years ago
Perhaps a part of the recipe is missing? I mean the part where you refrigerate the dough for an hour or more before scooping & forming it. All the molded cooky recipes I use contain that step.

& yeah - ginger snaps are a thing unto themselves.
plllog
9 years ago
Maybe the balls will dry out a little in the freezer. :) Not a bad thing in this case. :) Next time you bake them, try to get them off the paper to cool. Maybe put the paper on the rack for a few minutes to start the cooling and get the bottoms to set a little, then peel them off with a thin spatula or something. If the bottoms have a chance to dry on the rack, it should help the goo. The paper will keep them from drying.

Oh, and another trick I learned from a cookie genius--since these bake up to slightly under in the middle, instead of putting them on a wire rack, try putting them on a broiler pan to cool (no paper)--the kind with thin, solid metal with slots--if you have one. They still cool, but more slowly or something, which helps the centers firm up.

Re bending, the "right" texture is for the cookie to bend, but it'll eventually break if you're trying to break it. Having to tear it is a symptom of overgooeyness. None of that matters since they taste good. Instead of classic molasses cookies, they're molasses fudge cookies. You invented something new. :) Maybe palm some off on kids. :) They generally love gooey. But if you do, you might be called upon to repeat the recipe!

What texture should these cookies have?

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plllog

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What texture should these cookies have?

Comments (7)

plllog

bbstxOriginal Author

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