Sugar and spice, and everything nice.

So, I've been bedridden with the bug for the past few days. Not so sugary and nice. Fever and stuffy nose and dry coughs are the least of what one wants in this dreadful weather anyway, but there certainly are things that can make the dreariest winter skies a little brighter. Let's take spicy molasses ginger cookies, for example. Chewy, soft, with a slight kick. What cold? What cloudy day?



Okay maybe these cookies don't actually make your cold and clouds go away, but all I am saying is that we've got to enjoy the little good things in our lives. We all know what's best about being sick though. Sleeping all day, guilt-free tv, and being taken care of. :) And as I was chugging down ginger ale and ginger cookies, I thought I was feeling much better.



I baked these cookies a few days back for my mom to take to her friends' gathering. She took quite a few but came back with nothing but a big smile. They were a big hit! Some of her friends confessed that they couldn't stop eating them. Originally, she requested a less sweet cookie, and so I thought I'd try a new recipe, instead of the chocolate and butter laden cookies (which are perfectly fine, of course). I always wanted to try ginger molasses cookies after eating the ones from starbucks. Those are DELISH! So after a long search for the right recipe, I decided to settle on the one I saw on the pioneer woman instead of using the somewhat unpredictable recipe called "starbucks" version i found on a random site. It does use shortening instead of butter, but she explains that it can't be helped. Unfortunately, I didn't have all the spices that the recipes calls for, so the spiciness might have been quite different if I followed the original recipe. I ended up just throwing in some allspice and other stuff. But it tasted just fine and dandy. :) These weren't exactly "less sweet", however. The sweetness is a bit overwhelming at times, but the texture and spice balances it out. This is truly a chewy and soft cookie that we sometimes crave ever so badly. :)

Spicy Ginger Molasses Cookies

about 2.5 dozen

ingredients

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup Crisco (vegetable shortening)
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix sugar, shortening, molasses, and egg together until well combined. Dump in dry ingredients, stirring dry ingredients together lightly. Mix together until dough is combined.
3. Roll dough into walnut-sized balls, then generously coat each ball with sugar.
Place balls on a baking sheet and bake for 9 to 11 minutes, allowing to bake for about a minute after cookies begin to crack.
Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow to cool.

Speaking of looking at the bright things in dreary situations.. guess what I found on my backyard deck? The FUNNIEST thing I've ever seen! There was a pile of snow on the table and recently it warmed up a bit, so the big pile slowly slipped away, but it got cold all of a sudden, so it decided to just freeze up again! And so that pile of snow has been staying like that for days and days! No joke. It's so hilarious. It sorta looks like a big fluffly marshmallow or rice cake. My grandma and I sat there laughing our bellies out in the kitchen. We couldn't help but wonder how nature could have such a sense of humour! Oh life is good! :) Enjoy!

kOOkOO FOR COOKIES!!

YAY!!

Finally baked today.
ah.. I love it...

Well, I needed to bake some cookies for my bible study class today (they're all expecting a lot from me, since i'm known as "sarah-the-baker-yoon" now. haha!) So I decided to make some oatmeal cookies. And they turned out JUST FAB.

I got the recipe from allrecipes.com called Beth's Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. It got like 1500 five stars, so it's a very very good recipe. One thing though, the original recipe calls for ground cloves, but I didn't have any, so I had so substitute it with another spice. Last time I made it, I put ground nutmeg, but I didn't like it so much. This time I put some allspice, and it was WONDERFUL. It really brings out a nice scent. I think I'm just always going to use it.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice (this was 1/2 cloves)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins (I use half black raisins, half golden)
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening until smooth. Add both sugars. Add one egg at a time, and finally add vanilla and mix until smooth.
   
3. Stir flour mixture into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins.
   
4. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. (I use the handy cookie scoop thingy-- the one that looks like a ice cream scoop)
   
5. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container.