It is a week until fall officially arrives. That’s what the calendar may say, and the daytime thermometer is almost at 80° but there is no dispute that summer is rapidly dwindling. There is red in the treetops and the night air has a chill that makes you put your hands in your pockets.
The best thing about fall is the baking. There is a shift from towering dishes – piles of fruit, or meringue, or frosting -to earthier fare. In the cookie world, in terms of popularity, the leader is always chocolate chip, and then brownies and then … Well, Oreos if you count store bought, though I’m all for making my own cookies. But truthfully that next tier of cookie popularity is very diverse. And buried somewhere down there are some long forgotten gems.
When the air begins to bite, I love a great spice cookie. Long ago I found this recipe in one of those community cookbooks with the spiral covers. This recipe is just a lovely combination of spices and sugars and molasses.
If you try these once, you’re likely to make them from now to the start of spring. That’s just six months away.
I am repeating the recipe exactly here. But, in full disclosure, I’m a bit heavy handed with the spices. I tend to double the recipe’s half teaspoons of cinnamon and allspice. It is, for Pete’s sake, a spice cookie so why tread gingerly.
I did not mean that as a pun, but I’ll take a joke anyway they come!
New England Spice Cookies
Yield: 5 dozen
Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ¾ cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- One egg
- ¼ cup light molasses
- Powdered sugar
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375°.
Sift flour with baking soda, cloves, allspice cinnamon, and ginger on a sheet of wax paper. In a medium bowl, using a portable electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and egg until light and fluffy. With wooden spoon, beat in flour mixture alternately with molasses. Beat well after each addition.
Cover and refrigerate for one hour. Shape dough into a half inch balls, roll in powdered sugar and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet, 1 inch apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, then remove to rack for cooling. Cookies may be sprinkled with powdered sugar, while still warm.
Source: La Pinata by the Junior Service League of McAllen, Texas