Tastes like Love

Make these cookies now.

These cookies are so good that I had dreams about them after I made them. They're buttery and sweet and spicy. They make you remember why fresh homemade cookies are so much better than anything mass produced. They are why I love cooking.

Molasses Spice Cookies
Barely adapted from Cook's Illustrated

• 1/3 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup for rolling
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. table salt
• 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened 
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup molasses 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Combine flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in medium bowl.

3. Cream together butter and brown and white sugar until fluffy. Add yolk and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add the molasses and mix until incorporated. (If you spray the measuring cup with oil, it's easier to get the molasses out)

4. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until just incorporated. The dough will be rather soft.

5. Scoop dough and roll into balls by the tablespoonful. Roll dough balls in remaining sugar and place them on a parchment or silicone covered cookie sheet, about two inches apart. Bake only one sheet at a time until the edges start to look firm but centers are still soft and appear underdone - for about 11 minutes - rotate the baking sheet halfway through baking. 

6. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for five minutes, then transfer  to wire rack. Cool completely. Or eat warm because they're too delicious to wait.