Molasses cookies: need help

[Ready2learn]

Once at a civil war reinactment I tasted the most delicious mollasses cookie. The were flat and chewy, with delicious flavor. I have made gazilions of recipes since, but without that same chewy result. I have one batch I really like which are chewy, but thicker and crackly looking. I've tried flattening them before I cook them, hoping for that same cookie as the one I tried years ago, but it turns out a bit dry. If anyone understands anything of what I'm saying, do you have any suggestions on a flat but chewy cookie? (kind of the texture of a chewy snickerdoodle)
Thanks!

[Andy M.]

Could you post your recipe?

[Ready2learn]

Sure, here is one recipe, my most recent. I had another which was pretty much the same ingredients but it said to beat the shortening and sugar together, add the mollasses and egg, and than the dry ingredients after sifting them together. I thought they tasted pretty much identical. This recipe says to mix by hand.

MOLASSES COOKIES


4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves ½ cup dark molasses
2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups shortening 2 eggs
2 cups sugar Granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking soda


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease several cookie sheets.
2. Mix ingredients in order listed; you may want to use your hands.
3. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, roll in sugar, and bake on prepared cookie sheets about 7-8 minutes. Do not over cook.





I have

[Andy M.]

Use butter in place of the shortening and you'll get flatter cookies. Butter melts at a lower temperature than shortening so the butter in the dough will melt, causing the cookie to flatten out, before the dough has a chance to set.

[purrfectlydevine]

Just a thought, since you are experimenting, you might want to mix and bake just half of the recipe, in case you don't like how it turns out.

[Ready2learn]

Thanks for the info!

I do have another problem, though. Last night I made a batch from allrecipes.com. They were supposed to be chewy and all the comments on it were positive. It called for melted margarine, and the dough was chilled. I had only a little margarine, but it was the spread kind. I used part that and part butter. I also used splenda, since my family is trying to be healthier.
The cookies, however, did not flatten at all but stayed in crumbly balls, delicious, but not chewy.

I followed the recipe exactly in every other aspect, but I don't know if it was the splenda or that little bit of "spreadable" Margarine. Any hints?

Thanks!

[Alix]

I have learned that when it says melted margarine, that is what you must do. Spreadable margarine sucks for baking IMO. If you melt your butter/margarine, you will get a chewier cookie. I think I posted my gingerbread cookie recipe on here somewhere, I'll have a look for you.

[KAYLINDA]

GINGERSNAPS

BEAT TOGETHER:
2 CUPS SUGAR
1 1/2 CUPS VEGETABLE OIL
( DO NOT USE SHORTENING)

ADD:
2 EGGS
1/2 CUP MOLASSES

ADD:
4 CUPS FLOUR
1 TEASPOON SALT
2 TEASPOONS GINGER
3 TEASPOONS GROUND CLOVES
2 TEASPOONS CINNAMON
2 TABLESPOONS SODA

SCOOP INTO 1 OUNCE BALLS
ROLL IN SUGAR
SLIGHTLY FLATTEN WITH FINGERS

BAKE AT 350' FOR 12-15 MINUTES
MAKES 2 1/2 DOZEN 1 OUNCE COOKIES



Hope you like these...sorry about the "caps" as I copied and pasted from our website. They use oil instead of shortening or butter.

[Angie]

Here is my recipe. They come out flat and chewy.

Molasses Cookies

INGREDIENTS:

* 3/4 cup margarine, melted
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* 1/4 cup molasses
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 cup white sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the melted margarine, 1 cup sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger; blend into the molasses mixture. Cover, and chill dough for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Roll dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until tops are cracked. Cool on wire racks.

[Ready2learn]

Thanks for the help! I'll try both of those soon. They look great!

So, do the gingersnaps turn out pretty much like the store bought ones? I love those. Sometimes in the fall I make a pumpkin dip and by ginger snaps to dip in for parties and stuff. It would be cool to have homemade gingersnaps as well!

And for your recipe, Angie, if I understand right, I could replace the melted margarine with melted butter and it would turn out?

Thanks again guys!