My husband made cookies last weekend. I was skeptical when he showed me the recipe, because they seemed like a cross between a molasses cookie and a chocolate chip cookie, which seemed like an odd amalgam.
Plus, the recipe specifically doesn’t call for vanilla, which seems like blasphemy.
But they were perfection.
The recipe is here. They are supposedly based on cookies sold by Levain bakery. (By the way, Levain bakery is a GREAT source of mail order gifts. A dear friend of mine sent up a package of four cookies a few years ago and I still think of them. They were enormous and thick and chewy and so flavorful. YUM. We have since sent them to a few people as gifts and they are always a hit.)
My husband measured the cookies into four-ounce balls (the recipe gives you options for four-, five-, or six-ounce cookies). He was able to make eight perfect four-ounce cookies (he weighed each one) and one slightly smaller cookie. Four ounces makes an ENORMOUS cookie. They were perfectly round, soft on the inside. And they were exactly like molasses cookies combined with chocolate chip cookies, which – it turns out – is a WONDERFUL amalgam. (If you like molasses cookies, I suppose.) I love that bite of ginger and the smokey undercurrent of molasses, which went perfectly with the creamy sweetness of the chocolate chips. YUM.
The only change my husband made to the recipe was that he refrigerated the balls of dough for 20 minutes before baking them. I think he also cooked them for a total of 12 minutes, turning them halfway through, but that’s because our oven seems to cook more slowly than most. (We discussed adding vanilla, because it seemed so WILD that there was no! vanilla!!!! in the recipe at all, but ended up deciding to stick to the recipe as written, at least for this time. We did not miss the vanilla.)
If you are looking for the perfect fall cookie, look no further. I am certainly bringing these to our next get-together with friends.
We have company coming for supper on Sunday…will I be brave enough to try a new recipe for then?
Ginger cookies are MY FAVOURITE, but I sometimes do add in a sprinkle of chocolate chips, so I have a feeling I would LOVE these cookies. And I’m now feeling very hungry. This happens every time I read your posts, Suzanne!!
Re. vanilla: I never measure it (EVER), but I also never add it if the recipe doesn’t call for it!
Hmmm…I have all the ingredients for this in my pantry. I know what I’m going to be making this weekend!
It’s been forever since I’ve had a molasses cookie and from what I remember I’m a fan. Hmmm….
Ohhh….cookies! It sounds delicious! I wish I had read the recipe before I left for the store. I don’t have molasses. But — I looked around that site and saw regular chocolate chip cookies. I’ve been promising to make some so I think I will give The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe a try! Thanks!
Those look good! I’m on board with the idea of a ginger-y fall cookie AND chocolate together! Not a cookie, my daughter and I made a chocolate pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving one year and the pie spices went really well with chocolate.
Good lord those look good. Okay, I am going to make them FOR SURE.
I’ve heard of Levain Bakery. I will bookmark it for gifts!
Your cookies look delicious. ❤️
Yum!!!
And I love the “fall photo shoot”
Alright, I looked at the recipe and these sound amazing. I agree the combination of molasses and chocolate initially sounds strange, but I believe you that they’re delicious. I can’t make them this weekend because I’m making a cake, but I’ll bookmark the recipe to make soon.
I am going to give the recipe to my daughter and hope for the best. They sound like perfection!
I feel like I would need to quadruple this recipe… must try it!!
Yum!! Those sounds so delicious and right up my alley! I would totally make these if I wasn’t gluten intolerant! I have heard great things about Levain. Everyone raves about them. Good suggestion to get gifts from there. I LOVE consumable gifts more than anything else!
What I am most impressed with is that your husband found this recipe, made them and was so precise he measured the balls! That is amazing! My husband used to bake with his mom but doesn’t really bake much. We used to make something to share with our families at Christmas when we first started dating. He wanted to ‘eyeball’ half a cup of flour! I was raised to ne extremely precise with measurements so was appalled he would consider doing that. 😉
Yum!
Oh, these look so yum… but NO VANILLA? What on earth?
I also find that that sounds like a weird combination, but I trust you. A few years ago I made apple cookies, which were great for fall, and I’m not sure why I haven’t made them since, except that my daughter doesn’t like fruit in desserts but I mean, more for me, and she doesn’t even LIVE here anymore, so…
Darn it, my butter is too old! I could, however, get more (along with everyone else in town) when I shop (like an idiot) the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. These sound awesome. Give me all the spicy molasses cookies… and with chocolate? Mmmm…. Thank you for sharing!
Oh these cookies look so great. I may have to give them a try. The husband has bought himself a cookie share and now wants cookies to fill it.