Molasses Cookies with Ginger Cream Cheese Filling

I wanted to share this with you on Monday, but after reading so many posts about the victims of Newtown, Connecticut, I didn’t think I could. I was going to make a post saying how my heart goes out to the friends and families of the victims as well as the community of the city, but I couldn’t talk about such tragedy with something happy such as sandwich cookies. I know I’m kind of doing that now, but I feel I should say at least something. So make sure to hug your loved ones just a little longer and harder this holiday season.

I have so many baking ideas for this holiday season, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to do it all. I’ve even bought eggnog (something I have yet to try, but love the smell of so far) and I don’t even have a recipe for anything with eggnog!

One thing that I can cross off my holiday baking list is gingerbread. I did not make traditional gingerbread men; instead I made gingerbread sandwich cookies! These things are truly amazing. I think I had five (or was it six?) the day I made these. I was a bad girl, but they just kept getting better and better!

The cookie is so soft and bakes up super big and puffy! The gingerbread flavor is really out of this world. Last year I made traditional gingerbread men, but I didn’t really like them because the cookies were crunchy, and if you’re new to this blog, you’ll need to know I had flat and crunchy cookies. Flat and crunchy have no purpose when it comes to cookies.

The ginger cream cheese frosting is the most amazing thing ever. I think cream cheese frosting is my favorite frosting ever because it’s never too sweet, like I find buttercream frosting to be. I couldn’t really detect the ginger in the frosting, but you can see the ginger flecks, and that looks real pretty.

These cookies are actually the first sandwich cookie recipe I have made. There is something so calming about sitting in front of a row of cookies and a bowl of frosting.

Molasses Cookies with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

From The Pastry Affair

Makes 16 sandwich cookies

Ingredients

Molasses Cookies

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking power

¾ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. ground ginger

¼ tsp. ground cloves

½ cup dark brown sugar

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

2 eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup unsulfured molasses

Ginger Cream Cheese Filling

2 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

3 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

½ tsp. ginger

Pinch of salt

1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

To make the cookies: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium bowl. Set the bowl aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until fully incorporated. Pour in the molasses. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed; the mixture will look a little curdled. Decrease the mixer’s speed to low and gradually add 1/3 of the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Repeat until all the flour has been incorporated. Take a medium-small cookie scoop (I used one that’s about 1 ¼-1 ½ inches in diameter) and portion out the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Space the dough about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes (mine were perfect at 7:55 minutes). Cool the cookies on the tray for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough. Allow the cookies to cool completely before filling.

To make the filling: beat the cream cheese and butter until completely incorporated. Add the ginger and salt. Gradually add the sugar. By that I mean at a tbsp. or two at a time. Powdered sugar is a pain to clean when it flies everywhere. Refrigerate the filling for 5-10 minutes. Pile a tsp. or two onto the flat bottoms of half the cooled cookies. Place the remaining unfrosted cookies on top of the frosting. Keep cookies in the fridge in a sealed container.

Cake Slice Bakers - November 2012: Shoo-Fly Cake

It so does not seem like a month has passed. To me it feels like an eternity has passed, but a really slow eternity. I—I guess I just don’t know what to feel. Autumn is my very, very, VERY close second favorite season with winter being my absolute love. When October 1^st hit, it seemed like I had an eternity to make, bake, and create all these lovely fall desserts and now fall is almost over and I haven’t even made a dent in the seasonal things I wanted to make. Why does fall only have to be 2 months? Why? It’s awful. But I guess there is always next year.

Anyways, lets talk cake. November is almost over and that means I get to share not only cake, but I also get to reveal this year's super secret book for the Cake Slice Bakers. Drum roll please… (this is where you beat your desk or lap with your hands and make a berrrrrr sound).

This year’s chosen book is Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson. The cover is absolutely adorable and elegant, but also sweet and simple. The book promises “timeless recipes for cupcakes, flips, rolls, layer, angle, bundt, chiffon, and icebox cakes for today’s sweet tooth”. I honestly can’t wait for this year. I’ve only read 40 pages of the book and I already have so many cakes I want to try out. The book is a little on the pricy side, but so far I think it’s completely worth it. Wanna know why? Because the first cake I made was a complete success!

For the month of November the bakers and I decided on the Shoo-Fly Cake; it’s listed under Hasty Cakes. The batter was thick, yet runny, probably because it uses the melted butter method instead of the creaming method. The end result was a beautifully tall and moist cake. This cake is so, so delicious. Eating this cake is basically like eating a gingerbread man only in cake form. To be honest, I don’t think the crumb topping does much for the cake. Sure it tastes wonderful and makes for a pretty topping, but I think some sort of cream sauce would go better with this cake. I’ll have to try some stuff out.

I did make a few modifications to the cake though, and I just thought I would mention them because some of the girls were talking about sunken crumbles and leaky cake pans.

The first change was the amount of crumble topping I used. I only made half the batch listed below and I only used about half of what I made. So basically I used ¼ of the recipe below. Oh and I totally forgot to mention something: I completely forgot about the crumble topping until after the cake had been in the oven for 2 or 3 minutes. So I just quick took it out, sprinkled some of the topping on and back into the oven the cake went.

Second, I used a little less than ¾ cup of molasses. I was getting impatient with the flow of molasses and I stopped about a tablespoon or two before the ¾ mark. The recipe also calls for unsulfured blackstrap molasses; I used mild molasses because, like pumpkin, I can’t stand the smell of it until it’s baked into delicious goodies.

Third, I ran out of unbleached all-purpose flour, so I made the cake with white whole-wheat flour and used 1 cup of white whole-wheat flour  and 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour in the cake.

The last change I made isn’t really so much of a change. I used warm decaf coffee. The book doesn’t specify what kind of coffee and since I don’t drink it, I borrowed a little bit of my roommate’s decaf stuff.

I’m not sure if these changes made the cake come out any different, but I thought it was worth mentioning it, just in case.      

Please go check out how the other girls did this month by clicking here.

Shoo-Fly Cake

From Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson

Makes one 9-inch round cake

Ingredients

Crumble Topping   

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

Cake

2 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 cup (192 g) sugar

1 ½ sticks (12 tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted

¾ cup unsulfured blackstrap molasses

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 eggs, room temperature

1 cup warm coffee

Directions

Whisk together the brown sugar and flour in a small bowl. Rub the butter into the mixture until coarse. Place the bowl in the freezer to chill while you make the cake.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 9 inch springform pan with a parchment round and grease with cooking spray.

Sift together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, butter, and molasses until smooth. Beat the eggs in one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the warm coffee in two additions. Mix until the batter is smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle chilled crumble over top of the cake (you may need to break the topping up a little bit). Place the pan in the oven and bake for 38-42 minutes or until a toothpick comes out relatively clean when inserted in the center.

Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Release the sides of the pan and slice the cake to serve. 

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

I always forget how much I love gingerbread until the holidays roll around. The funny thing is, like pumpkin puree, I don’t like the smell of molasses. However, it makes one very scrumptious treat!

Now, I’m sure a lot of you are seeing dozens of cookies floating around all the food blogs out there, and I’m not going to be the exception. I love holiday baking, and I’m starting with these awesome cookies.

I came across these chocolate gingerbread cookies while flipping through my holiday cookie edition of Better Homes and Gardens. I couldn’t remember from last year If I liked gingerbread cookies all that much, so I ended up buying (and eating) a package of Pepperidge Farms gingerbread cookies. Once I was reminded how much I lived the flavor of gingerbread, I knew I was going to be making these.

These cookies were real simple to make and even easier to eat. I found myself saying that I would take only two this time, and every time I put my hand in that Santa cookie jar, I pulled out three without fail. I highly suggest making these for a Christmas Cookie Exchange, a gift to family and friends, or even just for the heck of it.

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies
Adapted from BHG 100 Best Cookies 2011

Ingredients
1 stick butter
¾ cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup molasses
1 egg
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 ½ cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie tray with parchment paper and set it aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until nice a fluffy looking. Add the baking soda, ginger, allspice, and salt. Beat until combined. Beat in the molasses and egg until combined. Don’t worry about the mixture looking chucky and quite frankly gross-looking, it’s going to turn out ok. Slowly add in the flour. Once all the flour has been mixed in, beat on medium-high for about 30 seconds. Turn the speed back down to medium-slow and beat in the chocolate chips.
3. Using a small cookie scoop, portion out the dough onto the lined cookie tray. Careful not to over crowd them. Bake for about 6-8 minutes, you want the cookies to be soft when they come out of the oven. Place the cookie tray on a cooling rack and cool for about a minute of the tray. Take the cookies off the tray and place them on the cooling rack for the duration of the cooling process.

Gingerdoodles

When school is in, I hardly ever have time to bake and by the time I’m done baking something, the sun has gone down and I can’t take any pictures. Now, I know that I could take pictures the next day, but I work every other day, which means no picture taking. However, now that school is out for Winter Break, I can bake to my heart’s content, and take pictures of the things I make, which is part of the fun I think.

And because I am free from school, and it is the holiday season, I’ve been making cookies all week long! They’re not all for me, but for my dad’s side of the family. Last year I filled holiday boxes with cookies and sent them to my aunt and her family, and my grandma, and this year I thought I’d do the same. Let’s start off with these spicy Ginglerdoodle Cookies I found on Lauren’s Latest.

Gingerbread is like one of the essential holiday cookies. It’s not Christmas until you bite into a soft gingerbread man. Even though I love my gingerbread men, I hate rolling out dough. Well, I guess I don’t hate it, I just hate the decorating part that comes after it. I’m generally a patient person, but for some reason, I just can’t deal with making the royal icing and then sitting down for hours just decorating a cookie. That and I don’t have the skill to decorate cookies, oh well.

So these are kind of like Snickerdoodle cookies… ok maybe not so much like them, but they are tossed in sugar before they are baked and they crinkle as they spread. That crackled top really makes for a pretty cookie.  And the spices combined with the molasses takes this cookie over the top with warm holiday feelings.

Gingerdoodles

from Lauren’s Latest
makes about 3.5 dozen

Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature
¼ cup molasses

¼ cup sugar for rolling

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and both sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and molasses. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to beat for another 2 minutes or until the ingredients are fully mixed.  Reduce the speed to low and slowly add in the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Once all the flour is incorporated, turn the speed to medium and beat for 20-30 seconds.
3. With your hands, roll the dough into 1 inch balls. Place the remaining sugar in a bowl. Roll the cookie dough balls into the sugar a couple at a time. Place on the prepared baking sheet about 1 ½ inches apart. Bake for about 6-8 minutes. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool for about 2 or 3 minutes on the ray before moving them to a cooling rack for further cooling.

Holiday Baking: Gingerbread Men

Nothing says Christmas like gingerbread cookies, right? Well this year I decided to try something new, gingerbread cookies. Now there is a little story here because every year my local grocery store sells the Little Debbie gingerbread men and I look forward to them every year. But this year they didn’t sell then which made me really, really sad because these are amazing. Last year I even hid a box so I could have it all to myself, hehehe. Well needless to say I couldn’t find them anywhere and I was gingerbread manless. So I looked for a recipe for gingerbread cookies and found this. I think they taste pretty dark good. A tad bit strong on the molasses so maybe next year, if I use the same recipe, I’ll only use 1/2 a cup instead of a little less than 3/4.

The dough was really nice and easy to roll out,

which I'm greatful for.

Fresh from the oven :) 

 I don't have the best decorating skills but I think they are still

gosh darn adorable.

Gingerbread Men
from the Taste of Home
makes 5 dozen (I got about 52 cookies)

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup molasses (probably only need 1/2 cup)
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight or until easy to handle.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Royal Icing
attempted with Wilton's Recipe

Ingredients
3 tablespoons Meringue Powder
4 cups (about 1 lb.) confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons warm water

Directions

1. Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer).

NOTE: Keep all utensils completely grease-free for proper icing consistency.

* For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.
**When using large countertop mixer or for stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.

Thinned Royal Icing: To thin for pouring, add 1 teaspoon water per cup of royal icing. Use grease-free spoon or spatula to stir slowly. Add 1/2 teaspoon water at a time until you reach proper consistency.

Nutrition Facts
serving size:
1 cookie (without frosting)
Calories 59.8 Total Fat 2.7 g Saturated Fat 0.0 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0 g Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g Cholesterol 11.0 mg Sodium 52.2 mg Potassium 65.6 mg Total Carbohydrate 8.8 g Dietary Fiber 0.1 g Sugars 6.1 g Protein 0.4 g