[Sca-cooks] OOP: Brown Sugar Question

[Judith Epstein]

On 26 Nov 2009, at 3:11 PM, Martha Sieting wrote:

> I keep looking for a good DARK molasses cookie recipe - the kind that are soft and chewy, crackled on top and dark mahogany in color.  The new Penzey's catalog that just came has a nice-sounding molasses cookie in it, but it uses white sugar.  Can I just substitute the equivalent amount of dark brown sugar or is there some specified conversion (1 c white sugar = 3/4 c dark brown or some such)?
> 
> Alternatively, does anyone have a dark molasses cookie they'd be willing to share?

Ask and ye shall receive.


Joe Froggers
Uncle Joe was an old man who made the best molasses cookies (treacle biscuits) in Marblehead, Massachusetts. They were called Joe Froggers because they were as big and dark as the frogs in Uncle Joe's pond. Fishermen found they kept well at sea, and traded them for rum, one of Joe's secret ingredients.


Wet Ingredients

3/4 C unsalted butter, softened (not melted -- do this the long, slow way)

1 C sugar

1 C dark molasses

1/4 C rum (or milk, if you're anti-rum)

 

Dry Ingredients:

4 C all-purpose flour, sifted to aerate

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground allspice

 
In a LARGE mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer for 30 seconds, or hand-beat for about 3 minutes, until the color lightens a bit. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add molasses and rum; beat to combine fully.

 
In a MEDIUM mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients, in order. While beating or stirring the wet ingredients, add dry ingredients to the larger mixing bowl, about 1/2 C to 1 C at a time, until well blended. Cover batter and chill several hours or overnight.

 
Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit degrees for half an hour before beginning. On a well-floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with a floured 4-inch round cutter (a drinking glass will do nicely). Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool about 1-2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack. Cool fully. Makes 18-24 cookies depending on the size of your drinking glass.

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D'vorah, mka Judith Epstein
Master Albrecht Waldfurster's Egg
Middle Kingdom, Midlands, Ayreton, Tree-Girt-Sea (Chicago, IL)
judith at ipstenu.org
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