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Every once in a while, a small and unassuming cookie makes its way into your life. I met this cookie when a Mediterranean bakery named Sofra opened near my house outside Boston a couple of years ago. Sofra serves the most delectable, exotic treats you’ve ever seen—pistachio-olive oil cakes, Moroccan doughnuts, fresh cheese pies with nigella seeds, and Egyptian bread pudding. Discovering an outstanding ginger-molasses cookie among this sea of sweet and savory creations was like finding the best Hershey’s Kiss while at Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.
These cookies have a deep, soothing smack of molasses that melts on your tongue and a dazzling, spicy bite of ginger, which complements the sweet coating of sugar. They’re impossibly soft and chewy.
These cookies use only canola oil, which creates a delectable chewy crumb, transformimg these from normal ginger-molasses cookies into the best damn ginger-molasses cookies you’ve ever had. They’re a great holiday cookie, but make a lot because these guys go fast.
Adapted from Sofra Bakery & Cafe and A Plum By Any Other Name
Ingredients
Makes about 30 cookies
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. ground cinnamon
-1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
-1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
-pinch of ground ginger
-3/4 cup canola oil
-1/4 cup molasses
-1 cup sugar, plus approximately 1/4 cup more for coating cookies
-1 large egg
-2 tbs. finely diced candied ginger
1. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a medium bowl.
2. Using a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, combine oil, molasses, sugar, and eggs and beat for 15-20 seconds until combined. Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Mix in the candied ginger using a rubber spatula, making sure the dry and wet ingredients are fully incorporated. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least two hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pour 1/4 cup of sugar into a small bowl. Remove the dough from the fridge and form into approximately tablespoon-sized balls. Coat the balls lightly in the sugar and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. They will appear undercooked but will harden as they cool. Remove from the oven, allow to cool a few minutes, and transfer to a plate or drying rack. They can be stored in an airtight container for 4-5 days, but let’s be honest, they won’t last that long.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pour 1/4 cup of sugar into a small bowl. Remove the dough from the fridge and form into approximately tablespoon sized balls. Coat the balls lightly in the sugar and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes. They will appear undercooked but will harden as they cool. Remove from the oven, allow to cool a few minutes, and transfer to a plate or drying rack. They can be stored in an airtight container for 4-5 days, but let’s be honest, they won’t last that long.
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