Soft Molasses-Raisin Cookies

By AzWench

These moist, "bendy" molasses cookies are studded with chopped golden raisins. A crunchy coating of coarse sugar is a nice complement to their soft interior. While we usually think of molasses cookies as winter/holiday fare, these are delicious with a glass of cold lemonade — perfect for summer.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 large egg
• 1 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup raisins, golden or regular
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• heaping 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 cup coarse white sparkling sugar, for coating; optional

Details

Servings 52

Preparation

Step 1

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

2) In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until they're well-combined. Beat in the molasses and the egg.

3) Combine the flour, raisins, baking soda, salt, and spices in the bowl of a food processor. Process till the raisins are coarsely chopped. Note: If you don't have a food processor and don't mind your raisins remaining whole, skip this step.

4) Add the flour/raisin mixture to the wet ingredients, beating just till thoroughly combined.

5) Scoop the sticky dough into 1" balls; a teaspoon cookie scoop works well here.

6) Roll the balls in coarse white sugar, if desired. This is easily done by sprinkling the sugar into an 8" cake pan, and dropping the sticky dough into the pan. Shake the pan to coat the dough balls with sugar.

7) Space the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2" between them.

8) Bake the cookies for 7 to 9 minutes. The centers will look soft and puffy; that's OK. Cookies baked for 7 minutes will be VERY soft; bake them for 9 minutes, they'll be firmer.

9) Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan; or transfer to a rack to cool. To maintain soft texture, store at room temperature once cookies are completely cool.