Burning the Old Year
Letters swallow themselves in seconds.
Notes friends tied to the doorknob,
transparent scarlet paper,
sizzle like moth wings,
marry the air.
So much of any year is flammable,
lists of vegetables, partial poems.
Orange swirling flame of days,
so little is a stone.
Where there was something and suddenly isn't,
an absence shouts, celebrates, leaves a space.
I begin again with the smallest numbers.
Quick dance, shuffle of losses and leaves,
only the things I didn't do
crackle after the blazing dies.
~ by Naomi Shihab Nye
With chocolate-stained lips and powdered sugar fingertips, I proudly bookend 2013 with these charismatic cookies!
They're a bit of a labor of love, if one counts utilizing a double boiler as laborious. But what's a sinkful of dishes to a batch of luxuriously rich chocolate wanderlings? Yes, the cookies are prone to wandering. No doubt you'll find one or three magically appearing in your hand with each seemingly innocent stroll through the kitchen.
I feel I should warn you about the dough - it's fussy. At first I thought something went wrong, that I missed a step, or forgot an ingredient, or perhaps my scale was possessed by a poltergeist. The dough, at least in my case, was more akin to brownie batter. Even after an overnight stay in the fridge, it still felt a bit too soft for my liking. Luckily everything came together happily in the end. If you happen to end up with an equally clingy awkward cookie dough, don't fret. When forming the cookies into balls, wet your hands with a damp paper towel from time to time - it's much less sticky and you won't end up murmuring wicked things under your breath.
Have a merry, blithe and bonny New Year, everyone! Isn't 2014 a lovely round number? I think it's going to be a dreamboat. I am hopeful. xo
dark chocolate ginger molasses crackle cookies
makes 18-20 cookies
adapted from White on Rice Couple and David Lebovitz
for the cookies
100 g (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
225 g (8 ounces) dark or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
45 g (3 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into three pieces
60 ml (1/4 cup) unsulphured molasses
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 room temperature eggs
65 g (1/3 cup) granulated sugar
for the sugared coating
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
method
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and ginger; Set aside.
Prepare a double boiler: Fill a medium saucepan with about 1-inch of water and bring the water to a slow simmer. Find a heatproof bowl that fits snuggly over the saucepan (make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch simmering water). Place the chopped chocolate, butter, molasses, and vanilla extract into bowl and place the bowl over saucepan of simmering water. Melt the mixture, stirring often, until smooth. Remove the bowl from simmering water and set it aside to cool for a few minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, beat eggs and sugar on high speed until you can see a well-defined 'ribbon' when the whisk is lifted up from the bowl (about 5-6 minutes).
Remove the whisk attachment and use a large rubber spatula to gently stir the melted chocolate into the egg/sugar mixture. Add the flour mixture and fold it into the wet ingredients until just combined. {Note: The dough will be a bit thin...almost more of a brownie batter.} Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate 1-3 hours or until firm. {Note: My dough was still on the soft side after 3 hours so I left in the the fridge overnight.}
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Prepare the coating: In a wide shallow bowl, whisk together cinnamon and granulated sugar (1/2 cup). In a separate bowl, sift in the confectioners' sugar.
Form the chilled dough into 18-20 balls. Each of mine weighed about .26 grams. {The original recipe calls for forming the dough into 1-inch balls. This will yield about 24 cookies.} Roll the balls into the cinnamon/sugar and then roll in the confectioners' sugar until well-coated. {Note: Don't be shy with the confectioners' sugar. The cookies with the heaviest coat had the loveliest "cracks."} Place coated cookies on prepared sheets, leaving about 1-inch of space between each.
Bake for 6 minutes then rotate the sheets and bake for an additional 6-7 minutes.The cookies should be slightly firm around the edges and tender in the centers - Do Not overbake. Remove the sheets from the oven and allow cookies to rest until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
Enjoy!
Yes to a New Year (with a nice round number!) and to cookies (always!). They may be fussy but they are certainly gorgeous. I'd say the work was worth it! :)
ReplyDeleteThis looks so fab Valerie!! I want these cookies in my crib now!
ReplyDeleteMmmm, so glad you didn't wait til tomorrow! These look scrumptious. And the words "brownie batter" got me, even if it means it's swearword-inducing! Haha, I am definitely extremely prone to the murmurings of wicked things. Except it's a little louder than murmurs most of the time.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful poem and recipe. Those cookies look really tempting. A wonderful way of bidding fairwell goodbye to 2013.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Cheers,
Rosa
I love the combination of chocolate and ginger! These look fantastic!
ReplyDeleteso, i adore molasses cookies, but i truly dislike the smell of molasses. it makes me gag and this is why i never make them. BUT. the addition of chocolate to the dough really intrigues me.
ReplyDeleteyummy combination!
ReplyDeleteeven if its a fussy recipe, I am sure its worth every bite. Happy New Years :)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Valerie! It's been a pleasure following you this year.. And you are absolutely right! What is a sink full of dishes when you get these gorgeous cookies?
ReplyDeleteValerie - what a stunning cookie! Love this post. Hope you have a very happy new year! Cheers to 2014!!!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if every great beauty is a tad fussy:-) ?
ReplyDeleteThey are gorgeous and photogenic..
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year to you, too, Valerie! Hope it brings much joy to you and your loved ones.
ReplyDeleteBeth
xo
Happy and Delicious New Year Eve to you :)
ReplyDeleteI've loved following you beautiful post.. Happy New Year and all the best in 2014!
ReplyDeleteAnd a delicious way to wrap it up! The cookies are gorgeous!! I wish you all the bestestestest in the New year!! Can't wait to see all your new recipes! XO
ReplyDeleteYes an even numbered year!
ReplyDeleteThat should make it all better right?
Are we doing anything fun tonight?
Happy New Year to you!
These are some seriously fabulous cookies Valerie! I definitely want to make these soon!
ReplyDeleteHappy 2014 Valerie! May it be a year full of adventure and wonders and dreams coming true. It's been such a pleasure visiting your corner last year and I'm looking yo many more in times to come :)
ReplyDeleteThese would definitely wander right into my hand every time I walked past the cookie jar. These look wonderful. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI know I'm so late with this, but Happy New Year and hope you had a very merry holiday season! These cookies look and sound delish--I love the flavor combination of dark chocolate and ginger. I guess anything worth eating takes a little bit of effort :)
ReplyDeleteI love ginger cookies and I love molasses cookies so I'm pretty sure this will be my new favorite treat ever. Gorgeous photos too.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! Loving this post :)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to u Valerie! It feels such a longtime I haven't been here. I am missing all the goodies!
ReplyDeleteCrackle cookies are just lovely. My kids adore the chocolate version. Now will have to bake this ginger version just pour moi! Happy New Year, sweet friend.xx
ReplyDeleteI love this marriage of a ginger molasses cookie and fudge-y chocolate crinkle cookie. One of my new favorites, and it will be a regular on my holiday/winter bake list.
ReplyDeletelooks so crunchy and delicious, a perfect dessertm..keep some to me
ReplyDeleteI notice that most of these comments are a tad older, but I just made these cookies and they are delicious. The molasses is noticeable, but not overpowering. Love them.
ReplyDelete