Cool weather and molasses cookies with lemon

one of the older trees in my yard, very very tall

 

What a week we are having in Kansas City.  In all the years I have lived here, I can not remember an August with a stretch of days such as we have had this week in terms of mild weather.  This morning at 10:30 AM, the thermometer showed the temperature to still be under 70 F.  The last two days, the early morning temperatures were in the 50s.  I suppose there is a still a chance for some hot weather, but at this point if we roast for a few days, it's no big deal as it will be short-lived.

molasses cookies with lemon

I have had a productive week during this cool August beginning.  Another new item has been added to the full menu:  molasses cookies with lemon... yum.  

These are typical molasses cookies except for the lemon zest.  Flour, baking soda, salt, allspice, ginger and other spices, are all whisked together to make for easier uniform mixing with what is to come.  These dry ingredients are put aside for now.  Then European-style butter, already warmed to room temperature, is creamed for a bit before brown sugar and molasses are added.  And now all of that is mixed at medium speed on the blender for a few minutes.  Just let it sit and let the mixer do it's work.  An egg is added, but this addition will not be mixed for long, a minute at most.  Just get it thoroughly combined.  We don't want to create any more aeration at this point.  The batter is rather liquidy now and is ready for the dry ingredients which are added and mixed on the lowest possible speed just until it all disappears into the full mixture.  Then at the very end, the zest of two lemons is added and slowly mixed in.  Why add the zest at the end?  I've experimented with adding it earlier, and I just like doing it at the end.  It always seems to me that by putting it in late instead of early, the effect is slightly more pronounced.  But that might all be in my head, too, as the difference is so small.  Nevertheless, I always add it at the end.  However, I am careful not to mix it too much longer since the flour has already been incorporated.  

Now the dough has to chill for a while before individual portions are weighed so that each ball of dough will be the same size.  Flatten them just a bit with the bottom of a sugar-coated mug, and 12 minutes later you have fresh cookies out of the oven.  But they can't be touched yet.  No, no, no.  Molasses cookies are much too soft when warm.  They need to cool completely and then they will be just right, soft with a bit of chew.

These are a simple cookie to make, compared to some, and they are warm and spiced, and the lemon zest lightens the deep dark of the molasses just a bit.  People who try these usually can't identify the lemon specifically, but they can tell something else is there offsetting the molasses and spices.

I like taking cookies and adding something unexpected to them sometimes.  Often the combination is good, and sometimes not as much as hoped.  But it's interesting to experiment.  These came about one day quite some time ago when I happened to have a few balls of dough left from a molasses cookie recipe I was playing around with, and I just imagined what I might do with them since I didn't need any more cookies at that moment.  Something made me think of lemon zest, and as I almost always have fresh lemons on hand it was an easy experiment to consider.  They came out pretty nice, though I adjusted the levels of some of the spices in order to create a flavor combination that seemed more balanced to me.  And now I love these.

How boring life would be without experimenting on something once in a while.  Yeah, this wasn't a major experiment, but it gave a nice result that I've enjoyed many many times.  And now that they are on the full menu, I'll put them out in a weekly rotation soon and I hope you will try them, too.