Classic Chewy Molasses Cookies a low-key holiday favorite
Holidays equal platters and tins of festive-looking cookies. Cookies with colored icing, cookies with sprinkles, cookies with fillings, cookies with layers.
An artistic cookie display is a thing of beauty, that I'll not argue. But I'll reach past the whole lot if I see a flat, modest, quiet molasses cookie. This is my cookie, not much to look at compared to its flashy holiday brethren, but pliant and spice-scented and, to my mind, kind of perfect.
Because the butter is melted in this recipe, you can just as easily mix them up with a spoon or a rubber spatula as an electric mixer. And also go for dark brown sugar, which contains more molasses.
Don't overbake these cookies (unless you want crispy molasses cookies - then go right ahead and add another couple of minutes).
They will keep for three or four days in an airtight container. And they are good contenders for shipping; separate layers with wax or parchment paper, place additional crumbled paper in the bottom and top of the container to fill it, and make sure the container is well-padded before putting it in a box and sending it off to a lucky recipient.
• Katie Workman has written two cookbooks focused on easy, family-friendly cooking, "Dinner Solved!" and "The Mom 100 Cookbook." She blogs at http://www.themom100.com/about-katie-workman/