Stamped Cookies #13 - Ginger Molasses Cookies

Ginger Molasses Cookies (stamped cookies #13) - made dough November 13, 2021, recipe (and stamps) from Nordic Ware 

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ginger

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar plus more for rolling dough in

1 large egg

1/2 cup molasses

Orange Cream Cheese Filling

1 (4 ounces) stick butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese

4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

zest of 1 orange

juice of half an orange

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cinnamon, ground cloves and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add egg. Beat until combined. Add molasses and beat until just combined, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl. Add flour mixture in two additions, beating on low speed until just combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but less than a day.
3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into golf-ball-sized balls and roll in sugar before placing on baking sheets. Press dough evenly with stamps. Cut with round cookie cutters if you want even edges. Remove any dough scraps before baking 10-14 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking pan for 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
4. Make filling: cream together butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until combined. Mix in salt, orange zest and orange juice until combined. Spread filling over half of the cooled cookies and sandwich with the rest of the cookies.

Another "tis the season" recipe. I'm not overly fond of ginger molasses cookies. I can deal with ginger but mostly in savory recipes. I don't care much for the strong taste of even mild molasses though so I rarely make ginger molasses cookies.

Except during the holidays and when I want to try my new Christmas cookie stamps. How cute are these?? Yes, they're from - of course - Nordic Ware and I freaking love them.

The original recipe called for the cream cheese filling and I've included the recipe for it here but I didn't make it for these cookies. Because I was shipping them in military care packages overseas that have a 2-3 week mailing time, I would never risk a cream cheese filling going unrefrigerated for that long.

Because I was mailing them, I made the cookies pretty thick so they would hold up well in shipping. As you can see from the pictures, this recipe kept the impressions fairly well. Although, as I've learned from my multiple experiments with cookie stamps, this recipe would work better with stamps that don't have a lot of intricate detail. The Nordic Ware ones are perfect as they have just the right amount of detail for this dough to hold the impression clearly.

As for the flavor, I ended up liking it more than I expected (but remember I have low expectations for ginger molasses cookies). They definitely had a bite to them but in a good way (also remember I have bland taste buds). I liked the texture best of all.

You do want to watch the baking time on these as overbaking them will make for hard cookies. Underbaking, if you're using cookie stamps, may lead to the impressions sinking a bit and not being as clear.

But overall, this is a great addition to the holiday cookie lineup.