Molasses Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sweet Recipeas

Molasses Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough February 4, 2024 from Sweet Recipeas 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup old-fashioned oats

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rolling

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add molasses, egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
3. Add dry ingredients in two additions, beating on low speed after each addition until just combined and no floury streaks remain. Fold in white chocolate chips.
4. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls, cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough balls in granulated sugar, coating completely, and evenly space on baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheet for several minutes before transferring cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

I'm not a big fan of molasses or molasses cookies. I find the taste too strong for me. But I have increasingly started to like some ginger molasses cookies and some gingerbread recipes. So I thought I'd give this a try, bearing in mind, out of the couple dozen or so a typical batch makes, I only eat one as a taste test. The rest I ship in military care packages. So it's not like *I* have to love it as long as others might prefer them.

When I took a first bite of this one, I thought "yup, too strong a flavor for me". But as I ate more of the cookie, my taste buds obligingly adjusted themselves and I ended up liking this cookie more than I expected. Texture was good and the strong molasses flavor was complemented by the mild sweetness of the white chocolate.

The oats also give it some chewiness and provide a counter-blandness to the molasses. So I thought the 3 main flavor ingredients combined really well together. I don't know if I'll ever really become a big fan of molasses (taste buds say "no") but in relatively small doses like this, I liked it well enough. This would be a good holiday cookie as well or any time of the year if you want to mix up your baking and add some variety beyond (my) usual chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, sugar cookies, etc.