late night cookie baking

Making them into hearts was a frantic last minute decision this morning when I realized it was Valentine's Day. oops!

 I always get the urge to bake late at night. I have no idea why...we'll be sitting on the couch and all of a sudden the urge to make 300 molasses cookies consumes me. So, last night I did just that. Late night baking is calming to me. Hubby is doing his own thing, baby is asleep.

There is nothing I hate more than a fluffy, flavorless cookie. Seriously. I like chewy, crispy, dense, and flavor explosion. But guess what? Every time I make cookies they turn out fluffy. And I literally cannot figure out why. My googling of cookies always starts out "chewy, crispy_____" and they never turn out like that. These ones though...they are good. Like, really good. Dense and so much flavor. THe original recipe can be found here. I altered it because I am lazy and sometimes I don't have things on hand so you've got to improvise. Enjoy! xo

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ( I went heavy on cinnamon)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice (I did not use allspice..because I never have it)
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves (I used a full tsp to make up for the lack of allspice)
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (I used 2 full sticks...oops.)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling cookies
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsulphered molasses
• about 1 cup of crystalized ginger (this is an ingredient not listed in the original recipe)

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and throw all of your wet ingredients in another. I know the original recipe says to fluff up the sugar and butter first, but when you are baking at night there is time for no such thing. Plus, as stated up above, I don't like the word "fluff" in my cookies. So I literally throw everything in a use my hand mixer. Chop up your ginger and throw it in with the dry ingredients and mix around. I do think because the ginger is really sticky. Coating it with your dry ingredients helps it not all clump together. Mix in the dry with the wet. Form into balls and roll in sugar. Bake for about 11 mins, or just until the tops begin to crack. do not over cook these! Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy! xo

This stuff is your golden ticket.

Throw it in a bowl. Mix it up. Easy as that.