Molasses Oatmeal Cookies

Goodbye fresh pasta. Goodbye Italian pizza. Goodbye yummy gelato. We will meet again delicious Italian food...

Hello, my chewy little oatmeal cookies. Because, cookies are, of course, what I made when I got back from Italy. I needed something to comfort me about the loss of gelato, didn't I?

And comfort me is just what they did. Before they had even finished baking them, I had already eaten a couple cookies' worth of cookie dough! That was good stuff. Don't worry though, we still had plenty of dough left to make cookies for our new neighbors and to snack on later!

It was fun to make these cookies. Not only did I get to sneak cookie dough, but when I was dumping all kinds of add-ins into the batter, no one noticed when a few chocolate chips disappeared!

This batter is nice and thick with a molasses and cinnamon flavor that is especially prominent in the dough (I should know!).

Chilling makes the dough easier to handle and hold its shape better.

They're too soft to move onto racks immediately – but if you break a cookie trying, then you have an excuse to eat it immediately.

And they finish cooling, ready to put in a box.

Add-in ideas:

M&Ms

Chocolate chips/white chocolate chips/butterscotch chips/cinnamon chips/peanut butter chips

Reese's Pieces

Raisins/dried cherries/dried cranberries

Pecans/walnuts

Pretzel pieces

Molasses Oatmeal Cookies

Makes: 24

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (115g) softened, unsalted butter

3/4 cup (150g) dark or light brown sugar

1/4 cup  (50g) granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Tbs. (20g) dark molasses

1 2/3 cups (140g) old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups add-ins

Directions:

1. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer cream softened butter and sugars together until smooth.

2. Add egg. Mix about 1 minute on high until combined.

3. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add vanilla and molasses, mixing on high until combined. Set aside.

4. In a medium bowl stir together the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

5. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix on low until combined.

6. Stir in add-ins using a spatula; dough will be thick.

7. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

8. Preheat oven to 325F.

9. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

10. Roll cookie dough into balls containing about 1.5 tablespoons each and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.

11. Bake until very lightly browned on the edges, about 10-11 minutes. The centers should look soft.

12. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to finish cooling.

13. Store cookies covered for up to 1 week at room temperature. Freeze baked cookies and rolled cookie dough for up to 3 months.

Recipe from: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/02/11/loaded-oatmeal-cookies/