It is time for another Don’t F#!* It Up Thursdays. This month I decided to tackle my Great Grandma Fletcher’s Molasses Cookies. The crazy part is, I decided to shake things up and not make them as she did. I have always loved the flavor but have never been a fan of the thick, chewy texture of her roll-out cookies. I know, if she were still here, she would probably box my ears in if my mother’s description of her was accurate 😁

All joking aside, my goal was to take a beloved family recipe and do my great-grandma proud. I was a little nervous about tackling this one, but figured why have a monthly challenge if you don’t actually challenge yourself. My main goal was to make these cookies scoopable rather than having to roll them out. I thought it would result in a softer, more tender cookie that had all the reminiscent flavors of Great Grandma’s.

Since I was going to mess with a classic, I decided to jazz the cookies up a bit by folding in a streusel crumble and topping them with a drizzle of vanilla icing. That part is optional, of course. I had one final tweak: ditching the ginger, a spice I prefer in savory dishes, and replacing it with cardamom.

The biggest challenge of all was getting my mom to approve. These were her grandma’s cookies after all. I am happy to report that this particular recipe was not F#!* Up, and mom gave them a thumbs up.

That means I am giving these Molasses Streusel Cookies five forks, and including the successful recipe below.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

For this recipe you will need:

Streusel Ingredients

Cookie Ingredients

Glaze Ingredients

Method

For the Streusel

Sift Dry Ingredients: In a medium-sized bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Set aside.

For Wet Ingredients: Add the softened butter to a large mixing bowl.

Cream Butter and Sugar: Cream the softened butter and sugar together by hand until well incorporated. 

Add Flour Mixture: Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until clusters form. Cover and place in the refrigerator while making cookies.

For the Cookies

Sift Dry Ingredients: In a medium-sized bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Set aside.

For Wet Ingredients: Add the shortening to a large mixing bowl.

Cream Butter and Sugar: Cream the shortening. Add sugar and cream together in a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer. Beat this mixture for a full five minutes. The mixture should become pale in color, fluffy, and significantly lighter in texture. 

Add Molasses and Vanilla: Add the molasses to the creamed mixture. Mix until it is fully incorporated. Add vanilla. Mix until just combined

Gradually Add Flour Mixture and Sour Milk: Alternately add the flour mixture and sour milk to the wet ingredients in batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (add one-third of the flour, half of the sour milk, another third of the flour, the remaining sour milk, and finish with the final third of the flour). Mix on low speed after each addition until just combined.

Fold in additions: Gently fold in your streusel with a spatula and mix only until just combined. 

Scoop the Dough: Using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the finished cookie dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Chill the Dough: Cover the cookies and place them in the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours. Chilling prevents the cookies from spreading, ensuring a thicker, chewier texture.

For the optional Glaze (after the cookies have cooled)

Combine: In a medium-sized bowl combine powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until pourable consistency.