Christmas came early for me this year in the form of a brand new range. Yay! Finally! After surviving two years of Thanksgiving dinners saved by the Wolfgang Puck Convection Oven and a series of rather scary explosions every time the oven tried to preheat (the oven door is not supposed to blow open, right?) I finally said “I’m done!” and I went online to seriously research a new oven.
I had dreams of upgrading to a Wolf or a Viking 36″ range with 6 burners and the grill/griddle. (I’d have loved the 48″ range too, but my kitchen is just too small for that.) I had these dreams for a long time. But after talking to several people who have one of those high end ranges, I decided they just didn’t have all the features I wanted and that I could get so much more for half the price. I opted to be practical. After all, two of the three kids are getting braces this year and we have a family trip to Italy planned, not to mention the renovations that I have planned. So, I read all of the reviews for nearly every stove out there over the course of the holiday weekend and on the Sunday after Black Friday I made my purchase. It’s a Samsung 30″ slide in range with a convection oven. It has all the bells and whistles, I could honestly jump for joy I am so happy.
Here it is (a blurry iPhone photo- never mind the ugly floor- it’s going the way of my old range soon too!)
It arrived on Saturday and I’ve been baking every day since.
So I thought we’d continue the celebration with a few of my favorite cookie recipes this week that are perfect to keep or to share.
Start the holiday cookie making with these incredibly easy but addicting Chewy Molasses Cookies recipe. Soft and chewy in the middle with a crispy edge, they melt in your mouth!Their cinnamon, clove and ginger goodness will make you feel warm all over! Mix up a double batch because they will go quick.
- ¾ cup Butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup molasses
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ cup white sugar
- In a medium mixing bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar and egg until smooth.
- Add the molasses. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and remove the dough from the fridge.
- If the dough seems overly sticky, add more flour a tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together and it can form into a ball that holds it's shape.
- Place the white sugar in a shallow bowl or on a plate with a rim.
- Roll the dough into two inch balls and roll them around in the white sugar to coat.
- Place cookies unto an ungreased cookie sheet spaced about 2 inches apart.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes until the tops are just cracked. For an even chewier cookie, bake a little less- maybe 7 minutes.
- Cool completely on a wire rack. Makes about 2 dozen.
