Saturday Sweets - Molasses Spice Cookies

I LOVE baking during the holidays, it's so relaxing and makes the house smell AMAZING!  The hardest part for me is picking what I want to bake, then getting all the ingredients purchased and ready AND still finding time to do the actual baking.  Today, I wanted to share a fantastic recipe that I found from Martha Stewart, in hopes that it saves you a little time to actually get your baking done this year.

The smell of the baked goods really is the deciding factor for me with holidays and let me tell you... molasses and spice are the most seasonal smells I can find so combining the two makes the WHOLE house smell like what a Christmas movie looks like!  I hope you have fun making and decorating these 36 cookies for you and your loved ones (or even as gifts for strangers).  I would say that it makes a good gift, but you may have a hard time not eating the cookies before you give your gifts. :o)

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups all-purpose flour (Spooned and leveled)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 LARGE egg
• 1/4 cup of molasses

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt
3. In a shallow bowl, place 1/2 a cup of sugar; set aside
4. With an electric mixer, beat butter and remaining cup of sugar until combined
5. Beat in egg and then molasses until combined
6. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in dry ingredients, just until a dough forms. 
7. Pinch off and roll dough into balls, each equal to 1 tablespoon
8. Roll balls into reserved sugar to coat
9. Arrange dough balls on baking sheet about 3inches apart
10. Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges of cookies are just firm, 10-15 minutes. (cookies can be baked two sheets at a time, but they will not crackle uniformly)
11. Cool 1 minute on baking sheets; transfer to racks to cool completely